Wayne Yoshioka is an award-winning journalist who has worked in television, print and radio in Hawaiʻi. He also has been on both sides of politics as a state departmental appointee and political/government reporter. He covered Hurricane Iwa (1982) as a TV reporter; was the State Department of Defense/Civil Defense spokesperson for Hurricane Iniki (1992); and, commanded a public affairs detachment in Afghanistan (2006). He has a master's degree in Communication from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and is a decorated combat veteran (Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and 22 other commendation/service medals). He resides in Honolulu.
Court records show the subject of an islandwide manhunt New Year’s Day in Hawaiʻi was a felon barred from owning the high-powered rifle he used to open fire on Honolulu police in a shootout that left two officers wounded and the suspect dead. Sidney Tafokitau was accused of shooting a woman and carjacking another woman at gunpoint before leading officers on a chase around Oʻahu.
Police officers are eligible for taxpayer-funded representation if they are performing their job duties to benefit the public, but the court said that former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha was not acting in any way to perform his duties.