Isaac Choy awarded $500K in whistleblower lawsuit, chronic absences plague schools, Maui vacation rental zoning battle drags on, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Jury awards former HTA executive Isaac Choy $500K. A First Circuit Court jury on Tuesday found that former Hawai‘i Tourism Authority executive Isaac Choy was subjected to whistleblower retaliation and wrongfully placed on unpaid leave and later terminated from his job, awarding him more than $500,000 in damages, including punitive damages against Gov. Josh Green’s Chief of Staff Brooke Wilson. Star-Advertiser. Hawaii News Now.

Hawaiian Electric customers weigh in on rate hike request. The state Public Utilities Commission is gathering public input on an application by Hawaiian Electric to raise base rates over the next two years, and comments including opposition from ratepayers are piling up. Hawaiian Electric made an initial request to the PUC in March followed by a detailed application in July to boost annual revenue by $170 million, or 5.3%, over most of the next five years largely to cover high inflation, more expensive insurance premiums and accelerated value depreciation for fossil fuel power generation units anticipated for retirement sooner than previously planned. Star-Advertiser.

HECO Knows What’s Behind Outages. It Just Won’t Tell You. The state’s consumer advocate wants the utility to provide more information about storm outages. Civil Beat.

Half Of Keiki Are Chronically Absent At Some Schools. See How Yours Compares. At some Hawaiʻi public schools, more than 50% of students regularly skip school, state data shows. Civil Beat.

Oahu

HPD chief details plans to address staffing, modernization. Honolulu Police Chief David Lazar says he wants to boost officer pay and recruitment, expand the use of technology and develop a new strategic plan for the Honolulu Police Department’s future. Star-Advertiser.

Happier Days Coming For Neighbors Of Collapsed ‘So Stink’ Dim Sum Restaurant. Health officials address spoiled food issues at closed Happy Days. The state Health Department says spoiled food has been removed from the kitchen area of the shuttered Happy Days Chinese Seafood Restaurant in Kaimuki following an Aug. 18 partial roof collapse. Professional cleaning at the restaurant’s kitchen began Tuesday. Star-Advertiser. Civil Beat. KHON2. KITV4.

Police arrest woman, 24, in fatal shooting of man in Kailua. The Honolulu Police Department said detectives from the Homicide and Strategic Enforcement Detail, with help from the CID Forensic Video Unit, identified a 24-year-old female suspect, Hilinaikailimakualopali I. Keeno, in the fatal shooting of Thomas Craig Piiliouka Malone, 30. Star-Advertiser. Civil Beat. Aloha State Daily.

Oahu public schools begin serving locally grown pineapples in cafeterias. More than 2,000 pounds of Hawaii-grown pineapple is heading into public school cafeterias across Oahu, giving students a fresh taste of island produce at breakfast and lunch. Hawaii News Now.

Hawaii Island

County seeks dismissal of ‘Sammy’ lawsuit alleging officer was negligent in death of teen. A Hawaii County attorney argued Tuesday in court that a Hawaii Police Department officer who hit and killed a pedestrian with a police car almost three years ago is immune from liability, but an attorney for the family of Samuel “Sammy” Mwarey, a 16-year-old boy, argued the officer was negligent and liable. Tribune-Herald.

Thirty Meter Telescope Doubles Down On Mauna Kea, Declines Spain’s $1B Proposal. TMT’s preferred site for the telescope is still on Mauna Kea on the Big Island, after its board could not agree on Spain’s effort to build it in La Palma. Civil Beat.

Council District 5 Candidates Want to Build A More Resilient Puna. What is taken for granted in other communities is needed in Puna: paved roads, public gathering spaces and alternative evacuation routes. Civil Beat.

Maui

Hotel or housing? Battle drags on over which Maui properties should have short-term rentals banned. Properties hope to switch to hotel zoning to avoid a ban on short-term rentals in apartment districts. The Maui County Council is proposing that 3,402 of these units across 48 properties, including timeshares, leasehold properties and apartment complexes that function like hotels, be rezoned as hotel districts. But on Tuesday, the Maui Planning Commission largely disagreed, recommending denial for most of the units and approval for a handful of properties that are entirely timeshares or have variances in place that allow vacation rental use.  Maui Now.

Prosecutors: Revenge motive in fatal shooting of Maui officer. Video footage shows Maui police officers arriving at Clembert Kaneholani’s home in Makawao on the night of Aug. 13, 2025, two days before Officer Suzanne O was fatally shot, to serve him with a temporary restraining order. Hawaii News Now.

A federal judge has eased travel restrictions for a Washington man accused of throwing a rock at a Hawaiian monk seal in Lahaina. Igor Lytvynchuk made headlines in May after he was caught on camera during the incident. Hawaii News Now.

Maui County Fair announces admission and ticket presales, details on E.K. Fernandez rides, safety reminders. The 99th Maui County Fair is just a few days away, and fairgoers can get ready for four days of food, entertainment, exhibits, community activities and carnival rides at the War Memorial Special Events Complex in Wailuku from Thursday, Oct. 1, through Sunday, Oct. 4. Maui Now.

Kauai

Kauai community is still waiting for federal disaster relief funding. As Kauai moves into long-term recovery from Hurricane Lowell, community organizers are asking for more outside help as the island continues to wait and see whether President Donald Trump will release federal funding for disaster relief. Star-Advertiser.

Hawaii crime rate falls, abortion pill use triples, Hawaii Supreme Court hears arguments over lawyers' share of Maui wildfire settlement, 1M eggs, more news from all the Hawaiian Islands

Hawaii’s crime rate fell nearly 12% in 2025. Police officers in Hawaii solved 13,260 crimes last year while the 54,089 major crimes reported to the four county departments represented a crime rate that fell nearly 12%, according to the state Department of the Attorney General. Police departments documented the largest “notable decreases” in the percentages of murder, manslaughter, rape and car theft. Increases were reported for burglary, drug and gambling offenses, according to the AG. Star-Advertiser.

Bribery Case: What It Would Take To Extradite Lobbyist Back To Hawaiʻi. The state hasn’t said whether it plans to extradite Tobi Solidum, a man experts say is a key player in the corruption case. He is in the Philippines. Civil Beat.

Abortion Pill Use Has Tripled In Hawaiʻi Over Past Decade. Medication abortion has nearly tripled compared to procedural abortion over the past decade. The Trump administration is pushing to restrict access.  Civil Beat.

Hawaiʻi Spent Millions On More Preschool Seats. Now, There Are Fewer. Hawaiʻi has fewer preschool seats than it did six years ago when lawmakers set out to fulfill their promise of universal preschool access. What did families and providers gain — and lose — from the state’s multimillion-dollar investment?   Civil Beat.

More than 1 million eggs head to Hawaiʻi. More than a million eggs from Hickman’s Family Farms in Arizona will be distributed to communities across Hawaiʻi over the next two months. The 1.08 million eggs are part of a major settlement. Hawaii Public Radio.

Why Hawaiʻi could see even more hurricanes this year. In a normal year, four or five tropical cyclones pass through the Central Pacific, but forecasters say there could be 13 this year. Unusually warm Pacific Ocean waters near the equator are a major reason for the onslaught. Hawaii Public Radio.

Oahu

Honolulu City Council OKs stricter laws for stray-dog owners. Oahu dog owners could face significantly higher fines and possible jail time for violating city dog-control laws involving stray animals under new Honolulu City Council legislation. Star-Advertiser.

Potential H-1 freeway cap park could come to Honolulu. The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation wants your opinion on a potential new project for Hawaii’s highways.Highway cap parks are public parks that are built above highways on top of highway caps.  KHON2.

Affordable ʻEwa Beach housing expected by end of October, applications open. Located on Renton Road, Kaleimaʻo Village is a 3.7-acre city-owned property aimed at bringing “more affordable housing for working families” who earn between 30 and 60 percent of the Area Median Income, or AMI. KHON2.
 
First large-scale hybrid reef deployment launched at Kalaeloa to combat erosion and rising seas. To help protect Hawaiʻi’s vulnerable coastal highways from erosion and rising seas, the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation is launching the Kalaeloa Hybrid Reef Project. Maui Now.

Moving Aloha Stadium’s volcano sculpture could cost $600,000. Commissioners at the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts are weighing options on what to do with the iconic metal volcano in front of Aloha Stadium. Hawaii Public Radio.

Habilitat executive director Jeffrey Nash dies at 57 after battle with cancer. Jeffrey Nash, the executive director of the addiction treatment center Habilitat, has died after a battle with cancer. He was 59. Hawaii News Now.

Hawaii Island

Bill aiming to simplify vacation rental process again deferred. Amid ongoing efforts to refine regulation of vacation rentals on the island, the Hawaii County Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use and Economic Development again deferred taking action on a bill on the matter at their meeting Tuesday. Tribune-Herald.

Forestry Service Reverses Course, Plans To Keep Critical Big Island Hub Open. A Hilo research institute that’s critical in the fight against rapid ʻōhiʻa death will now remain open. It had been set to close this spring under a Trump administration plan to downsize government. Civil Beat.

BLNR still trying to reach deal in opihi case. A year after three men were caught taking over 4,000 opihi from a protected area on the north Kona coast, the Board of Land and Natural Resources is still working to reach a settlement in the case. Tribune-Herald.

Maui

Hawaii Supreme Court hears dispute over Maui wildfire attorney fees. How much money attorneys should receive for representing Maui wildfire victims was the subject of a Hawaii Supreme Court hearing Tuesday that stands to affect distribution of a $4 billion settlement where payouts are on hold until the fee dispute is decided. Star-Advertiser.

Storm damage threatens free ocean programs for West Maui youth. Kahakukahi Ocean Academy, a free ocean-based education program for West Maui youth, is seeking $18,000 to repair damage from hurricanes Lala and Lowell before fall school groups arrive. Star-Advertiser. Maui News. 

Kauai

250 utility workers in the field on Kauaʻi to restore power to North Shore, pocket outages a week after Lowell. Based on progress to date, the Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative said it anticipates the first North Shore restorations could occur Wednesday in portions of Princeville and Hanalei, weather permitting. Kauai Now. Garden Island. 

Kauai police identified the Wainiha man killed during Hurricane Lowell last week as 69-year-old Mark Chambers. Chambers’ body was found Friday near Kuhio Highway and Wainiha Powerhouse Road, an area that police said had significant flooding when Lowell hit the island on Sept. 7-8. His death is the second on Kauai, and the third in the state, tied to Lowell. Star-Advertiser.

Kauai community comes to aid of hard-hit North Shore residents. Two county hurricane resource centers opened Tuesday so residents can meet with nonprofit and county staff in-person for assistance with recovery needs. The centers, which will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, are at the Hanalei Neighborhood Center and the Koloa Neighborhood Center on the south shore. Star-Advertiser.

Barge delivery reaches Lānaʻi as damaged harbor partially reopens. The state Department of Transportation completed enough repairs to accept a barge delivery this past Sunday. Young Brothers scheduled the special recovery shipment to bring much-needed supplies and fuel to the island. Hawaii Public Radio.