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Gov. Linda Lingle, in a significant concession, said yesterday that the state should tap its "rainy day" fund and teachers should agree to give up planning and collaboration days to end teacher furloughs.Gov. Linda Lingle plans to eliminate 27 Furlough Fridays at Hawaii's public schools by tapping the so-called rainy day fund and switching teacher training days to class timeGov. Linda Lingle on Sunday announced a plan to restore 27 school furlough days over the next year and a half.Three legislative committees will jointly examine budget cuts to the state's Healthy Start program on Monday.Only one Republican is running for lieutenant governor in Hawaii next year while a handful of Democrats are actively campaigning for their party's nomination.
Gov. Linda Lingle leaves Monday for three-day conference of the Republican Governors Association in Austin, Texas. The Governor is taking personal time and no state funds are being used for the tripHaving retrieved 22 iwi po'o, or Hawaiian skulls, from Stockholm's antiquities museum over the weekend, a Native Hawaiian delegation arrived in Boston yesterday to take possession of eight more from Harvard University's anatomical collection, William Aila, the group's spokesman said last night.Despite the down economy, the North Kona Coast's luxurious Hualalai Resort sold a record $43.5 million in real estate in August and is on track to close $130 million in transactions by year's end.Heavy rains brought serious property damage to Oahu this weekend.Heavy rains and flooding over the past few days has caused water service interruptions for county Department of Water customers in Hanalei town and parts of Wailua Houselots.Hawai'i and China may reach agreement by the end of the year to feature Island products at a showroom in Shanghai, Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday, which could help small and medium-sized businesses gain a foothold in the world's largest market.Kona Coffee & Tea Co., owned by the Bolton family, became the winner of the 2009 Gevalia Crown Competition at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort,Beach access, limited facilities and harassment of visitors were among the many concerns Big Islanders feel the state needs to address in its new master plan for the Kealakekua Bay State Historical ParkOrdinarily, once a developer gets a special management area permit, the rest of the path to construction is routine. But SVO Pacific Inc., the developer of the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort and Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort North at North Beach, has had its SMA permit since March 2008 for a nearly identical third resort next to the other two, but it has not been able to get building permits.
A weather system spinning around the state is bringing high surf, heavy rain and even snow to the islands.A flash-flood warning has been issued for windward and some north shore areas of Kauai and Oahu this morning.A storm continues to push through the state. Heavy rain and thunderstorms will be lingering through today and flash flooding is possible. Drier conditions are due back next week.Snow fell on the slopes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on Thursday.Young Brothers said yesterday that barge arrivals to Kahului Harbor on Maui have been disrupted by continuous large swells that made it unsafe to attempt to enter the port. The next port arrival has been postponed until today.U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, in a telephone news conference yesterday, again scolded Hawai'i for its decision to furlough teachers for 17 school days and said the move could hinder the state's ability to garner competitive federal grant money.Hawaii's intrepid "samurai sub" hunters will look this weekend for two Japanese World War II submarines that have eluded previous searches in a graveyard of military debris south of Oahu.
The Lingle administration announced yesterday that about 650 state workers will lose their jobs to help the state reduce labor costs and close a budget deficit, down from the 1,100 originally targeted for layoffs last summer.Hundreds of state workers will start to be laid off in waves starting on Friday.Six career police officers each with more than two decades in law enforcement are the finalists for Honolulu police chief, according to biographical information released yesterday.Moanalua Middle School was scheduled today to became the first Hawaii school to inoculate children, faculty and staff for H1N1 influenza, or swine flu.The value of building permits on the Big Island in the first eight months of 2009 is little over half of what it was for the same period last year.The movie "The Men who Stare at Goats" doesn't treat Hawi resident Jim Channon very nicely.The lifeless body of Daniel Bonanno was discovered in a white Ford Ranger pickup truck Monday morning, just one day after the 47-year-old Kapa‘a man, owner of a long criminal record, was released after years behind bars.
A raft of reforms that U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, has been working on for months is now tied up by one of the Senate's most ardent fiscal hawks.Hundreds of state employees will start losing their jobs tomorrow beginning with nonunion, exempt workers, but the exact number — and who — is still being worked out, the head of Hawai'i's human resources department said yesterday.No one has responded to Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona's calls for meetings between the Hawaii teachers union and public school officials to halt the ongoing teacher furloughs.For years, Hawaii environmentalists have been complaining that the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, which the New York Times editorial page has described as “notorious among environmental groups as a chronic enabler of reckless commercial fishing,” was illegally lobbying Hawaiian politicians to push its anti-conservation agenda and prevent the creation of any marine reserves in HawaiiHawaii is the most dangerous state for pedestrians ages 65 and older, according to a report by the coalition group Transportation for America.About 24,000 Jehovah's Witnesses from around the world are expected to spend about $100 million in the state when they meet at the Hawaii Convention Center on the next two weekends, said David Uchiyama of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.The rainy season is forcing more and more homeless people to set up camp at the city's bus stops, but attempts to make it illegal to sleep at bus shelters have been unsuccessful.KITV has learned the state health department has gone undercover to determine if pharmacies and doctors are giving the H1N1 vaccine to people with the highest risk of contracting swine flu.
A storm is sitting north of the state with heavy rain and thunderstorms likely through Friday. Flash flooding is also possible with drier conditions due back next week.Surf along north facing shores will be 10 to 15 feet through Thursday morning, decreasing to 8 to 12 feet Thursday afternoon. Surf along east facing shores will be 10 to 14 feet through Thursday.
Two more lanes will be added to Highway 130 as part of a $14 million state plan to improve motorists' safety and reduce traffic congestion in lower Puna.Alaska Airlines announced this week that it would offer four flights a week from San Jose, Calif., into Kona beginning March 12, making the California city the seventh from which airline passengers can embark on direct flights to Kona.Heads up, the state Department of Education is telling the public, the much-anticipated environmental impact statement for the proposed Kihei high school is on its way.A public information meeting regarding the proposed construction of a roadway segment that would connect the two Koloa bypass roads is scheduled for Thursday, a county press release states.The newest building at Hawai'i Preparatory Academy (HPA) in Waimea, the Energy Lab, is being considered one of the latest and most environmentally comprehensive structures in the country, according to its application as a "living building."
First storm of the season expected to bring strange, moody weatherThe Hawaii Public Housing Authority is considering a radical solution to decades of backlogged repairs, aging projects and limited resources: selling properties or units and ending state oversight of public housing.Eighteen people died on the job in Hawaii last year, according to preliminary numbers released yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands yesterday told people in the Ho'olehua area of Moloka'i to reduce their water usage by 50 percent while the department works to recharge a water reservoir and complete repairs at the Kala'e well site.It is not the kind of publicity Hawaii wants, but the state's decision to shut public schools for 17 Furlough Fridays has made a big media splash.
The first round of massive state layoffs is just a few days away and by the end of next week, hundreds of people will be out of work. In all, the state called for 1,100 layoffs and most of them will be out of work by next Friday. Guillermo Navarro was shocked when he read an article two years ago about homebuyers and renters unwittingly moving into places that had been used as clandestine laboratories to manufacture methamphetamine.Maui hotel occupancies dropped to 55.8 percent in September.Cultural practitioners are set to hold a 24-hour vigil from noon Friday until noon Saturday featuring Hawaiian prayer, chants and temple dances to raise public awareness about development in Wailua, one of Hawai‘i’s most sacred places, event organizers said this week.A 50-year-old Hawaii Kai woman and her 12-year-old daughter returned home yesterday -- a day late -- after they were forced off a flight leaving Tampa, Fla., on Monday morning because she was suspected of having the flu after asking for an airsickness bag.
State senators on a special legislative committee examining public teacher furloughs yesterday said they want to urge Gov. Linda Lingle to make use of $35 million in federal stimulus money that is entirely under her control.Parents who want their children back in school on Furlough Fridays lost a round in federal court yesterday, but one attorney plans to appeal the ruling, and the judge urged both sides to settle the issue before it goes to trial.State tax collection have dropped again.The impending auction of a partial silver-plated serving set salvaged from the USS Arizona just months after the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor is being condemned by at least one former sailor who witnessed the sinking of the battleship.The National Weather Service on Monday issued a flash flood watch for all of the Hawaiian Islands to start on Tuesday night and last through Thursday.Renee Mokihana Nobriga, 25, was crowned the 2010 Miss Hawaii USA on November 9, 2009 at LEVEL4 in the Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikiki.Parker Ranch is selling its realty arm as the 152-year-old operation continues to liquidate assets and trim operating costs following a year of multimillion-dollar losses.Kona resident Anthony Caravalho Jr.'s fingers flew Sunday morning, searching for and picking sun-kissed, ruby coffee cherries from trees at the Ueshima Coffee Co. estate in Holualoa.Fifty-seven divers from Maui, Lanai and Oahu came out to the third and last Roi Roundup of the year. The official end of Kaua‘i processed sugar officially came around 4 p.m. Monday, when the transport ship Moku Pahu left Nawiliwili Harbor with the last Gay & Robinson sugar from the final harvest.
Inouye's earmarks go to his donorsHawaii companies that would benefit from earmarks sponsored by U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye that are in the Senate version of the fiscal year 2010 defense appropriations measure. The firms' workers have contributed to Inouye's campaign committees since 1997.A $76 million budget deficit, a standoff between the University of Hawaii's administration and its faculty union, and fears of massive cuts to programs, departments and schools have longtime professors calling the situation at UH the worst money and morale crisis they have known.Planned increases in park and boating fees are being opposed by many Hawaii residents who have spoken at public hearings held across the state.A Hilo contractor is alleging that the state's biggest Burger King franchisee is delinquent in payment of construction costs for the new Hilo restaurant -- and the remainder owed is a whopper.Hawaii County's 2 percent land fund would be downsized to 0.5 percent as part of a county Charter Commission proposal, but it could become part of the county's charter, protecting it from raids by the administration.
Maui County finance officials are stepping up efforts to collect delinquent taxes, reclassifying some nonfarmers who claim agricultural tax assessments, and taking other steps that could add to the county’s revenues ahead of what’s expected to be a tight year in 2010.Mr. Pineapple - aka Jimmy Hutaff - needs 350 delicious Maui pineapples a day, and when Maui Pine closes down later this year, he doesn't know where he will get them.Expanding the county Black Pot Park in Hanalei remains the primary objective for the Kaua‘i Public Land Trust, said Jennifer Luck, KPLT executive director.As the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival celebrates its 39th year this week, a controversy that started two decades ago about what defines Kona coffee is brewing anew.
After a 10-year court battle and decades of waiting in vain for homesteads, plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit won a judgment against the state for failing to promptly award home lots to native Hawaiians under the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust.More than 2,700 Native Hawaiians have won a class-action lawsuit that accused the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands of failing to meet its trust obligations.Hawaii News Now has learned that President Barack Obama is planning to spend the Christmas holidays in Hawaii.Kaiser Permanente Hawaii is seeking double-digit rate hikes for most of its members under proposed increases pending before the state Insurance Division.The state Department of Health is advising the public to be patient while waiting for wider availability of the H1N1 influenza vaccine — and, meanwhile, to keep washing your hands and covering your coughs and sneezes.The District of Hawaii's very first female U.S. Attorney is now officially appointed.Friends, family, colleagues and leaders of Hawaii law enforcement filled a federal court yesterday afternoon as Florence Nakakuni was sworn in as the first female U.S. attorney in the history of the state.Proposals floating in the Senate would restore public school days lost to teacher furloughs by raiding the $180 million Hurricane Relief Fund or a combination of the disaster fund and federal stimulus dollars.Just a day after five city sweepers were indicted on a charge of theft in an overtime scam, KITV has learned that two of the indicted men were city supervisors, who nearly doubled their income with overtime, making almost $100,000 a year.The state Department of Land and Natural Resources came under fire Tuesday night for a proposal to begin charging entrance fees at Akaka Falls and Hapuna Beach state parks, among numerous other proposals.The Kaua‘i County Council on Wednesday unanimously passed a bill that gives the Planning Department greater flexibility in deciding when to require a costly shoreline certification.It turns out there is a free ride after all. Just ask the thousands of people who use Hawaii County's Hele-On bus service.More than 400 streetlights will soon be sporting a new glow, thanks to a $737,800 grant Hawaii County has received from the federal government.When Billy Kenoi recently vetoed a trial program to allow Puna residents to live in tents on their property while they built homes, he said the bill singled out one district for unequal treatment.
The Kona Coffee Cultural Festival has been celebrating and promoting Kona coffee for 39 years. The theme of this year's festival, which runs Friday through Nov. 15, is "Kona Coffee: Aroma of Aloha."Ninety-five public schools have applied to turn teacher training days into instructional days and restore some of the class time students are losing to furloughs.A group of state Senate and House members plans to meet with staff members of the Lingle administration to discuss reducing the number of days public schools are closed due to budget cuts.The House and Senate Republican Caucus is urging the Hawaii State Teachers Association to rework its (relatively new) contract with the Department of Education. GOP lawmakers want the HSTA and DOE to scrap the teachers' existing contract and negotiate a new deal that will end furlough Fridays.Perennial guests at a 54-year-old Waikiki hotel say they are saddened that they might not be able to return to their favorite winter retreat, fearing it could close.Just three years ago, inspectors used to make unannounced inspections on restaurants about once a year. However, that situation has worsened.People in Hawaii love to dine out at all kinds of eateries. There are about 5,800 restaurants on Oahu, and the results of some inspections might make you think twice about dining out.The Honolulu Symphony may file for bankruptcy protection as early as tomorrow, according to people familiar with the situation.Jenna Roussy, an employee at Hilo Shark's Coffee, holds a 7-pound Keitt mango on Friday at the shop. The fruit is possibly the largest mango ever grown in the U.S., and surpassed only by the current world record holder, a 7-pound, 7-ounce Keitt cultivated in the Philippines.
The state said yesterday its seeking bids from companies to conduct an environmental impact statement for an undersea power cable that would connect the islands of Lāna'i, Moloka'i, O'ahu, and Maui.A global settlement of multiple Kaloko Dam lawsuits was announced yesterday in Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe's courtroom. Good-faith settlements have been reached and approved in state court in various wrongful-death and property-damage cases regarding the March 2006 breach of Ka Loko Reservoir Dam near Kilauea.The governor and some legislative leaders and parents are searching for other solutions including urging teachers to reopen their contract negotiations to come up with something less stressful on students.While the expected December groundbreaking for the city's $5.3 billion rail transit project is being pushed back by a month, Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann says he does not see it as a setback.An alternative rail plan for Honolulu that promises to save taxpayers an estimated $1.7 billion in cost, shave 1.5 years off construction time–and, last but not least, promises to spare the heart of the city the monstrous effects of overhead concrete rail lines and stations–has been outlined in a July 15 report commissioned by Kamehameha Schools, owner of extensive real estate along the proposed train’s route.Central Pacific Financial Corp., expecting enforcement action to be levied against it by federal and state regulators, staggered to a $183.1 million loss in the third quarter as it took two big charges tied to the bank's exposure to the struggling California and Hawaii commercial real estate markets.Hawaii residents still taking trips to the Ninth Island but not spending as muchMore than 1,000 Hawaii County employees have agreed to unpaid furloughs next year and possibly this year as well.A nonprofit think tank is recommending Hawaii County take its agricultural base seriously by elevating an agriculture director to a Cabinet-level position and adding staff.The name of the Renaissance Wailea Beach Resort could turn out to have been prophetic because Kobayashi Group LLC wants to bring the hotel, closed since September 2007, back to life.Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd has a little problem with the Department of Hawaiian Homelands.
Creeping lava is no longer threatening a public viewing area near Kalapana, but officials said there's still plenty of activity from the Kílauea eruption, now in its 27th year.As light Kona wind persists, an increase in vog has spread from the Big Island across the entire state.Just when parents thought things in Hawaii's public schools couldn't get much worse, Department of Education officials warned yesterday that "thousands" of DOE employees will be laid off if a federal judge blocks teacher furloughs.Facing an unprecedented reduction in school days and deep budget cuts, state Board of Education members got more bad news: They need an additional $32 million in the next two years to meet rising student transportation costs.Facing accusations of making backdoor deals and bending to the will of the mayor, Honolulu City Council Chairman Todd Apo defended his last-minute change of heart that revived a proposal to create a new "homeowners" classification for property tax assessmentsPart diplomat, part cheerleader, Governor Linda Lingle is heading to China this Friday for a two-week visit to six cities, including Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.The Waikiki Aquarium is nurturing 20 live coral specimens recently harvested from the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, also known as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
It's usually difficult to re-create the comforts of home while staying in a hospital for any length of time. It's more difficult still when trying to rest and recover from an illness or injury in an unwelcoming, aged environment that requires beeping equipment, frequent public address system pages and bustling health care workers.The $250 million expansion of the Grand Wailea Hotel Resort & Spa received a special management area permit Tuesday, with seven ayes and one "reluctant" nay from the Maui Planning Commission.Maui County's visitor count ticked up by 1.8 percent in September to 134,932, but deep discounting by lodging providers and price cutting by other vendors drove per person per day spending down by 4.9 percent to $167.The state’s four elected county executives discussed a broad range of issues from agriculture to collective bargaining to the 2010 legislative session at their monthly Hawai‘i Council of Mayors meeting Wednesday.
Federal contracts pumped $122.4 million into Hawaii's economy while saving or creating 250 jobs as of early October, according to a federal government Web site that tracks stimulus spending.Demonstrating that a by-now-familiar phenomenon can still dish out surprises, Kilauea Volcano sent lava over an old access road to Kalapana late last week in a smoky show of deja vu.From the mom-and-pops to the largest employing thousands of workers, Hawaii's seasoned businesses have paved the way during Hawaii's first 50 years as a state. The cultural diversity that has created Hawaii's unique environment has also flavored its business community, creating a strong, varied economic base.When anchors Lisa Kubota, Steve Uyehara and Grace Lee sign on the morning show today on KGMB9 and KHNL, it will mark a new era in Hawaii broadcasting.Hawaii's medical marijuana program will be the subject of a public meeting on Tuesday.Heavy rains over Windward Oahu on Sunday made for treacherous driving conditions, leaving many stuck in the mud.Hawaii Island's world class observatories celebrated the International Year of Astronomy by opening their Hilo headquarters Saturday for a "Galileo Block Party" that featured free tours, music and science demonstrations.Agriculture has been one of the linchpins of the Big Island economy.Yet with all the lip service county officials give agriculture and agricultural sustainability, they've been reluctant to put their money where their mouth is.Mayor Charmaine Tavares will host an informational meeting Tuesday on the impact of planned layoffs in the state Department of Agriculture's Plant Pest Control Branch and of furloughs of agricultural inspectors.Collectively, the fathers of Pat Pablo, Becky Komaki and Roland Pablo have more than 160 years of service to the Gay & Robinson sugar plantation.
A former NASA senior special agent says the state cannot account for five priceless moon rocks that were given as gifts to the people of Hawaii in celebration of mankind's age-old quest to travel to and safely return from the moon.Public schools are shuttered today throughout the Islands after a federal judge yesterday refused to block the state's decision to furlough teachers for 17 Fridays through the rest of the school yearThe state courts system is still deciding when its Hawaii Government Employees Association employees will be furloughed. So, while state courts will be open on the next two Fridays, the state's biggest courthouse will have no parking for the general public.The state's reinventing-government task force, made up of Hawaii business leaders and lawmakers, met for the first time yesterday to brainstorm ways to keep the budget-strapped Hawaii government running in a sour economy.Allen Doane is retiring as chief executive officer and chairman of Alexander & Baldwin Inc. at the end of this year amid leadership changes at the only one of Hawaii's original Big Five sugar companies that continues its dominant role.A magnitude 4.1 earthquake hit about 60 miles offshore of Hilo at 11:13 p.m. Thursday night, according to the U.S. Geological Survey website.The biggest capital construction project in state history gains steam. The City and County of Honolulu awards the construction of the first phase of the Honolulu rail transit project. And Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann says it will shake up Hawaii's economy.A county meeting on the voter initiative that made marijuana possession by adults for personal use the lowest law enforcement priority was marked by a series of verbal pot shots.Sensing sure defeat, minority Hawaii County Council members on Wednesday pulled a tried-and-true parliamentary ploy to keep their transparency bill alive.Word that West Hawaii may not see its new YMCA facility come to fruition for up to a decade may prompt a re-evaluation by a major donor.Becoming Miss Kona Coffee is no easy feat.Disgruntled community members are upset that public access to Larsen’s Beach in Moloa‘a may soon be obstructed by a proposed cattle ranch fenceline 110 feet from the shore.There are six boxes or bundles of Native Hawaiian remains, iwi kupuna, at the Kaua‘i repository, and members of the Kaua‘i/Ni‘ihau Island Burial Council need to decide how to re-inter them, said a state Department of Land and Natural Resources staff member.
A pod of humpback whales was spotted yesterday morning off the coast of West Maui, the first reported sighting statewide marking the beginning of whale season, according to an official with the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.Molokai residents flew to Oahu to protest a federal agency's removal of a nearly blind Hawaiian monk seal from waters off Kaunakakai.A pair of federal lawsuits filed on behalf of special education and other students have the potential to keep some public schools open tomorrow despite the state's plan to furlough teachers on 17 Fridays, attorneys for the plaintiffs said yesterday.At the public school in Manoa where President Barack Obama, parents are planning to join hundreds of parents across the state to protest at the State Capitol on Friday, the first day of public school teacher furloughs.Just last month Hawaii's teachers agreed to take 17 furlough days. But already, an area school is using strategy to help students survive the cuts.Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann yesterday awarded the first construction contract for the city's planned $5.5 billion elevated commuter rail line.Abandoned fishing nets and other derelict fishing gear recovered in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is powering homes on Oahu.Hawaii County should attempt to sell 737 acres in Paauilo mauka to help finance government operations, according to an initial 5-4 vote by a County Council committee Tuesday.Working late into Tuesday evening, the Hawaii County Council Finance Committee was scheduled to get its first look at a critical audit of the county Department of Public Works.
Aerosmith concertgoers said they expected to experience one of the band's best concerts ever Tuesday night, especially since members of the rock band were under court order to perform on Maui after they canceled a concert here two years ago.The Hawaii Supreme Court affirmed Tuesday that Maui County Council Member Sol Kaho'ohalahala is a resident of Lahaina - not Lanai, the island from which he holds the council's residency seat.A land deal years in the making came to fruition Wednesday when the Kaua‘i County Council unanimously approved a plan that will secure 138 oceanfront acres on the Ninini Coastline near Lihu‘e Airport for public use in perpetuityRoad repairs, flooding and drainage issues, and traffic safety were among the pressing issues addressed when Mayor Billy Kenoi spoke with the residents of Holualoa recently.Sen. Daniel K. Inouye today becomes the third-longest-serving senator in U.S. history, a landmark for the powerful lawmaker who has held a seat in Congress for as long as Hawaii has been a state.
Thanks to El Nino conditions, islanders can expect drier-than-normal conditions during Hawaii's upcoming wet season but more tropical storm activity in the Central Pacific -- with the possibility of hurricanes in the next 40 days, climate experts say.With our state still very much into hurricane season, experts at the National Weather Service are advising residents to be prepared in the event a storm affects our islands.Hurricane Neki continues to strengthen this morning as it churns toward the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.The Office of the U.S. Trustee is challenging the average $2,527.38 hourly rate being charged by a consultant for Hawaiian Telcom's bankruptcy case.Need a marriage license? Unemployment insurance? A camping permit? A copy of your birth certificate? Plan ahead, because these state services will no longer be available on many Fridays.The state on Tuesday released the schedule of furlough days departments will begin taking.Public schools can restore some of the classroom instruction time that could be lost during furlough days for teachers, through a complicated exception process to the state Board of Education.A plan to farm-raise ahi in giant "Oceanspheres" received a positive recommendation from the state, despite some skepticism over how it would work.Hawaii County's lack of program goals, internal controls and effective communication have prevented efficient use of more than $50 million in highway-maintenance money, a recent county audit has found.The Hawaii Supreme Court has affirmed that Maui County Council Member Sol Kahoohalahala is a resident of Lahaina -- not Lanai, the district he represents.It’s always about the money.
Despite the beginning of Hawaii's flash flood season, drought conditions persist in many areas of the state, forcing some Big Island agricultural producers to haul water to thirsty cattle grazing on shriveled pastures or to irrigate crops.The National Weather Service says Tropical Storm Neki is about 825 miles south of Honolulu and moving west-northwest at about 14 mphSee the storm:Three U.S. military researchers from Hawaii will be in the world spotlight this week when they present the results of the largest-ever clinical trial of an AIDS vaccine at a research conference in Paris.With the first furlough of public school teachers set for this Friday, many community child care programs are reporting heavy interest from parents, though some parents say they will probably keep their kids home with grandma or older siblings.NewSpace Entertainment announced today that Bill Cosby will perform live for only two performances at the Blaisdell Concert Hall, Friday, January 15 at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Astronomers, as a group, are not known for throwing block parties. Or parties in general.
The crowd at the Honokaa County Gymnasium was small but enthusiastic Saturday, rallying for greater transparency in the county's land-selling process.The reefs are alive and are damaged when people walk on them, Kaua‘i Save Our Seas President Paul Clark said Sunday.A whitetip reef shark research project has some Big Island photographers literally swimming with sharks in the name of science.
The 29th annual Hawaii International Film Festival launched yesterday at the Sheraton Waikiki's RumFire with a spirited news conference that included Q'orianka Kilcher, star of the much-debated "Barbarian Princess," a feature film premiering to a sold-out Hawaii Theatre tonight.The premiere Friday night is sold out. But the Hawaii International Film Festival has added another showing of the Princess Kailuani Movie, Barbarian Princess.Sempra Generation of San Diego announced Friday that it is taking over the wind generation project at Ulupalakua originally proposed by Shell Wind but in abeyance for several years.More than 30,000 doses of the H1N1 flu vaccine have been shipped to Hawaii, but only the most at-risk people will be eligible for the drug, health officials say.Fire and police officials are investigating an early-morning fire Wednesday that gutted a senior center building under construction at the Hale Mahaolu Ehiku complex in Kihei, causing an estimated $1.5 million in damage.A new contract with the state's largest public workers union will bring "substantial" savings, but not enough to prevent the first round of layoffs for about 750 state workers, Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday.The labor savings from collective bargaining will not be enough to close the state's budget deficit, Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday, adding that the state would not immediately resort to a second round of layoffs to help make up the difference.While saying she was pleased that the Hawaii Government Employees Association reached a tentative agreement Wednesday with the state and the four counties, Mayor Charmaine Tavares warned that the county faces a steep challenge next fiscal year.The University of Hawaii hopes to see utility savings by closing buildings during the winter and spring breaks if Hawaii Government Employees Association members approve a new two-year contract.The joint venture between go! and Mokulele airlines began Thursday with a few glitchesThe lines for free meals around Hilo just keep getting longer.The rules are different here, several members of the Hawaii County Board of Ethics said Wednesday as they considered Mayor Billy Kenoi's proposal to tighten the ethics code.
For the second time in as many months, the county Board of Ethics has found that Puna Councilwoman Emily Naeole broke the county's ethics law.The agreement between the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative and Pacific West Energy to potentially bring a 20-megawatt biomass-to-energy project to Kaua‘i is a “major” advancement and “something we’ve been working on for years,” but “several steps” still remain, KIUC President and CEO Randall Hee said Thursday.The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Hawai'i has put the Hawaii County Council on notice that police helicopter flyovers for marijuana eradication are believed to be in violation of the Hawaii Constitution, the state's medical marijuana law, and the county's Lowest Law Enforcement Priority of Cannabis Ordinance.Local advocacy groups are awaiting a response from the Federal Communications Commission on a challenge filed last week to stop a shared services agreement involving three local television stations
The state House and Senate may have to amend the law to use the "rainy day" fund to reduce teacher furloughs because money from the fund cannot cover wages for state workers.
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