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The Board of Land and Natural Resources is being asked at a meeting this morning to approve entry fees for tourists at eight parks statewide.
Of an estimated 15,000 jobs in Hawai'i expected to be created or saved through federal stimulus money in the next few years, just over 1,400 direct local jobs can be tied to the funds so far.The federal government's Advanced Technology Solar Telescope, a highly controversial project to study the sun that's $23 million in planning and 10 years in the making - so far - will receive the money it needs to be built atop Haleakala.
On Sunday, 22,000 runners will be going into Kapiolani Park for the Honolulu Marathon, where they will finish the race right across the street from a group of homeless campers who have set up about 20 tents in the park.Mary Oshiro, state House Majority Leader Blake Oshiro's mother, usually recruits aunties, cousins and neighbors to bake homemade desserts for Opening Day of the state Legislature each January.
The administrator of the Honolulu Liquor Commission believes he will be cleared of wrongdoing when an investigation that has put him on administrative leave is wrapped up.An ailing Hilo man whose wife persuaded lawmakers to change a law so they could live in the same care home has died.The University of Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) is now offering H1N1 vaccines to pregnant women on Oahu.Hawaii County residents may see their electric rates rise next year.The battle over Mauna Kea's future landed in Circuit Court on Wednesday, where attorneys for the University of Hawaii argued with a coalition of Hawaiian and environmental groups before Judge Glenn S. Hara.Surfrider Foundation Kaua‘i Chapter is offering another $3,000 to anyone who has information leading to the arrest and conviction of April’s Westside monk seal killer.The county Board of Ethics thinks Mayor Billy Kenoi's ethics proposals go too far, and Wednesday the board took the first stab at making them less stringent.Big Island charter school representatives had an opportunity to share their challenges and concerns with a federal education department representative Wednesday.
"We are closing a decade -- a difficult decade," Office of Hawaiian Affairs chairperson Haunani Apoliona said.In OHA's annual State of OHA address, Apoliona said she'll petition lawmakers for a process for the state to pay back money it owes for making money off ceded lands.The state Office of Elections hopes to complete as early as next month the first major revision since 2000 of the rules governing how elections are held in Hawaii.Due to the recession and the state's projected $1 billion budget deficit through June 2011, state House and Senate leaders have canceled plans for the usual pomp on Opening Day in January.Funding for everything from the historic Royal Hawaiian Band to nonprofit programs could face the chopping block in the search for ways to tackle a $140 million Honolulu city budget deficit.After losing tens of millions on bad loans to California homebuilders, Central Pacific Bank is shutting down its Mainland operations.Foreclosures in Hawaii rose again in November for the 29th straight year-over-year increase, as resort areas of the neighbor islands continue to push the statewide rate higher.Honolulu Marathon week officially kicked off Wednesday with the opening of the Marathon Expo.Two Big Island power plants made the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's newly-released list of the state's top 10 industrial polluters for 2008.The 12 destinations Frommer's announced earlier this month included many places that a less adventurous American traveler would hesitate to go -- like Tunisia, Cuba, Vietnam, India -- and Hawaii Island.
Property tax increases aren't out of the picture for Hawaii County residents, Mayor Billy Kenoi said Tuesday evening.Jan McEwen, who has bachelor's and master's of science degrees, will be out of a state job, again, this month. This time, she is going to collect unemployment and use the time to write a book about gardening, she said Tuesday.Nearly 200 acres of pristine watershed will be preserved with the purchase of Kawaikapu Ranch lands in southeast Molokai by the Molokai Land Trust.
A ban on the use of handheld electronic devices while driving seemed destined for passage out of committee Wednesday before being deferred at the final moment amid safety concerns.The humpback whales are back in Hawaiian waters! If you scan the ocean carefully, you may see them spout or breach.Between 2000 and 2005, the teen birthrate in Hawaii decreased from 46 to 36 births per 1,000 15- to 19-year-old females. But in 2006, the year for which the most recent data is available nationwide, a 14 percent jump in Hawaii’s teen birth pushed it back up to 41 percent. National Kids Count Project
More monster waves are forecast today for O'ahu's North Shore, where thousands fought traffic and battled for parking yesterday to catch the kick-off of a swell that brought surf of up to 40 feet.
Monster waves drove several people to Red Cross shelters and drew thousands of onlookers to Oahu's North Shore, creating bumper-to-bumper traffic between Haleiwa and Waimea Bay, where many hoped to see a premier surfing event.
Some of the biggest names in tow-in surfing are expected to return today to the legendary "Jaws" surf spot, where wave heights could top 50 feet.The northern shores of all Hawaiian islands remain under a high surf warning that has been extended through Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
The Keawaula portion of Kaena Point State Park was closed Monday due to high surf conditions, according to officials at the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). The decision was made upon the recommendation of Ocean Safety lifeguards.
Baldwin and Hookipa beach parks closed shortly after 8:30 a.m. Monday because dangerously high surf and shore breaks posed unsafe conditions for beachgoers, Maui County announced.
The public wants to hold elected leaders accountable for education in Hawaii, says Gov. Linda Lingle, renewing her push to change Hawaii's educational structure.A top federal education official told parents yesterday to keep the pressure on for a solution to teacher furloughs, but also said the crisis could be used as an opportunity to improve quality at some of the state's poorly performing public schools.Dozens of survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Monday solemnly remembered those who died in the aerial assault 68 years ago.
Headline from 1941 inflames conspiracy theory Hawaii County solid waste officials have responded to complaints about shortened transfer station hours by revising the schedule so more people can dump their rubbish en route to work.
Winners of the 39th annual Kona Coffee Cultural Festival's coffee label, web site and recipe contests have been announced.
Officials say the big surf has so far caused no major problems on Oahu's North Shore. Wave heights are upwards of 30 feet to 40 feet, with occasional 50-foot sets on outer reefs.
Surfers and surf watchers are expected to flood the north and west shores of O'ahu and Maui today in what is being called epic surf that may be the biggest in 40 years.As high surf approaches Oahu, evacuation shelters in Sunset Beach, Haleiwa and Waianae are ready to take in people who live in the danger zones. But on Sunday, not many people were taking advantage of the facilities.Marine experts cut loose a yearling humpback whale yesterday that had been entangled in heavy plastic rope near the Hawaiian Islands.
Suspending executives' raises, imposing a hiring freeze and furloughing workers are among the measures being considered by Hawaii County leaders facing a possible $45 million budget deficit.The economy may be in the doldrums, but that's not stopping Mayor Billy Kenoi's administration from hiring new employees.A raging stream that caused a Hau'ula home to fall into its waters is cutting a new channel to Kamehameha Highway, threatening the stability of the only thoroughfare through that area of Windward O'ahu.The assets of RightStar, Hawaii's biggest cemetery and funeral operator, will be auctioned Dec. 21 at the state's First Circuit Court in Honolulu.Now, finally, the Maui County Council will get into the nitty-gritty part of Maui's long-awaited master planning process.A 48-year-old male visitor from Apple Valley, Calif., drowned Sunday afternoon at Kipu Falls, a county news release states.
Wind and rough seas are impeding efforts to free a young humpback whale from a tangle of heavy rope wrapped around its mouth and body.Rescuers tried for a second day Wednesday to free a young humpback whale tangled in rope, and while they enjoyed some success in removing hundreds of feet line, the remaining rope still posed a threat to the animal's life.NOAA's Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary is seeking to fill eight primary seats and eight alternate seats on its advisory council.President Obama is expected to vacation in Hawai'i later this month, a holiday tradition for the president and his family.Hawai'i residents have registered guns at a record pace for each of the past four years, and appear headed for a new high again this year, preliminary figures show.The state Board of Education last night declined to ask for an emergency $12 million for student transportation, which means public schools could run out of money to pay for school bus service by April.Man lying on side of road dead after apparently being run over by driver pulling to the side as police cars respond.A city prosecutor said he will ask the state parole board to require a man and woman who nearly starved their 12-year-old daughter to death to serve 50 years in prison before they are eligible for parole.Swine flu activity is "somewhat elevated" for this time of year in Hawaii, state health officials say, but it is not rising and the islands possibly can avoid the pandemic upsurge that occurred on the mainland.The mystery of the "hot spot" that created the Hawaiian Island chain over the last 75 million years has been unraveled with an experiment that "opened a window into the earth."
The state Department of Human Services director on Thursday defended a decision to cut childcare subsidies to some families by as much as 80 percentKalihi-Palama Health Center has a new shipment of H1N1 vaccine. It won't be around for long.
The county has no intention of implementing a pay-as-you-throw fee at solid waste transfer stations in the near future, Mayor Billy Kenoi said Wednesday.The Hawaii County Council doesn't want the state Land Use Commission dissolved after all.Two pit bulls belonging to a Kawaihae family were euthanized 48 hours after the dogs ripped open the throat of a neighbor's Labrador retriever and were deemed dangerous, said Lynette Fluaitt, director of operations with the Hawaii Island Humane Society.With home construction at a near standstill, Maui County will - and must - make some changes to its controversial residential work force housing policy, Council Member Wayne Nishiki said Wednesday.Charred wood and melted glass is all that remains of about one third of the northern portion of the former retail annex to the world-famous Coco Palms after a Thursday morning blaze further decimated a once-iconic hotel already in disrepair for years.A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday there was no basis for claims of discrimination and conspiracy made by former Kaua‘i Police Department Chief K.C. Lum against several county officials, upholding a lower court’s decision.
Workers at the state's public libraries will take 15 furlough days a year for the next two fiscal years, closing libraries on those days starting Dec. 16.Kevin Cronin, the state's embattled chief elections officer, informed the state Elections Commission yesterday that he intends to resign at the end of the year.President Obama's announcement on Tuesday of a troop surge in Afghanistan comes as Hawaii's Army National Guard prepares to send a unit to the war-torn country.Despite working for nearly two years to eliminate "illegal camping" at Kapi'olani Park, the city finds itself grappling with another homeless encampment there.On the Diamond Head end of Waikiki next to Kapiolani Park, a disabled Laura Lambertson pitched her tent for the night Monday on a strip of land between the sidewalk and Kalakaua Avenue, along with scores of other homeless people.As many as 1,275 new bed-and-breakfast homes could be established on Oahu under certain conditions intended to allow true homeowners to take in additional income to keep their properties.Hawaii's two U.S. senators, Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka, are in strong support of President Barack Obama's plan to add 30,000 troops to the Afghanistan war. But Hawaii's two House members, Reps Neil Abercrombie and Mazie Hirono, questioned the plan.Oahu law enforcement officials arrested a man they said conned Hawaii banks out of $130,000.
Hawaii County farmers who have lost crops to vog and sulfur dioxide emissions can continue applying for low-interest loans from the federal government.The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering more low-interest loans to Hawaii Island farmers whose crops are suffering from the vog, declaring the county as a primary natural disaster for a second time in less than 18 months.A three-day land and air search for Hana residents Carl and Rae Lindquist ended Monday when Maui firefighters conducted a 2-hour search of a streambed and a shoreline near where the couple's battered sport utility vehicle was found Saturday morning.A lawsuit filed in state court demands efforts to widen Kuhio Highway through Wailua be abandoned until an environmental impact statement is completed.
The Intermediate Court of Appeals is scrutinizing a Hawaii law passed in 2003 that declares that new, naturally formed beach land above the high-water mark should belong to the public -- not adjoining private property owners.In response to mounting criticism about how the short supply of swine flu vaccine is being distributed in Hawai'i, the state will change the way it doles out the vaccine.Nearly 100 acres of agricultural land next to the Turtle Bay Resort on O'ahu's North Shore are headed for a sealed-bid sale, four years after a Florida-based investment firm bought the oceanfront property for $2 million with plans to subdivide it for potential residential use.U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka will be holding 15 information briefings from December 1 to December 8 to explain changes in the way federal workers in Hawaii will be paid.Honolulu police said officers opened fire on a car that as accelerating toward them on Saturday, marking the third officer-involved shooting in a month.A North Shore surf instructor on Saturday rescued a family visiting from the Mainland who had been swept out to sea while bodyboarding at Hanalei Bay.Longtime Hana community leader, Realtor and former Maui News community correspondent Carl Lindquist and his wife, Rae, have been reported missing after the wreckage of their car was found in a Hana streambed, police said Saturday evening.Hundreds of children and children-at-heart lined the streets of downtown Hilo Saturday evening to catch their first glimpse of Santa Claus.On a Sunday in October, three Waimea men gather at 7 a.m. on private grazing land in South Kohala to hunt goats. For them it is partly foraging and partly tradition.Ulupalakua Ranch owner Pardee Erdman has donated more than 11,000 acres to the Maui Coastal Land Trust.When Debbie Hecht suggested to the Hawaii County Charter Commission that it should add an amendment making the Two Percent for Public Lands law a part of the County Charter, she got less than she bargained for.
The holidays give us the opportunity to count our Hawaiian blessings. Where else in the U.S. but in the makai areas of Hawaii can a person harvest pineapples, citrus, mangoes, papayas, bananas and avocados throughout the year and in the mauka areas, enjoy apples, plums, strawberries and pears.Hawaii's recession and sputtering economy have claimed another victim: the state Legislature's opening day celebration featuring lavish parties, floral and musical presentations, and guest lists that choked both chambers.The legislature needs more than 300 employees to work during the legislative session next year. The House and Senate hire extra employees for the session every year, but this year is different because of the bad economy.State harbors officials plan to increase user fees statewide to finance $618 million in repairs and improvement at harbors on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island.The Hawaii State Teachers Association said yesterday that teachers are willing to go back to the classroom on furlough days if they are paid to do so, calling into question a portion of Gov. Linda Lingle's proposal to restore 27 "furlough Fridays" beginning in January.About 5.5 million tourists visited Hawai'i in the first 10 months of the year, putting the state on track for an annual visitor count of about 6.5 million.Stimulus funds of $35 million have paved the way for a new road on the Big Island.Hawaii is full of extreme sport enthusiasts from big wave surfing to skydiving. One activity that is growing in popularity is base jumping, but it's also extremely dangerous.Six Hawaii Community Correctional Center employees have filed a complaint against the state and their labor union, charging that both violated the collective bargaining agreement in the aftermath of the closing of Kulani Correctional Facility.The search for the successor to Chancellor Rose Tseng is beginning, with seven months remaining before she steps down.Free taxi rides will be offered for the first time to West Hawaii residents as part of county efforts to make the roads safer from drivers who have had too much holiday spirits.Kaua‘i Police Department officers have promised stepped-up efforts to try to make this holiday season free of deaths on the road.A West Hawaii surfing group is poised to file a lawsuit and request a cease and desist notice against the county and a condominium complex for work on a seawall in Kailua-Kona.The Maui County Council Land Use Committee put off a decision on the Hanzawa's Variety Store rezoning Monday, and committee members asked everybody to "cool down."An October letter from the state Historic Preservation Division to the county in support of the makai route for the multi-use path factored into Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s decision Monday recommending the multi-use path on Wailua Beach, a county spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The readings at the 2-mile-high Mauna Loa Observatory show a troubling upward curve as the world counts down to crucial climate talks: Global warming gases are building in the atmosphere at record levels from emissions that match scientists' worst-case scenarios.Gov. Linda Lingle is standing by Ted Liu, her state business director, as the legislative auditor insists Lingle should consider firing him for "numerous and egregious acts."The state auditor, citing "numerous and egregious acts," has recommended that Gov. Linda Lingle remove Ted Liu as director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday that she would not "rubber stamp" the final environmental impact statement on Honolulu's $5.5 billion rail project, promising a thorough review of whether the city adequately explored alternatives and whether the financial plan remains sound given the recession.Disabled Maui veteran Robert Glass said a proposal to reduce state child-care subsidies for preschoolers, including his 3-year-old son, is taking away their chance for a bright future.Hawaii credit card users were saddled with an average card debt of $6,002 in the third quarter and posted the steepest percentage increase over the second quarter of any state.The University of Hawaii West Hawaii Center has cleared one hurdle, but several more remain before the community finally sees construction on a long-promised West Hawaii campus.Kaua‘i Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. on Monday announced his recommendation that Phase III of the multi-use coastal path along the island’s Eastside continue on Wailua Beach as previously planned rather than be diverted to a mauka route to assuage cultural concerns.The Honolulu City Council will be considering a proposal from Mayor Mufi Hannemann's administration to levy fines against people who put bulky trash items on curbs in front of their homes well before the scheduled pick-up day.Honolulu police on Monday arrested a driver accused of dragging an officer during a routine traffic stop in Kakaako on Sunday.The Hawaii County Council is moving its Puna office to a smaller space in the same Pahoa Marketplace shopping center, which will save $2,000 in monthly rental fees.A Maui man accused of selling military secrets to China has been found competent to stand trial.
More of Hawaii's bridges are in need of modernization than bridges in most other states, according to an annual survey of state and county bridges by Better Roads magazine.Leaders of Hawai'i's Neighbor Island counties say they'll manage to get through the fiscal year without budget deficits, but next year could bring employee furloughs and property tax increases.Homeless camping in Kapiolani Park in the heart of the Waikiki tourist district is a problem the city can't make go away.A joint panel of the state Legislature will examine the use of federal economic stimulus money in the state departments of health and human services.For the second time in less than three weeks, a Honolulu police officer has fired multiple shots at a vehicle.A probable cause hearing on a Hilo contractor's lien application against the state's biggest Burger King franchisee has been delayed.Maui County is in the process of reaching settlements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Health over alleged violations at the county's landfills from more than three years ago.A trio of experts on the workings of local government say while the existing “strong mayor” system has its faults, those problems can be addressed through elections, downplaying the need for a proposed switch to a council-county manager system.The holidays and the birth of a new year give us the opportunity to count our Hawaiian blessings. Where else in the U.S. but in the makai areas of Hawaii can a person harvest pineapples, citrus, mangoes, papayas, bananas and avocados throughout the year and in the mauka areas, enjoy apples, plums, strawberries and peaches?
The sale of 737 acres in Hamakua will go forward without a transparency amendment, thanks to County Council flip-flops Wednesday. The Hawaii County Council voted 6-3 Wednesday to approve Mayor Billy Kenoi's controversial proposal to attempt to sell 737 acres of Hawaii County land to help pay for government operations.School bus fares for Hawaii public school students will be going up at the beginning of 2010.
Public school parents will pay more for their kids to ride the school bus come next year after the state Board of Education last night voted 8-2 to raise one-way fares from 35 cents to 75 cents.The Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) announced Thursday that the state’s film office will remain intact despite layoffs.Senate leaders say they are ready to come back into session to halt next year's Furlough Fridays.The state Legislature is likely to return for a special session to address the issue of school furloughs, possibly in early December, according to state Sen. Roz Baker.U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye is encouraging many people to run for office and is urging "healthy competition" but has not formally endorsed Mayor Mufi Hannemann's expected bid for governor in 2010, according to an Inouye spokesman.Though this week the number of flu cases in Hawai‘i is just elevated or at the historic baseline, flu season has arrived in the state earlier than normal, state Department of Health officials said.More than 7,000 state workers identified as critical personnel have been offered priority access to the H1N1 vaccine to ensure that government operations continue running smoothly in the event of a worst-case flu scenario.The state wants to use the old Hilo Memorial Hospital building to provide job training to certain Hawaii Community Correctional Center inmates. Faced with opposition from both sides of the island, the Hawaii County Council on Wednesday postponed a resolution reducing the number of Kona meetings, saying the measure will be brought up again later in the budget process.A longtime dream of a Hawaii Community College campus at Kona took a step forward yesterday with the Board of Regents' approval of a development plan for the new campus.
There are only 1,100 Hawaiian Monk Seals left in the wild. One of them named KP2 (Kauai Pup 2) is going blind and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA is trying to help him see again. About 30,000 people are expected to attend an international Jehovah's Witnesses convention opening here today — the largest event of its kind ever held at the Hawai'i Convention Center.Honolulu's new police chief says his five-year plan includes "restructuring" the department, increasing community service and boosting morale, including possibly bringing back a popular three-day, 12-hour work schedule for some police officers.The Honolulu Police Department's plans to post the names and photos of alleged drunken drivers on a new Web page have disturbed some attorneys, who say it's unconstitutional and will infringe on the person's right to a fair trial.Nearly one-third of Honolulu real estate listing prices have dropped in the last six months, with the average decline in the 10 percent range, according to online real estate marketplace Trulia.comThe Hawaii County Council wants to abolish the state Land Use Commission and allow county governments to have full oversight over big developers.As the county moves forward with plans to construct a new landfill on a Kalaheo property currently in agricultural production, Kaua‘i Coffee Company this week renewed its objections to the proposal in advance of an important community meeting.Imagine an elevated concrete train viaduct rising from abandoned sugarcane fields just east of Kapolei and barreling through Waipahu, Pearl City and ‘Aiea, past Pearl Harbor and the airport and into downtown.Nearly 40 containers of Christmas trees are on the docks at Honolulu harbor Wednesday.About nine months ago, the Obama administration and Congress agreed to set aside $787 billion in stimulus dollars to help revitalize Main Street America. On Tuesday, Maui County Managing Director Sheri Morrison compared the glacial and byzantine efforts of 75 federal agencies - most of which never gave out grants before - to release those funds with "a snake trying to swallow a horse."Less than a year after the Hawaii County Council started a new term by pledging unprecedented unity, lawmakers' infighting has cost taxpayers nearly $50,000 in legal fees.The U.S. Census Bureau has hired 600 of the 2,500 people it needs on Hawaii Island, leaving 1,900 positions unfilled.Hawaii County will see its rent payments drop at the end of this year, as two leases expire and several offices return to the county building on Aupuni Street.Greatly curtailed hours for garbage transfer stations will go into effect Dec. 1, despite opposition from the public and questions from the Hawaii County Council.
The Trump International Hotel & Tower Waikiki Beach Walk, the first new Waikiki luxury property to open in more than 20 years, welcomed its first guests Monday.
Sales are up -- way up -- at Hualalai Resort.The current downturn in the visitor industry will end and 2010 will be a stabilizing year, members of the Maui Chamber of Commerce were told Monday morning. Speakers predicted a full-scale recovery should be in progress by 2011.Yet another forecast predicts Hawai'i won't come roaring back from a stubborn economic downturn, projecting only lackluster gains next year followed by modest growth in 2011.Hawaii's economy, which has endured rising unemployment, soaring foreclosures, mass layoffs and business shutdowns over the last 18 months, is expected to worsen before it begins turning the corner.Hawai'i has lost its distinction as the healthiest state in the nation, according to a new report by America's Health Rankings.A deal signed yesterday to get Honolulu's $5.3 billion rail project rolling means that the general excise tax money raised for the project is off-limits to state legislators trying to plug Hawaii's $1 billion budget gap, according to Mayor Mufi Hannemann.A Saturday meeting with state Sen. Brian Taniguchi helped persuade Gov. Linda Lingle to push a compromise offer to solve the Furlough Friday dilemma.Just days before the Hawaii County Council is set to decide if one chunk of Hamakua land should be sold to balance the budget, Mayor Billy Kenoi has announced a new community farming plan for another chunk.The Kaua‘i Police Department has confirmed a link between a man found murdered this month and an organized crime family from the East Coast, but would not elaborate at this time.
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.
Opponents of federal recognition for native Hawaiians are urging Hawaii's congressional delegation to hold hearings in Hawaii on the latest version of the Akaka Bill, which is being discussed in Congress this week.
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