Homeowners rush to beat solar tax credit deadline, residents weigh in on how to spend $100M green fee, state violated due process in Maui water case, Kiko downgraded to tropical storm, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Homeowners rush to install solar on roofs before tax credits expire. Due to the passage in July of H.R.1, the “big, beautiful bill,” the 30% federal tax credit for residential solar PV panels and batteries ends Dec. 31 instead of the end of 2032. Star-Advertiser. KHON2.   Maui Now.

This is what residents think the new 'Green Fee' should be spent on. The state is deciding how it will spend an estimated extra $100 million a year from the new "Green Fee" tax on hotels and cruise ships that starts next year. More than half of those surveyed touted projects that focus on restoration, recovery and workforce development. Hawaii Public Radio.

Kiko downgraded to tropical storm as it passes north of Hawaii. Kiko weakened to a tropical storm Monday night and is on track to pass well north of Hawaii over the next two days. Once a major Category 4 hurricane just a few days ago, Kiko is now a shallow tropical storm and is mostly a swirl of low level clouds. Star-Advertiser. Hawaii News Now. 

Girls Remain Underrepresented In Hawaiʻi High School Sports. Seven years after the state education department faced a civil rights lawsuit over gender inequality in sports, Hawaiʻi girls remain consistently underrepresented in high school athletics. Civil Beat.

Hawaiʻi Report Describes ‘Atrocious’ Conditions For Mentally Ill Inmates. Psychiatrists who inspected state facilities cited problems ranging from overuse of pepper spray to intentionally harsh conditions on suicide watch. Civil Beat.

Blue Hawaiian’s request to fly at lower altitudes gets pushback. In a 20-page petition to the Federal Aviation Administration, Blue Hawaiian explained if its pilots were allowed fly below the 1500-foot minimum altitude in certain areas, they could more easily avoid clouds, which typically form at 1,200 feet on up. Hawaii News Now.

How Small Businesses Are Breaking Into Hawaiʻi’s Big Tourism Markets. Airlines and hotels can provide a lucrative market for Hawaiʻi entrepreneurs, but making inroads with large brands and scaling up production isn’t easy. Civil Beat.

Oahu

HPD Tried To Fire This Cop. He’s Retiring With A Giant Pension Instead. The police department has opened an inquiry into the 2,375 hours of overtime filed last year by Darren Cachola, who is one of the officers being sued along with the department for arresting sober drivers at DUI checkpoints.  Civil Beat.

Council OKs 750-unit affordable rental project in Kapolei. The Council’s approval allows Laulima Affordable Housing LLC, an affiliate of Utah-based the Wasatch Group, to build its project within a part of a 516-acre Kapolei West master-­planned development.  Star-Advertiser.

Hanauma Bay closed for parking lot repaving. Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is closed for two weeks starting Monday. A city contractor is repaving and restriping the attraction’s two main public parking lots, which includes approximately 280 parking stalls.  Hawaii News Now.

Hawaii Island

Council committee passes bill to extend free bus rides through 2028. The move aims to address ongoing staffing shortages within the Mass Transit Agency and give officials time to implement improvements, including a micro-transit program that will better serve rural residents. Tribune-Herald.

Final EIS For Keauhou Bay Management Plan Published. The documents detail Kamehameha Schools' proposal to implement the Keauhou Bay Management Plan on approximately 29 acres at Keauhou Bay.  Big Island Video News.

PETA weighs in on K-9 Archer’s death. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said it sent a letter Monday to Hawaii Police Department Interim Chief Reed Mahuna concerning Archer, the West Hawaii Vice Division K-9 that died Thursday after being left unattended in a police vehicle. Tribune-Herald.

Once homeless, man helps job seekers through the same organization that helped him. When Kevin Aki Jr. first attended an American Job Center Hawaii community outreach event a decade ago, he and his family were “homeless and low-income.” Tribune-Herald.

Maui

State violated due process in Maui water case, Hawaii justices rule. The Hawaii Supreme Court has ruled that the state Board of Land and Natural Resources violated constitutional rights when it allowed Alexander &Baldwin Inc. to divert streams in East Maui without granting community groups a full hearing on the environmental and cultural consequences. Star-Advertiser.

Free building trades courses offered at UH Maui College this fall. The University of Hawaiʻi Maui College is offering a free eight-week carpentry pre-apprenticeship training beginning next Monday, Sept. 15 and running through Friday, Nov. 14. The tuition value is $6,000. Maui Now.

Guided tours resume at the remote Hawaii leprosy settlement of Kalaupapa. A former leprosy settlement in a remote part of Hawaii will reopen this month for the first time since the pandemic, when it closed to shield the few remaining patients, all of whom are over 80, from exposure to COVID-19, officials said Monday.  Associated Press.

Kauai

County strengthens wildfire safety in West Kauai plantation camp communities. On Monday, Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami signed into law Bill No. 2961, an ordinance passed unanimously by the Kauai County Council to advance wildfire mitigation in West Kauai’s plantation camp districts.  Garden Island. Kauai Now.

Healthy coconut trees cut down on Kalalau Trail; state staff reprimanded for not protecting natural resources. The Hawaiʻi State Department of Land and Natural Resources is facing criticism from residents and outdoor enthusiasts after its employees cut down more than a dozen healthy coconut trees along the Kalalau Trail on the Nāpali Coast of Kauaʻi. Kauai Now.

ID card production resumes after temporarily being unavailable on Kauai. The Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announces that the production of identification cards will resume on Tuesday for Kauai residents. Hawaii News Now.