Civil Beat Staff
Stewart Yerton
Stewart Yerton reports on business and the economy for Honolulu Civil Beat. Those are subjects he spent more than a decade reporting on — at publications in New York, New Orleans and Honolulu.
He’s written about the U.S. treasury bond market, the business of big law firms, controversies surrounding the world’s largest gold mine on the island of New Guinea and corruption in the Louisiana casino industry. His reporting on the human cadaver trade, published in The Times-Picayune newspaper, won the Society of American Business Editors & Writers 2005 Best in Business Award for Enterprise Reporting in the large newspaper category.
Stewart’s first big newspaper story, for The Birmingham (Ala.) News, was about a political battle between a small-town mayor and the volunteer firefighters who were trying to oust him from office because of the mayor’s 30-year-old conviction for making moonshine whiskey. The story briefly thrust the tiny town of Brookside, Ala., into the national spotlight when The Washington Post came to write about the comic-gothic brouhaha.
A member of the Hawaii State Bar Association since January 2012, Stewart graduated cum laude from University of Hawaiʻi’s William S. Richardson School of Law, where he earned the environmental law certificate. His paper “Procedural Standing and the Hawaii Superferry Decision: How a Surfer, a Paddler, and an Orchid Farmer Aligned Hawaiʻi’s Standing Doctrine with Federal Principles” was published in the Asian Pacific Law & Policy Journal in 2011. In law school, Stewart externed for U.S. District Court Judge David Alan Ezra and served as the law school’s first Jarman Environmental Law Fellow. Stewart also has worked as an analyst with the Hawaiʻi State Auditor’s office.
When not working, Stewart can often be found practicing yoga and Argentine tango, attempting to play guitar, and chauffeuring his two daughters around Oʻahu.

Lawmakers Wrangle HECO Rescue Bills As Session Deadline Looms
After a big win before the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court in February, the utility is making a final push before the Legislature

Report: Hawai‘i’s Population Has Been Rebounding Thanks To Locals Returning Home
A University of Hawaiʻi economist says the data belies common beliefs about population trends.

Maui Fire Settlements Could Shrink If Health Insurers Take A Bite
As settlement money begins to flow to Maui wildfire victims, a state law that allows health insurers to recoup their costs becomes a concern.

HECO Accuses Carpenters Union Of ‘Shakedown’
The carpenters union and Hawaiian Electric Co. are clashing over a proposed labor agreement and legislation to help the utility address future wildfires.

Hawaiian Electric Execs Pocketed Huge Raises Despite $1.4B In Losses
Steering the utility from the brink of bankruptcy justified a $1.7 million raise for its CEO, the company said.

High Court Rules Against Insurers. Now It’s Time To Divvy Up $4B
Among the questions: how much will Maui wildfire victims and their lawyers get from the huge settlement, and how will Hawaiʻi’s insurance market react?

A Talk With The Hawaiʻi Hotel Alliance About An Uncertain Time For Tourism
Hotel and lodging owners and operators say an increased visitor tax is not the right way to support climate mitigation efforts.

How Trump’s Economic Policies Are Roiling Hawaiʻi’s Economy
Economists struggle to predict the fallout, while tourism, construction and retail businesses seek their own paths through upheaval.

Seen These Oʻahu Donation Sites? Gifts Don’t Go Where You Think
A corporate giant’s eye-catching collection bins pay charities pennies for pounds of donated goods, drawing scrutiny in Hawaiʻi and across the U.S.