The financial woes of a Big Island developer who may be on the verge of bankruptcy has halted work on dozens of homes being built for the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands on three islands.

Fred T. Yamashiro, president of Fredco Inc., said he mistakenly underbid the projects several years ago, and has told Hawaiian Homes officials his company won't be able to complete work on 132 lots at various stages of development on the Big Island, Kaua'i and Lana'i.

This grabbed my attention immediately because Yamashiro has been on my radar screen for a couple of years due to Hawaiian Homes’ unexplained urge to shovel contracts his way.

Google for Yamashiro’s background as a home building and you won’t find too much. Small projects, a few houses. And yet DHHL started shoveling lots of work his way as soon as the Lingle administration took over...

My early morning conclusion is that Menehune’s new financial woes offer an opportunity to explore a wider web of influence and political connections at DHHL, and that promises some good reading to come.