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Dark matters: Let’s be honest. The Blog doesn’t often call attention to government agencies that win awards. But we’ll definitely make an exception for this.

The Hawaii Department of Human Services is a finalist for the national Golden Padlock Award for “the most secretive public agency or official in the U.S.”

That’s right — DHS is taking its well-deserved place among other finalists who “have exhibited unique ingenuity in their attempts to ensure the public is left in the dark about important issues impacting their communities,” from Investigative Reporters and Editors, the national journalism association that bestows the award.

Civil Beat nominated DHS for the “award” after writing a series of columns about how the state agency refuses to release information about its actions — or lack thereof — in the horrific death of 6-year-old Isabella Kalua, also known as Ariel Sellers.

DHS placed Isabella with Waimanalo foster parents now accused of murdering her. Federal law dictates that states release information about deaths or near-deaths of children from abuse or neglect. But DHS has resorted to a series of flimsy excuses to withhold any accounting.

Even when DHS does release something about child abuse deaths and near-deaths, it includes the scantiest of information, far less than other states do.

Civil Beat’s columns led the Public First Law Center to in Family Court to unseal Isabella’s case file. That motion is still pending.

Bravo, DHS! You take your place among the nation’s other stonewalling heavyweights.

One of the other finalists is a Kansas police chief who led a raid on the office of the local newspaper that was looking into a tip about him. Police also raided the home of a co-publisher whose 98-year-old mother was home during the search. She died of a heart attack the next day.

The city attorney of Los Angeles sued a journalist for records “that her own office gave out,” according to IRE, including the headshots of some 9,000 police officers.

Then we have the Georgia Department of Corrections, which issued only one news release about an inmate death during a period that included a record-setting year of 37 prison homicides.

The Michigan State Police, meanwhile, stymied media and public attempts to track “wandering cops” who changed jobs after bad behavior by refusing to give out the names and employment histories of police officers.

It’s some stiff competition, for sure, but we’re rooting for you, DHS! The “winner” will be announced at the IRE Conference in Anaheim, California on June 22.

Better late than never: Back in 2021, Civil Beat and Hawaii News Now separately asked the Honolulu Police Department for the official headshots of the three cops who had just been charged criminally by the county prosecutor for the death of Iremamber Sykap, who died after a police chase.

Unlike the LAPD (which, see above, gave out 9,000 headshots to the news media), HPD refused to release the three photos, citing the officers’ safety.

Usually, reporters can get mug shots taken when someone is arrested and booked. But for some reason, no mug shots were taken of these guys.

Now, three years later, the Office of Information Practices is telling HPD to release the photos. In answer to appeals filed in 2021 by HNN and Civil Beat, OIP noted that the employee identification headshots became mug shots in this case for purposes of the criminal proceeding. It was unusual, OIP said, that HPD did not take mug shots of three of their own who had been charged with a serious crime and shouldn’t be able to deny public access to the photos.

In the end, a judge dismissed second-degree murder charges that Prosecutor Steve Alm was trying make stick.

Follow the money: With the deadline to file for elective office closing in (it’s actually Tuesday), the number of fundraisers is increasing. You can check those out for yourself on but here’s one that caught The Blog’s eye.

You’ve got to wonder what Senate Ways and Means Chair Donovan Dela Cruz is up to. He’s not up for reelection til 2026 and he’s got more than $1 million sitting in his campaign account as of Dec. 31. And yet he’s holding a fundraiser this week at the Bishop Museum, in conjunction with Sen. Michelle Kidani who is up for reelection this year.

The ask is up to $4,000 per donor. Perhaps the threat of full public campaign financing gaining more steam among the public is a factor? Or maybe the push to rein in contributions from people who get big state contracts?

Dela Cruz has been one of the main impediments to bills the last couple of legislative sessions that would have put in place a program to allow publicly financed campaigns. He’s also been on the receiving end of campaign contributions from plenty of people with government contracts.

Get it while you can?