400-year-old petroglyphs discovered on Waianae Coast; health agencies battle Hepatitis A, Zika; early voting continues; sex workers seek rights; Hanabusa blasts rail officials; STEM education touted, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Petrogylphs found, courtesy DLNR

Two visitors last month discovered large petroglyphs etched into sandstone on the Waianae Coast. At least 17 figures, believed to be created by aboriginal inhabitants of the Waianae coast, stretch over about 60 feet of beach, the U.S. Army and Department of Land and Natural Resources said in a news release today. Star-Advertiser.

A pair of visitors to Hawaii from Ft. Worth, Texas made an incredible discovery while strolling along Oahu's Leeward coast. They found several Hawaiian petroglyphs, believed to be more than 400 years old. Hawaii News Now.

courtesy DLNR

The U.S. Army and the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources are working together to record and document a series of petroglyphs discovered along the Waianae coast. KHON2.

A new political action committee in Hawaii aligned with Airbnb is already contributing to local politicians. The Committee to Expand the Middle Class gave $6,500 to leaders in the Hawaii State Legislature including Speaker Joe Souki, Finance Chair Sylvia Luke, Senate President Ron Kouchi and Senate Majority Leader Kalani English. Civil Beat.

An update on the Hepatitis A outbreak on O’ahu was the focus of a briefing to state lawmakers today. Hawaii Public Radio.

With state health officials narrowing Hawaii’s hepatitis A outbreak to a couple of possible sources, a team of workers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has landed in Hawaii to provide additional help with the investigation. Star-Advertiser.

The State Health Department has confirmed another case of Hepatitis A in a State Department of Transportation employee, raising the number of confirmed cases to 135. Hawaii News Now.

As a hepatitis A outbreak continues in the islands, resources to track it are wearing thin. KHON2.

The Hawaii Public Housing Authority is revamping its policies for providing translation and interpretation services for thousands of residents after settling a discrimination case brought by an immigrant couple. Civil Beat.

The Hawaii State Department of Health Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Program has exceeded funding requirements by disbursing more than $30,180,000 of loan funds in state fiscal year 2016 to support infrastructure improvements in public water systems for all four counties. Maui Watch.

The Navy is trying to remedy an orbital failure on a “next generation” military communications satellite launched June 24 that was supposed to reach geosynchronous orbit 22,000 miles above Hawaii for testing. Star-Advertiser.

Environmental Protection Agency investigations are prompting the closure of government-owned, large capacity cesspools on Maui and the Big Island. Associated Press.

Commentary: It is important for people to understand the sex worker’s rights movement. It is shaping up to be the next great civil rights effort in the United States and elsewhere. But there are lots of problems to overcome, here in Hawaii and around the world. Civil Beat.

Oahu

Rail officials took withering criticism from board Chairwoman Colleen Hanabusa Monday for locking in the price to build the project’s next 5.2-mile stretch before resolving potentially costly conflicts with Hawaiian Electric Co. Star-Advertiser.

With the primary just days away, the Kirk Caldwell re-election machine is running advertisements in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser featuring Gov. David Ige. Civil Beat.

Despite declines in year-over-year unit sales, median prices continued to climb for single-family homes and condominiums on Oahu that sold during July, according to an analysis of Multiple Listing Service data by the Honolulu Board of Realtors. Pacific Business News.

Hawaii

With a week still remaining until Election Day, more than 15 percent of Hawaii County’s 109,957 registered voters have already voted. West Hawaii Today.

The Democratic primary card in the race for House District 6 is robust, featuring three candidates with varying backgrounds vying for the nomination. West Hawaii Today.

Big Island vaping proponents say a new federal rule that puts electronic cigarettes on par with most other tobacco products could hurt the industry and people who use the devices to quit smoking, while an agency that promotes a tobacco-free lifestyle in Hawaii applauded the measure. Tribune-Herald.

In an effort to improve access to healthy, nutritious and local food on the Big Island, the state Department of Health is bringing in the experts. Tribune-Herald.

Maui

Before he was a revolutionary, Sun Yat-sen was a Honolulu schoolboy. Before he overthrew the Qing dynasty and became the first president of China's republic, he was working in his older brother's shop in Kahului. Maui News.

The U.S. Senate came to Maui on Thursday for a hearing to gather testimony on legislation designed to remove barriers to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education for women and minorities. Maui News.

Kauai

County health officials say a Kauai resident who recently traveled to the South Pacific contracted the Zika virus. This is the 10th case of imported Zika in the state and the second travel-related case on Kauai this year. Officials say Hawaii has no locally acquired Zika cases, and no mosquitoes are transmitting the disease in the state. Associated Press.

Another imported case of Zika virus was reported on Kauai, the Kauai District Health Office and the County of Kauai said Monday. Garden Island.

The parents of two Oklahoma brothers who were among five people who died in a crash are suing the skydiving company that owned the plane. Garden Island.

Feds delay Hawaii historic review, monk seal relocations, Honolulu mayor wants more taxes, 6.5% budget hike, lawmaker's racist comments still reverberate, busy week ahead for state Legislature, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Hawaiian petroglyphs (c) 2013 All Hawaii News

Sequestration has given the State Historic Preservation Division a reprieve from a long-awaited federal review. SHPD, which is battling to retain its federal certification and funding, was supposed to face its day of reckoning this week. Civil Beat.

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie said Friday his budget planners have penciled in $25 million for a contingency fund to help state programs that are expected to lose millions of dollars in federal funding. Associated Press.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie wants state lawmakers to establish a $25 million fund to help pay for local shortages in federal funding due to the sequester, which went into effect Friday after President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress could not agree on a deficit reduction plan. Pacific Business News.

Federal officials on Friday said they’re temporarily giving up a plan to boost survival rates for juvenile Hawaiian monk seals by moving a few of them from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to the main Hawaiian Islands each year. Associated Press.

The Hawaii Legislature is anticipating a marathon of votes this week as state lawmakers race to meet Thursday’s first crossover deadline. Associated Press.

A battle has waged at the state Capitol for years between corporations, some farmers and businesses that stand behind the Food and Drug Administration's determination that genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, do not need cautionary labeling, and environmental groups, organic farmers and community members who strongly believe biologically engineered food is harmful for people and the environment. Sen. Clarence Nishihara (D, Waipahu-Crestview-Pearl City), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said he is not planning on hearing the labeling bill because he believes it would violate federal interstate commerce laws. Star-Advertiser.

A number of measures making their way through the current Legislative session aim to decrease Hawaii’s dependence on the mainland when it comes to food. Tribune-Herald.

After years of cuts, the state is gradually restoring adult mental health services and looking to streamline operations in an effort to rebuild a safety net that advocates say is failing too many. Star-Advertiser.

Faye Hanohano

Inflammatory remarks attributed to Rep. Faye Hanohano regarding the artwork in her Capitol office are the talk of the islands. But has Hanohano raised an important point? That art by Hawaii's indigenous people should be celebrated? Civil Beat.

State Representative Faye Hanohano, a Democrat from Puna who chairs the House Committee on Ocean, Marine Resources, & Hawaiian Affairs, has apologized for racial slurs she made to state exhibition experts from the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts as they hung artwork her office manager requested in her capitol office on Monday. Hawaii Reporter.

Hawaii state Rep. Faye Hanohano certainly struck a chord with the wrong crowd at the Capitol building this week, firing off ethnic slang with the same fearless abandon as an ‘80s action hero spraying bullets. Big Island Now.

A scripted apology on the House floor might not be enough to get Rep. Faye Hanohano out of hot water. Workers complained that she went off on a racist rant about artwork in her office, managing to offend multiple ethnic groups in one tirade. KITV4.

Two state Senate committees plan to hold confirmation hearings next week to consider candidates for various Hawaii agencies nominated by Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie. Associated Press.

For the first time, the state will participate in National Invasive Species Awareness Week, observed from Monday to March 10. Tribune-Herald.

The Kaiser Foundation Health Plan's Hawaii region is reporting an operating loss of $600,000 in the fourth quarter of last year and a $1.6 million deficit for all of 2012. Pacific Business News.

It’s Your Money: Faulty Hose Sends Taxpayers' Dollars Down the Drain. Civil Beat.

Oahu

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell's proposed budget includes a 6 1/2 percent increase over last year, but Caldwell says he's paying for promises he made on the campaign trail, even if those promises aren't cheap. KITV4.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Aina Haina Community Association are asking the city to stop grading work on property in Aina Haina owned by developer Jeff Stone until an archaeological inventory survey is conducted. Star-Advertiser.

The Honolulu Board of Water Supply plans to spend an estimated $9.5 million on a 30-year master plan that will include an investigation of how climate change could affect the island's water resources and delivery system. Star-Advertiser.

A lot of people have been buying guns recently and that's putting a strain on Oahu's only public firing range. KHON2.

A marine mammal response team received a call on Sunday morning about a stranded humpback whale, but the calf was already dead by the time volunteers arrived in Waianae. Hawaii News Now.

Byron’s, bye-bye. Hawaii celebrates 47 years of fried Oreos, shrimp burgers, and late nights. Hawaii Independent.

Hawaii

The University of Hawaii at Hilo’s long-sought-after student housing complex, which is currently under construction and scheduled to be completed in August, is falling under intense scrutiny. Tribune-Herald.

Hawaii County could manage but not own the Banyan Drive area and two state parks under legislation amended last week. Tribune-Herald.

Maui

The governor has released $50 million for highway construction and improvements that will dramatically change how people maneuver around Kahului Airport. Maui News.

The relocation of the Harbors Maui District Office from the waterfront at Kahului Harbor to the historic Old Kahului Railroad Building along Kaahumanu Avenue has received $600,000 in funding. Maui News.

More than three dozen South Maui residents heard Saturday that the proposed Kihei high school is not having smooth sailing through the state Legislature. Maui News.

A public hearing is planned on Monday, March 4, 2013, for the Draft Habitat Conservation Plan proposed by Honuaula Partners LLC for the project formerly known as Wailea 670. Maui Now.

Selling $50 million worth of condominiums in a year isn't as astounding as $425 million in two months, but the sales team at a luxury Maui condo project is celebrating what one analyst said represents a leading edge of a broader recovery. Honua Kai, a 700-unit condo complex that opened its initial phase in the wake of the recession four years ago, reported $50 million in sales last year. Star-Advertiser.

Kauai

A letter from the publisher: Change is inevitable, sometimes necessary and often a good thing. That is certainly the case with recent and ongoing changes here at The Garden Island.

After hours of testimony and questioning Wednesday afternoon, the council deferred for seven months a six-page resolution endorsing some 6,000 Kaua‘i ocean users who oppose to the expansion of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. Garden Island