Asian-American Dems play race card in congressional race, parents stage Capitol sit-in, Merrie Monarch in full swing, Royal Hawaiian Band could lose funding, more

It was a successful rescue. Wildlife experts have freed a trapped whale after a dramatic race against the setting sun.

A group of parents upset with Hawaii public school closures on furlough Fridays held a sit-in at the state Capitol on Wednesday.

Supporters of the Royal Hawaiian Band are gearing up for a fight to save what's believed to be the second oldest marching band in the United States.

Asian-American Democrats are criticizing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for favoring a white former congressman from Hawaii over the Asian-American State Senate President in a hotly contested special election to represent a majority-minority Hawaii district.


The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's TV commercial slams Republican candidate Charles Djou, questioning his credibility on the jobs issue.

Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou said yesterday that new campaign advertisements against him by national Democrats are an "outside interference" in the special election for Congress and should be rejected by voters.

Within the next five years to 10 years, Hawaii's last sugar producer, Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Co. could be out of the topsy-turvy granulated sugar business and making much-desired biofuels, company, federal and state officials announced Wednesday afternoon.

Every year a Hilo crowd gathers at the Edith Kanakaole Multipurpose Stadium to watch Ho'ike night, which kicks off the Merrie Monarch Festival.

Underscoring the last-minute changes that sometimes occur during the free Hawaiian entertainment sessions at venues all over Hilo during Merrie Monarch Week, Hoku Award-winning performer Karen Keawehawaii was unexpectedly summoned from the audience on Tuesday to give a performance at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel. She wowed spectators with her powerful falsetto renditions of "Ku'uhoa" and "Pualilia."

O'ahu's housing market appears to have established a firm footing toward recovery, with sales activity in March marking the third consecutive month that single-family home median prices rose over the same month last year.

Starting Monday, independent tour operators won't be allowed inside Hilo Harbor unless they have pre-arranged passengers from cruise ships docked there.

Standing atop seven ancient Hawaiian burials, on a lot with at least 24 more, the house that Joe Brescia is building at Naue, on Kauai’s North Shore, has been the focus of protests and prayers, emotional meetings, a stand-off with police, sacred rituals, a months-long vigil and lawsuits — some of them still ongoing.

On a recent afternoon, rental cars filled the parking lots at Hapuna Beach State Park.

In an ideal world, Hawaii County would reuse, recycle or compost so much of its waste that landfills would be all but unnecessary.

With Mayor Billy Kenoi and the county Board of Ethics singing out of different hymnals, the Hawaii County Council Finance Committee on Tuesday postponed a bill tightening the ethics code until it could have both proposals on the table at the same time.

Mayor Charmaine Tavares racked up another early endorsement when the United Public Workers union announced its support for her re-election bid during a news conference Tuesday.

The Kaua‘i Fire Commission on Monday voted unanimously against a proposed change to the County Charter that would give the mayor more power to hire and fire the chief of the Kaua‘i Fire Department.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Gay and Robinson to pay a fine of $110,000 for its failure to close 40 large-capacity cesspools, according to a press release Wednesday.