New rules advanced for Mauna Kea access as Thirty Meter Telescope construction to resume, Hawaii gets pass from No Child Left Behind, GMO seed industry falters, Waipahu rail work to close roads, Maui council overrides mayor's budget veto, Kauai mulls county manager government, water rates rise on Big Island, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Sunset on Mauna Kea © 2015 All Hawaii News

The Office of Mauna Kea Management is rolling out a set of rules that will for the first time give the office the legal tools to govern public and commercial access on the mountain. West Hawaii Today.

An ‘ahu or altar has gone up on the summit of Mauna Kea as protesters who say they're standing in protection of Native Hawaiian sacred space prepare for construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope to resume Wednesday morning. Hawaii News Now.

Thirty Meter Telescope construction crews will not only confront protesters in the road to the summit of Mauna Kea on Wednesday, but apparently also at least one rock altar constructed near the work site. Star-Advertiser.

A day before construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope was expected to resume, opponents made their way to the summit of Hawaii’s tallest mountain Tuesday to build a second ahu, or stone altar, within the project boundary. Tribune-Herald.

After being put on hold for more than two months, work to build the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea is set to restart. The project has already felt the resistance, and now, it'll have to face it again. KITV4.

Multiple modifications have been made to the University of Hawaii's and the state of Hawaii’s approach to Mauna Kea on the Big Island, the Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory Board said. Pacific Business News.

In the hours before the Thirty Meter Telescope project will attempt to restart construction on Mauna Kea after months of delay, the office of Governor David Ige issued the following statement. Big Island Video News.

Dozens of people are sleeping on Mauna Kea Tuesday night. Many are calling themselves the protectors of the mountain, and dozens more are expected by Wednesday morning. KHON2.

The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday renewed Hawaii's waiver from mandates of the federal No Child Left Behind law, allowing the state to continue evaluating public schools on a state-developed accountability system known as Strive HI. Star-Advertiser.

The Obama administration is giving seven more states and the District of Columbia more flexibility from the requirements of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind education law. In addition to Washington, Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Tuesday renewed waivers for Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, New York, and West Virginia. Associated Press.

What Is Really Being Sustained by 100 Percent Renewable Energy? Two UH economists raise concerns that subsidizing local alternative energy production might be a fiscal drain that is about paying off special interests. Civil Beat.

The leader of a white supremacist group said to have influenced the Charleston, S.C., church shooting suspect contributed $2,000 to the campaign of Charles Djou, the former Hawaii congressman. Civil Beat.

Oahu
With construction of 3 miles of the rail guideway from East Kapolei completed, crews will now move into areas populated by businesses and residents to begin constructing the guideway in Waipahu. Star-Advertiser.

Retired bank executive Don Horner has been reappointed to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s board of directors by Mayor Kirk Caldwell. Star-Advertiser.

PVT Land Co., which owns the only construction and demolition debris management facility on Oahu, plans to expand its West Oahu facility as it focuses more on recycling and generation of feedstock for renewable energy, according to public documents. Pacific Business News.

Honolulu’s Mayor has been engaged in an ongoing verbal battle with the Chair of the nine-member City Council. Their latest exchange was over the City’s 2-billion dollar budget which passed without the Mayor’s signature.  As Hawaii Public Radio’s Wayne Yoshioka reports, this could be only the beginning of a long political rivalry.

Protesters lined Kamehameha Highway near Kualoa Regional Park several times in the past week to block sheriff’s deputies from enforcing a court-ordered eviction and removing members of an extended Hawaiian family from a disputed parcel of land on Johnson Road. Civil Beat.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Health are giving the public more time to comment on a proposal to better prevent and detect leaks from 20 giant fuel storage tanks near Pearl Harbor. Star-Advertiser.

Those with plans to buy Fourth of July firecrackers could be out of luck. Permits to use firecrackers on the holiday are on sale through Wednesday, but having a permit doesn't mean you'll be able to find fireworks in a store. Star-Advertiser.

After investing nearly $1.4 million to open a dune buggy rental shop on Oahu's North Shore, Matt Brown was blindsided earlier this year when he found out Hawaii law won't allow him to rent his gas-powered vehicles. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaii

The county Water Board, meeting Tuesday in Hilo, unanimously approved a five-year water rate plan that hikes rates 3 percent on July 1, followed by 4 percent next year and then 5 percent annually for the next three years. West Hawaii Today.

Nearly two miles and more than $110,000 worth of ungulate-proof fencing on the Big Island was cut and destroyed by vandals recently. West Hawaii Today.

Kamehameha Schools plans to begin demolition of the shuttered Keauhou Beach Hotel in early 2016 as the trust moves forward with plans for its educational complex known as Kahaluu Ma Kai. West Hawaii Today.

Maui
With the clock ticking down, the Maui County Council on Monday voted to override Mayor Alan Arakawa's line-item veto of a provision in the budget that takes effect July 1 that limits spending in county departments to specific accounts. Maui News.

Maui County deals with beach erosion. KITV4.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and the County of Maui’s Immigrant Services Division will be hosting three “Information Sessions” later this week for immigrants. The workshops will cover “employment eligibility, green cards, naturalization, petition for relatives and other issues,” according to a June 22 news release from the county. MauiTime.

The Friends of Joe Blackburn will be selling kalua pig for $8 a pound, as he plans another run for the Maui County Council's Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu residency seat. Maui News.

Honolulu media outlets are looking to Maui as the implementation date of their plastic bag ban nears the July 1, 2015 start date. Maui Now.

Kauai

Idled trucks and tractors are spread out in a field behind DuPont Pioneer’s parent seed facility in Kekaha, a small town on the west side of Kauai. The noise of a generator is the only hint of activity at the site where researchers have worked for years growing genetically modified seeds used to create hybrid crops. Civil Beat.

The Kauai County Council will form a subcommittee to study the possibility of switching to a county manager system of government. Garden Island.

Mayor Bernhard Carvalho, Jr. signed the B&B bill on Friday, making it more difficult for Kauai residents to earn income by renting out rooms in their home on a short-term basis. Garden Island.

A $3.5 million project aimed at removing 2,500 albizia trees along Kuhio Highway between Kalihiwai and Kahiliholo roads was pushed back to next year. The project, originally scheduled for April, was suspended as tree removal coincided with the birthing season of the Hawaiian hoary bat and the breeding season of the Hawaiian shearwater. Garden Island.

Nearly 20 picketers outside the entrance to the Kauai Humane Society Tuesday protested the firing of two employees and called for the removal of KHS Executive Director Penny Cistaro. Garden Island.

Hawaii gets No Child waiver, transgender official wins White House recognition, Honolulu council sets $2B budget, Ala Wai pollution investigated, Kauai military range could be expanded, Maui sues Mainstreet Association, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Hawaii school, courtesy Department of Education

Hawaii's public schools will be allowed to ignore parts of the federal No Child Left Behind law in favor of a state-developed accountability system, under a waiver granted Monday by the U.S. Department of Education. Star-Advertiser.

The Obama administration on Monday approved Hawaii’s request for a waiver from provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind education law. Associated Press.

Everyone riding in an automobile in Hawaii must now use a seat belt, under one of two traffic safety bills Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed into law Monday. The second new law bans drivers from holding cellphones and other electronic devices, in effect replacing various county ordinances. Star-Advertiser.

Car wheel boots may soon be banned in Hawaii — depending on whether Gov. Neil Abercrombie signs into a law a bill to outlaw the devices. Star-Advertiser.

Iwamoto

The White House will honor Hawaii Civil Rights Commission member Kim Coco Iwamoto, a transgender, on Wednesday as one of 10 LGBT elected or appointed officials who are "Harvey Milk Champions of Change." Star-Advertiser.

University of Hawaii President MRC Greenwood's sudden decision to step down with two years remaining on her contract caught many by surprise, even those closest to her. She has not addressed on camera her decision or what led up to it, until now. Hawaii News Now.

The University of Hawaii spent more than $53,000 hiring well-known Honolulu attorney Bill McCorriston to represent the UH Board of Regents after UH President MRC Greenwood sent the regents a letter offering to leave the university for a payment of $2 million. Hawaii News Now.

Oahu

The Honolulu City Council will take a final vote in two weeks on a balanced, $2 billion operating budget that neither raises property tax rates nor fees and makes no cuts in services. Star-Advertiser.

Taxpayers Pay When Ala Wai Pollution Hits Waikiki. Civil Beat.

State officials haven’t regularly monitored contaminants in the Ala Wai canal since 1999, according to the Hawaii Department of Health, which is responsible for enforcing the federal Clean Water Act that sets standards and limits on contaminants. Civil Beat.

Civil Beat Lab Tests: Ala Wai Canal Seafood Is Contaminated.

A vacationing U.S. Border Patrol agent died Sunday attempting to save a woman in distress in a pool at Waimea Falls. Star-Advertiser.

Organizers of an annual conference for people who manage more than $3 trillion in public sector pension funds in the U.S. and Canada say a significant number of administrators are skipping this year’s meeting in Hawaii to avoid the perception they’re wasting money by heading to the island paradise. Associated Press.

Hawaii

A late effort to buy Hawai'i Nui Brewing LLC, the bankrupt Hilo microbrewery, postponed a court auction Monday and has set up a potential bidding contest between a former Hawai'i Nui partner and a rival beer producer in Honolulu. Star-Advertiser.

A University of Hawaii-Hilo spokeswoman insists a $28 million dorm project will be ready by August, but a report obtained by Hawaii Reporter and Watchdog.org outlines numerous flaws in the taxpayer-funded project. Hawaii Reporter.

Hilo is at the end of the line but is finally about to get a full serving of Hawaii Public Radio. Most of the state — everywhere but East Hawaii — now gets the full array of HPR programming, said Michael Titterton, president and general manager of Hawaii Public Radio. Tribune-Herald.

At nearly the last minute, the Hawaii County Democratic Party was forced to find a new location for its convention this past weekend. Civil Beat.

Maui
Maui County filed a lawsuit against Wailuku Main Street Association Inc./Tri-Isle Main Street Resource Center on Monday afternoon claiming the organization violated its county grant agreement and should return more than $11,000 worth of personal property bought with county funds and any remaining funding obtained under the agreement. Maui News.

Maui County is looking for solar photovoltaic firms to install, operate, maintain and own solar PV systems, and then sell the energy generated to the county under a power purchase agreement. Pacific Business News.

After nine months of hosting public discussion meetings and working with county planners, the Lahaina Restoration Foundation is putting the finishing touches on a number of community-based projects to improve the Lahaina harbor front. Maui News

Kauai

The Army Corps of Engineers is proposing to establish a “new danger zone” in waters near the Kekaha Range Facility, on Kaua‘i’s Westside. If passed, a six-mile wide section of the Pacific Ocean will be occasionally closed to public access during scheduled weapons firing. Garden Island.

The gates to the Hanalei Pier canopy are once again open. “The Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay, thanks to the generous support of the entire community, has just finished the rebuilding of the canopy at the end of the Hanalei Bay Pier,” said Branch Lotspeich, Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay spokesman. Garden Island.

The public is invited to share their ideas at community meetings regarding places on Kaua’i that they feel should be preserved and protected. Garden Island.