Slow travel trend seeks cultural experiences, Kauai Civil Air Patrol crash leaves two dead, omicron subvariant BA.2 spreads statewide, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

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New 'slow travel' trend counters the fast-paced social media motivated visitor. A relatively new travel trend is countering the fast-paced, excitement-driven marketing of destinations. A local research firm says Hawaiʻi could benefit from this concept — called “slow travel.” Hawaii Public Radio.

Hawaii hotel occupancy starts soft, but momentum is building. Hawaii hotels kicked off the year with a softer start than expected, but this week’s endpoint for the state’s Safe Travels program is expected to help the industry slide into a more robust summer. Star-Advertiser.

Omicron subvariant BA.2 now present in all major Hawaii counties. The omicron subvariant, BA.2, now makes up approximately 13% of the variants circulating in Hawaii, according to the latest report from the state Department of Health State Laboratories Division. Star-Advertiser.

Legislature Passes Bill To Clear Up ‘Chaotic Situation’ In State Courts. A Hawaii Supreme Court ruling in December led to the dismissal of dozens of cases as well as confusion among judges over how to interpret it. Civil Beat.

Legislature advances bill giving counties more power to take private property. A bill giving counties the power to take private property where civil fines have accrued and sell it to clear up the debt has passed the state House and its first Senate committee. West Hawaii Today.

Coffee labeling bill headed to final Senate hearing. The measure would require coffee blend labels to disclose geographic and regional origins and percentage by weight of the blended coffees. It would also prohibit using geographic origins of coffee in labeling or advertising for roasted or instant coffee that contains less than a certain percentage of coffee by weight from that geographic origin, phased in to a minimum of 51%. West Hawaii Today.

Senate Panel Approves Governor’s Land Board Nominees. The new members will be dealing with a number of hot-button issues, including Mauna Kea management, military leases and  aquarium fishing. Civil Beat.

EPA offers 10 new low-emission school buses to Hawaiʻi public schools. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is granting Robert's Hawaiʻi School Bus $200,000 to replace 10 buses running on diesel fuel. The models from 2005 will be replaced with 2022 diesel buses. Hawaii Public Radio.

Oahu

New rail route is just ‘first phase,’ Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi says. The latest idea to end rail construction at Halekauwila and South streets would cost $9.8 billion and, if approved, assure three years of federal funding that would save about $100 million in financing costs, Mayor Rick Blangiardi said Monday. Star-Advertiser.

HART CEO Says She Won’t Accept Potential $25,000 Bonus. The executive director leading Honolulu’s struggling rail project now says that she will not accept a $25,000 bonus for her first year on the job, days before the board that oversees her was slated to vote on that award. Civil Beat.

Hawaii lawmakers considering regulatory shake-up of Aloha Stadium project. Hawaii senators are pushing to shake up control of an effort in progress to replace Aloha Stadium and redevelop 73 acres of state land around a new facility in Halawa. Star-Advertiser.

To slow ‘monster home’ construction, city revokes permit for Pacific Heights property. The city last year issued to permit to the owners of the home at 2761 Pacific Heights Road, but pulled it because the planned development apparently exceeded the square footage limits. Hawaii News Now.

The Navy Water Crisis Could Halt New Construction On Oahu. If the water system can’t take on new users, it would be “catastrophic,” a construction industry lobbyist said. Civil Beat. KHON2.

Mayor hopes HPD can fill hundreds of vacancies to increase police presence. Right now there are over 320 vacancies in the Honolulu Police Department. Hawaii News Now.

Former Hawaii News Now Director Is Blangiardi’s New Spokesman. The mayor said the city did poorly last year “controlling the narrative.” He hopes a new communications director will change that. Civil Beat.

Hawaii Island

Stewardship measure could imperil astronomy on Mauna Kea, University of Hawaii says. A controversial measure that would remove the University of Hawaii from its role as manager of the Mauna Kea summit will be heard in a public hearing this afternoon before a state Senate committee.  Star-Advertiser. Tribune-Herald. Hawaii News Now.

County officials provide update on Puna roads cut off by 2018 eruption. Work to fully restore Pohoiki Road is now not expected to be completed until late 2025. Tribune-Herald. Big Island Now.

Maui

Save Maui trip money by camping in a rental? Council may put brakes on the growing practice. Rental vehicles with camping accessories can’t be used as visitor accommodations under a new proposal being considered by county lawmakers.  Maui Now.

State to pay $550K to family of inmate who hanged herself at Maui jail. The state has agreed to pay more than half a million dollars to the family of a Maui inmate. The lawsuit claims guards did nothing to prevent the mother of four from committing suicide back in 2017. Hawaii News Now.

Food hub grows beyond expectations. Nonprofit Maui Food Hub expanded operations and services after securing a new facility with warehouse partner SunFresh Hawaii LLC in Kahului last month. Organizers say this space doubles their previous capacity. Maui News. Maui Now.

Kauai

2 volunteer pilots killed in Civil Air Patrol crash. Two volunteers with the Hawaii Wing of the Civil Air Patrol were killed when their plane crashed Sunday afternoon a few thousand feet below the Kalalau Lookout on Kauai during a training exercise. Star-Advertiser. Civil Beat. Associated Press. Big Island Now. Maui Now. Garden Island. Hawaii News Now.

Rebecca Like swears in as Prosecuting Attorney. County of Kaua‘i Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca “Becky” Like was sworn into her position by Judge Randal Valenciano during a private ceremony in the Fifth Circuit Court. Garden Island.

Incumbents sweep KIUC board election. The makeup of the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative board of directors will remain the same for another year, following KIUC’s annual board election concluded Saturday. Garden Island.

Omicron variant detected in wastewater. The state Department of Health recently added testing wastewater samples on Kaua‘i to its various methods of monitoring variants, state DOH Kaua‘i District Health Office Deputy Director Lauren Guest said Monday. Garden Island.

This land is my land, this land is my land

HONOLULU -- Hawaiian activists plan to set fire to Gov. Linda Lingle’s U.S. Supreme Court petition and light their torches with it as they rally at the state Capitol against the administration’s plans to sell some of the land it holds in trust.

Like a government version of Kramer vs. Kramer, two state agencies will duke it out in a courtroom Wednesday when the Lingle administration and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs each tells the highest court in the land that the other has no right to property ceded to the state following the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.

“This state appeal has the potential to undermine all Native Hawaiian programs and assets as well as undermine the legal basis for Native Hawaiian federal recognition,” OHA Chairwoman Haunani Apoliona said during a news conference today on the grounds of Iolani Palace, an important symbol to the Native Hawaiian community.

While the lawyers fight, Native Hawaiians, alongside those “Hawaiian at heart,” will hold a vigil at the Capitol from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday. There will be prayers, pahu drums, chanting every hour, on the hour as part of a series of events planned that day in Honolulu, Seattle, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, New Haven, Conn., and Washington, D.C.

Activists are also calling for Hawaiians and sympathizers to take a day off work Wednesday to join the rally and send a message about the strength of the movement.

“A far-reaching decision by the U.S. Supreme Court could affect OHA’s ability to carry out its mission of bettering the conditions of Native Hawaiians,” Apoliona said.

Underscoring how divided the state is over the issue, the Democrat-controlled Hawaii Senate today passed a bill requiring a two-thirds vote of the Legislature before ceded lands can be sold and a resolution urging the Republican governor and her attorney general to withdraw their appeal. The Democrat-controlled House, meanwhile, didn’t move similar bills by the deadline for consideration.

OHA’s response to the state petition bases its argument on the Apology Resolution, enacted by Congress in 1993, on the 100th anniversary of the Hawaiian monarchy. OHA maintains it places a cloud on the title to ceded lands, forcing the state government to hold them intact until questions of Native Hawaiian self-governance can be answered. Last year, the Hawaii Supreme Court upheld that view.

The state disagrees.

“These public trust lands were transferred by the Congress to the people of the state of Hawaii in 1959 for the benefit of all the people of the state of Hawaii to be used for the public purposes set out in the Admission Act like for the establishment of public schools and public improvements for betterment of homes and farms,” says Hawaii Attorney General Mark Bennett. “The Admission Act explicitly gave the state the right to sell or transfer ceded lands for the purposes set out in the Admission Act.”

Ceded lands comprise 1.2 million acres of land on all Hawaiian islands - about 29 percent of the total land mass of the state and more than 95 percent of the public lands held by the state.