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With sleeping bags, pillows, a baby stroller and a teddy bear, people continued a sit-in at Gov. Linda Lingle's outer office for the second day yesterday, demanding an end to furlough days at public schools.
Members of the group "Save Our Schools Hawaii" are trying to put the heat on Governor Lingle to end furlough fridays, They are camping out for a second night inside the reception area of her office.
Leaders in the state Senate remain divided over whether to raise the state general excise tax to balance the state budget.
A new report from a national environmental organization blasts Hawaii's aquaculture industry, saying it damages the environment and is not sustainable. Companies that farm fish in Hawaii dispute the report.
The Hawai'i Supreme Court yesterday ruled that an updated environmental impact statement is necessary to expand Turtle Bay Resort, reversing lower court decisions and handing a victory to opponents of the long-delayed development plan for the North Shore property.
Four great performances graced the stage of the Edith Kanaka'ole Multipurpose Stadium on Wednesday night in a show that echoed long into the night and into the hearts of thousands who watched.
More positive signs emerged for the state's hotel industry in February, with occupancy rising for the third consecutive month and a slowing in the decline of both room rates and revenue.
The new drought numbers are out and for the first time Hawaii has reached the worst level possible on the drought scale.
Hawaii County Council members favor delaying new energy-efficiency building standards, and want public hearings held on the issue.
The Hawaii County Council gave the go-ahead Wednesday to privatize the county's green waste collection and disposal, provided the Kealakehe transfer station remains open for residential drop off of green waste.
A plan that would charge parking fees at Honokohau Small Boat Harbor in Kailua-Kona drew strong opposition Wednesday evening at a state Department of Land and Natural Resources talk story.
It's billed as a compromise betwaeen commercial aquarium fish collectors and recreational divers and snorkelers.
It was a successful rescue. Wildlife experts have freed a trapped whale after a dramatic race against the setting sun.
A group of parents upset with Hawaii public school closures on furlough Fridays held a sit-in at the state Capitol on Wednesday.
Supporters of the Royal Hawaiian Band are gearing up for a fight to save what's believed to be the second oldest marching band in the United States.
Asian-American Democrats are criticizing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for favoring a white former congressman from Hawaii over the Asian-American State Senate President in a hotly contested special election to represent a majority-minority Hawaii district.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's TV commercial slams Republican candidate Charles Djou, questioning his credibility on the jobs issue.
Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou said yesterday that new campaign advertisements against him by national Democrats are an "outside interference" in the special election for Congress and should be rejected by voters.
Within the next five years to 10 years, Hawaii's last sugar producer, Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Co. could be out of the topsy-turvy granulated sugar business and making much-desired biofuels, company, federal and state officials announced Wednesday afternoon.
Every year a Hilo crowd gathers at the Edith Kanakaole Multipurpose Stadium to watch Ho'ike night, which kicks off the Merrie Monarch Festival.
Underscoring the last-minute changes that sometimes occur during the free Hawaiian entertainment sessions at venues all over Hilo during Merrie Monarch Week, Hoku Award-winning performer Karen Keawehawaii was unexpectedly summoned from the audience on Tuesday to give a performance at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel. She wowed spectators with her powerful falsetto renditions of "Ku'uhoa" and "Pualilia."
O'ahu's housing market appears to have established a firm footing toward recovery, with sales activity in March marking the third consecutive month that single-family home median prices rose over the same month last year.
Starting Monday, independent tour operators won't be allowed inside Hilo Harbor unless they have pre-arranged passengers from cruise ships docked there.
Standing atop seven ancient Hawaiian burials, on a lot with at least 24 more, the house that Joe Brescia is building at Naue, on Kauai’s North Shore, has been the focus of protests and prayers, emotional meetings, a stand-off with police, sacred rituals, a months-long vigil and lawsuits — some of them still ongoing.
On a recent afternoon, rental cars filled the parking lots at Hapuna Beach State Park.
In an ideal world, Hawaii County would reuse, recycle or compost so much of its waste that landfills would be all but unnecessary.
With Mayor Billy Kenoi and the county Board of Ethics singing out of different hymnals, the Hawaii County Council Finance Committee on Tuesday postponed a bill tightening the ethics code until it could have both proposals on the table at the same time.
Mayor Charmaine Tavares racked up another early endorsement when the United Public Workers union announced its support for her re-election bid during a news conference Tuesday.
The Kaua‘i Fire Commission on Monday voted unanimously against a proposed change to the County Charter that would give the mayor more power to hire and fire the chief of the Kaua‘i Fire Department.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Gay and Robinson to pay a fine of $110,000 for its failure to close 40 large-capacity cesspools, according to a press release Wednesday.
The Coast Guard and state boating officials are enforcing stricter safety guidelines that could put canoe races farther from harbor entrances and away from spectators.
State House and Senate lawmakers yesterday preserved an array of difficult and unpopular options to contain the state's $1.2 billion deficit, moving into the final weeks of the session with the tools — if not the consensus — to balance the budget.
Thirty-seven transactions that are now exempt from the state's 4 percent general excise tax would be subject to a tax of 1 percent starting July 1, and the tax on a barrel of oil would jump to $1.55 from a nickel under proposals advancing in the Legislature.
The Navy wants to increase up to sevenfold the state's solar power output as part of a militarywide effort in Hawai'i to reduce its dependency on foreign fossil fuels.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has contacted Hawaii Sens. Dan Inouye and Dan Akaka to inform them the committee might support former U.S. Rep. Ed Case in Hawaii's special congressional election, the political Web site Politico reported Tuesday.
Honolulu City Council members are growing increasingly skeptical that Hawaiian Waste Systems can fulfill a contract to ship 100,000 tons of municipal trash to the Mainland by the end of September.
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis and its crew are back in Honolulu Tuesday night after a two month mission to crack down on illegal fishing in the South Pacific.
The 2011 APEC Summit meetings will bring 21 world leaders and 20,000 visitors to the state, and it's expected to pump millions of dollars into the state's economy, but hosting the nine day event comes with a big price tag.
County Council members have toured the site of a proposed 100-unit Hilo apartment complex, listened to area residents' objections and now appear ready to vote on the rezoning request.
Nearly $4 million in federal stimulus funds is headed for the Big Island to refurbish three public housing areas
Hawaii County wants to save about $2 million per year by privatizing its green waste collection and disposal, but some West Hawaii residents worry the Department of Environmental Management is going to leave them holding the bag.
Three years of budget cuts have led to some bleeding from balance sheets, including those of the nonprofit organizations that rely on Maui County dollars to aid ever-growing numbers of people needing help in the economic downturn.
In a move to cut costs at a time of a projected $56 million budget shortfall, Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares has proposed slashing, but not eliminating, funds to two bus programs that serve Maui's elderly and disabled.
Kaua‘i Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. announced 17 county employees from the county’s different departments to the Employee Recognition Program and 2009 Service Awards coordinated by the county’s Personnel Services Department.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday affirmed a ruling that shields Hawai'i's teacher furlough program from a federal legal challenge by a group of special-education students and their parents.
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals Monday upheld Hawaii's public school furlough program against a legal challenge from eight special education students and their parents.
Three bids to buy the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, including one that does not include assets listed in the sales offering, are being reviewed by the U.S. Justice Department and the state attorney general's office.
State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa and her top supporter, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, are rejecting Washington rumors that Democrats are trying to get Hanabusa out of the special congressional election.
Inouye told KITV4 he is not concerned about a congressional newspaper report that U.S. House Democrats are considering throwing their support behind democrat Ed Case.
Child welfare advocates are rallying to save the remnants of Healthy Start, a nationally recognized child-abuse prevention program whose state funding shrank from $15 million two years ago to $1.3 million this fiscal year and which is now in danger of being eliminated altogether.
While the Lingle administration continues to study the impact of the new federal health care reform law on Hawaii's landmark Prepaid Health Care Act, key state lawmakers say they do not believe it will negatively affect island residents.
A current state court judge’s assistant at the Lihu‘e courthouse has in a lawsuit accused a former supervisor of sexual harassment, retaliation, defamation, infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and damage to her marriage.
George Na'ope was a hula master like no other and a colorful figure whose small shadow looms large this week over the Merrie Monarch Festival he co-founded.
Hundreds of homes and businesses in areas long believed to be safe from a tsunami could be added to O'ahu's evacuation map in light of new research.
The committee drafting a new platform for the state Republican Party has dropped language that some interpreted as support for federal legislation to establish a governing entity for native Hawaiians.
Japan resident Kanayo Miyagawa pulled out her camera and asked friend, Taeko, to pose in front of Scandinavian Shave Ice in Kailua-Kona.
A local doctor and his mentor are at the heart of a Maui Memorial Medical Center pilot project that treats irregular heartbeats and reduces the risk of stroke.
Hawaii's participation in the 2010 Census, so far among the worst in the nation, is raising concerns about whether the state will again lose out on millions of dollars in federal funding.
Hawai'i is among the nation's leaders in swine flu vaccinations and health officials here credit an aggressive educational program for much of the success.
The leaders of the state Legislature's two money committees continue to criticize Gov. Linda Lingle's handling of the state budget shortfall.
Hawaii hotels have performed better in the economic slump than key rival destinations, despite cutting room rates less.
Maui coral reef lovers came looking for answers Tuesday night from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources about an accident in which state officials and private contractors dropped 125 concrete slabs onto the Keawakapu artificial reef.
A day after votes by Hawai'i lawmakers and the teachers union renewed pressure for resolution of the state's teacher furlough mess, Gov. Linda Lingle's office released new details about the "nonessential" personnel that have become a $30 million sticking point in the controversy.
One Big Island lawmaker wants police and fire personnel to forgo pay raises for a year to share in the sacrifices most other government workers are making.
The popular Peppa's Korean BBQ on South King Street was shut down yesterday by the state Department of Health after seven people were diagnosed with E. coli poisoning last month, four of them requiring hospitalization.
An April Fool's Day joke on KUMU-FM that the upcoming Merrie Monarch Festival was canceled because of the recent deaths of three hula legends, left many in Hawaii dismayed Thursday morning.
Award-winning songwriter Roslyn Catracchia says her prayers have been answered. Honolulu police recovered her stolen computers Thursday and they still contained her prized compositions.
When it comes to selling its Paauilo lands, Hawaii County is batting .000.
Rows of tables, stacks of documents, piles of pens. The Hawaii County Finance Department was ready. In fact, only one thing was missing from the much heralded bid opening for the first Hamakua land sale -- bidders.
As the Kaua‘i section administrator in the state Department of Human Services Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division, on Monday she had the unenviable task of hand-delivering letters of layoff to 22 of her co-workers.
The county's long-term solid waste management plan is up for review Tuesday by a Hawaii County Council committee.
In 2008, James Koshiba helped launch Kanu Hawaii, a nonprofit that promotes and supports Island-style sustainability.
The Army National Guard accepted six new Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters on Tuesday in a dedication attended by both of Hawaii's U.S. senators.
Laulima -- cooperation -- was cited repeatedly during Tuesday's groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the future Ane Keohokalole Highway.
The House Finance Committee late Wednesday night approved a plan that would end furlough Fridays, but it left open the amount that would be funneled from the state's Hurricane Relief Fund.
Hawaii State Teachers Association members overwhelmingly voted to support a $92 million supplemental agreement that would end Furlough Fridays in public schools.
April 12th. That's the deadline lawmakers have set for the governor, teachers union and Board of Education to come up with a consensus to end school furloughs.
A proposed audit of the Department of Taxation now in the hands of the Senate Ways and Means committee is related to allegations from current and former department employees about state-level mismanagement of tax dollars.
Hawaii’s Department of Education paid $17,100 to a restroom cleaning consultant and $1.7 million for substitute clericals, according to a new report from The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii (GRIH) and premiere taxpayer watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW).
More than 350 bankruptcy cases were filed in March -- the highest monthly total in nearly 41/ 2 years -- as individuals and businesses in the state continued to struggle with the recession.
The seven-tower Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort and Spa plans to add two more timeshare towers as part of its most significant 10-year master plan since the resort opened in 1955.
New laws that prohibit unauthorized tents and shopping carts in city parks are now official. Mayor Mufi Hannemann on Wednesday signed the two bills into law and police will begin enforcing the restrictions on April 19.
A group of builders, environmental groups, lawyers and public agencies and institutions has been quietly meeting in private to help shape the first overhaul of Hawai'i's environmental laws in 40 years, even as lawmakers hold public hearings on a bill that is likely to go nowhere this session.
Critics say State Sen. Colleen Hanabusa's new TV commerical does not tell the whole story when she says she helped cut legislative salaries.
Crime is up, but Hawaii County police and prosecutors are trying to hold the line on their budgets.
Maui County welcomed 174,027 visitors in February, a gain of more than 7 percent compared with the same month last year. Every other county showed an erosion in the already weak traffic count, although small ones.
Former Maui Police Department officer Allison Moore pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 25 charges, including deceiving the department, tampering with evidence, drug possession and forging doctors' notes.
The unemployment rate for Kaua‘i held steady in February at 9.1 percent, according to recently released statistics from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
A jump in the number of visitors traveling to Maui in February helped offset declines on the other major islands, the Hawai'i Tourism Authority reported yesterday.
The best combination of green and budget for accommodations? Camping, of course
The state House Finance Committee agreed yesterday that voters should decide whether the state school board will be appointed by the governor.
The state stood by its decision yesterday to institute a 10 p.m. curfew at two Kalihi public housing projects following a string of violent confrontations that ended in a shooting Monday, but some residents said the security measure goes too far.
Hawaii got top marks for setting high standards and an agenda for education reform in the competition for Race to the Top federal funds. But it was graded low on helping charter schools and lifting student achievement.
A proposed constitutional amendment to abolish Hawaii's elected school board might be in the hands of voters in November.
Honolulu was ranked the second-most expensive city in the world to do business among 112 cities studied in a recent global survey.
Supporters say it could have been ground breaking legislation to protect sharks, instead Senate Bill 2169 was deferred by State House Judiciary Chair Jon Riki Karamatsu, essentially taking all the bite out of the bill.
The Department of Human Services Kalihi Unit is one of 31 the state's shutting down as DHS switches to an on-line and over-the-phone application system.
Pedestrian safety advocates are urging both drivers and pedestrians to pay attention and avoid taking risks.
While Maui County might be facing its largest budget hole ever, the buses still need to run, and Mayor Charmaine Tavares said she is sticking with her pledge to start building a bevy of benches and shelters this year to protect riders from the sun, rain and wind.
Eliminating more vacant positions, encouraging early retirement and seeking federal money were among the suggestions County Council members gave Monday for avoiding a tax hike and service cuts.
Hawaii County administration plans to plug a $24 million hole in property tax revenues by raising tax rates, but a corresponding decline in property values is supposed to make it a wash for property owners.
A West Hawaii resident is questioning police and other state and county officials' inaction after he spent six months trying to report alleged, ongoing sexual abuse of a minor.
While a burglary-free community might be an unrealistic goal, it is what the Neighborhood Watch program strives to accomplish — and with noted success.
A high-wind advisory remains in effect for all islands until 6 tomorrow night.
The state's budget crisis continues to echo through the Capitol as the Senate prepares a budget that moves inmates to the mainland by closing a prison module, cuts the work year for school principals, and even includes a 3 percent pay cut for lawmakers, judges and state executives.
The state Senate Ways and Means Committee yesterday produced its draft of the state budget, avoiding a broad-based tax increase but scooping hotel-room taxes from the counties to help close the state's $1.2 billion deficit.
The state Department of Human Services will lay off nearly half of its 517 workers who process applications for government benefits and will shut down 31 eligibility offices statewide under a cost-cutting plan set to go into effect June 30.
A modernization and consolidation plan for some operations within the Department of Human Services would expand benefits for the needy and save the state about $8 million a year, the Lingle administration says.
Cockfighting is illegal, but that didn't stop Hawaii lawmakers from advancing a resolution yesterday recognizing its cultural value.
State Sen. Sam Slom, president and executive director of Smart Business Hawaii, and Malia Zimmerman, co-founder of online news journal Hawaii Reporter, have expressed an 11th-hour interest in purchasing the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
Data for pregnant women on the Big Island suggest about half of the island's 37,892 children under age 18 were exposed before birth to alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use, researchers report.
The fourth installment of "Pirates of the Caribbean" doesn't begin filming until this summer, but they're already looking for extras. There will be two casting calls held in Oahu & Kauai
Local songwriter Roslyn Catracchia is asking the public to help in getting back her life’s work. Burglars broke into Catracchia’s home in Aina Haina Sunday, and stole computers that contained 20 years of her work.
Forced to make difficult budget decisions due to a dramatic drop in tax revenue collections, Mayor Charmaine Tavares has proposed to eliminate Maui County's only helicopter ambulance service, her staff said.
Keauhou Beach Resort's 40th anniversary celebration Sunday summoned memories for former employee Elaine Watai, of Kailua-Kona, who shared stories and old photographs of the hotel in its heyday.
Kaua‘i Island School’s robot won’t be coming home just yet.
Ringed rice coral appears strikingly modest for a species that is caught in the struggle over greenhouse gas emissions.
Failing to implement “common-sense measures” and neglecting to secure an incidental take permit to help mitigate the deaths and injuries to rare native seabirds led conservation groups to file a lawsuit last week against Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative, court documents show.
State lawmakers are again looking to raise the barrel tax on petroleum products to finance food and energy security programs, but this year there is a twist: most of the new revenue could initially help reduce the state's budget deficit.
About 200 Chinatown residents gathered at the Sun Yat Sen Cultural Center on Kukui Street yesterday to show their opposition to a proposed city project for chronically homeless people.
Thousands of people turned out in Maui for a chance to appear in the Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston movie "Just Go With It."
The prospect of being an extra in the upcoming Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston movie "Just Go With It" drew people like locusts Saturday to the Lipoa Center in Kihei.
It was a tribute to a trailblazer. A distinguished crowd turned out in downtown Honolulu Sunday afternoon to celebrate the life of the late congressman and broadcaster Cec Heftel.
Cockfighting is illegal in all 50 states, but the practice continues in Hawaii. State lawmakers on Monday are expected to consider a resolution that recognizes the cultural, financial and historical aspects of the activity without making it legal again.
Animal rights groups are protesting a resolution before Hawai‘i lawmakers supporting the recognition of cockfighting as a cultural activity.
The Hawaii County Council will be sharpening its pencils next week, as the Finance Committee goes line-by-line over Mayor Billy Kenoi's spending plans for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
It's an age-old problem: You move into a new place, and none of your old stuff looks right in it.Hawaii County's solution: Spend another $400,000 on furniture and window treatments on top of the $24.6 million already spent to renovate the County Building on Aupuni Street.
New energy-efficiency building standards Hawaii County plans to start enforcing in May will be expensive, possibly unnecessary and may outlaw common home designs, says Puna Councilwoman Emily Naeole-Beason.
An Ocean View man convicted of manslaughter for shooting and killing an intruder was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison.
Shoes and slippers lined Hulihee Palace's entryway Saturday as residents and visitors meandered about the 172-year-old royal vacation home taking in its history and beauty for the first time since the museum closed its doors to the public more than three years ago.
With the housing market still wobbling like a Front Street reveler on Halloween, West Maui continues to have a glut of market-priced homes.
Jean Souza, the Kaua‘i programs coordinator for the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, said she received a call from Kaua‘i police dispatch reporting calls of a whale being born in the harbor.
Hawaii is in a position to develop as a model for holistic care in the new health care reform movement, says Shirley Otis-Green, a national authority on palliative care.
The state is declaring victory in the fight against an invasive species that killed thousands of Hawai'i's trees — thanks to some scientific detective work that took one entomologist all the way to Tanzania to enlist a natural enemy of the gall wasp.
Nearly half of a randomly selected group of Hawaii public school fourth-graders tested below basic reading levels, according to a nationwide assessment.
A parents group, the teachers union and the state Board of Education want legislators to support restoring cuts in public school days, despite a warning by Republican Gov. Linda Lingle that she would restrict the funds to pay for it.
A preliminary report released by two federal agencies confirmed that when the state accidentally dropped 125, 1.3-ton concrete slabs onto a swath of coral reef last year, it damaged a living habitat for myriad fish and other aquatic life-forms.
A public informational meeting will be held Tuesday to discuss the investigation of coral damage at Keawakapu reef during a state reef-enhancement project in December.
Honolulu's proposed rail-transit project needs to be conducted with "a higher level of transparency," the state Department of Transportation said yesterday as it made public all its correspondence on the issue.
The top uniformed officer in the U.S. military yesterday sharply criticized Fort Shafter's Lt. Gen. Benjamin R. "Randy" Mixon after Mixon said he is against repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gays in the military.
After a top-level public scolding over his remarks on the military's policy regarding gays, the commander of U.S. Army Pacific issued a terse "no comment" yesterday from his headquarters at Fort Shafter.
An attorney for the U.S. Army argued in court on Thursday that Army officials have no legal duty to report child abuse to civilian authorities.
A lawyer for two boys filed suit against the state Thursday, saying the state could have prevented years of abuse they suffered from their legal guardians. It's a case prosecutors referred to as a "house of torture."
The video playing on YouTube shows 95-year-old Beatrice Muranaka talking to her pet bird, walking with her walker, and trying to call Charles Schwab.
According to Deputy Prosecutor Rick Damerville, people are still being caught and prosecuted for welfare fraud despite state budget cuts that have left the Big Island with one welfare fraud investigator instead of the three it once had.
A well project in North Kona got the environmental green light from a state economic development agency.
Roy Yasay got more than appreciation premiums from the Hawai‘i Counts 2010 Census Van which was parked at the Salt Pond Beach Park Sunday.
Gov. Linda Lingle has sent a letter to all 100 U.S. senators, reaffirming her opposition to the latest version of a bill that would allow native Hawaiians to create a sovereign government, but Hawaii's two senators predict the bill will pass without her support.
The Native Hawaiian community and the military have often been at odds over the use of land across the islands. But Wednesday, representatives from both signed a promise to work together.
The state agency that for years has struggled to protect Hawai'i 's historic and cultural sites is in danger of losing federal funding that amounts to half its budget.
The state Historic Preservation Division risks losing more than $1.1 million in federal funding -- about half its budget -- due to program lapses detailed in a new report by the National Park Service.
Hawai'i state and county officials are pitching Google Inc. in the hopes of landing one of the free ultra-high speed broadband networks the company is proposing to install around the country.
The state and the four counties have made a bid to be part of online search giant Google's test of ultra high-speed broadband.
Gov. Linda Lingle is asking the Legislature for $40 million in emergency funds to help the Department of Human Services cover its April payment to the state's Medicaid providers.
In a survey of 500 residents that began statewide in December, 71 percent supported a 60-cent-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax to reduce smoking and the state budget deficit.
Lawmakers Thursday, will debate a bill that would carve out $86 million from the Hurricane Relief Fund to end school furloughs.
Gubernatorial candidate Neil Abercrombie says he isn't looking for villains to blame for the continuing school furloughs.
The city, not the state, will have to pay to resolve the issue of a planned commuter rail line running too close to the Honolulu International Airport, according to a Nov. 3 letter from the state Department of Transportation.
With each delay along the way, the City’s mantra about its multibillion-dollar rail proposal remains unwavering.
Little more than two years after opening its doors, Hilo's Yukio Okutsu Veterans Home finds itself nearly full.
Facing opposition from farmers and ranchers, the Hawaii County Water Board is having second thoughts about discontinuing its agricultural subsidy, a move that could cause residential rates to rise more than first thought.
The $23 million fresh fruit processing line that three years ago was supposed to represent the new future of Maui Pineapple Co. was auctioned Tuesday for $125,000.
The carcass of a rare beaked whale will be a "treasure chest" of information for scientists, after it was recovered in Hana this week.
A weekend dog attack that left three Kapa‘a High School sheep dead highlights the shortcomings in the school’s struggling agriculture program and the dearth of student interest in farming, the school’s principal and primary ag teacher said this week.
Clayton Hale remembers a time when professional musicians could make a decent living performing on the Big Island.
Advocates for the poor and members of Hawaii's largest public worker unions rallied at the state Capitol on Tuesday to urge lawmakers to hike the general excise tax 1 percent.
Advocates for the poor and labor union workers rallied yesterday for an increase in Hawaii's version of the sales tax as anti-tax demonstrators urged the government to back off.
Despite two new proposals aimed at ending Furlough Fridays for public school students, the issue does not seem any closer to being settled.
Hours after education officials and Gov. Linda Lingle announced competing proposals to end teacher furloughs in Hawai'i's public schools yesterday, it was already clear that no breakthrough was at hand.
Two competing plans have been released, to end Furlough Fridays in Hawaii schools.
The Board of Education and teachers union Tuesday reached tentative agreement to end public school teacher furloughs.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said today that Kmart Corporation will pay $120,000 and furnish other relief to settle an age discrimination suit involving a 70-year-old pharmacist at a Honolulu store.
Kaua'i County and UPW officials yesterday signed a supplemental agreement on an automated refuse collection service for up to 3,200 homes in Puhi, Lihu'e and portions of Hanama'ulu starting July 1.
Kaua‘i County and United Public Workers signed an agreement Tuesday that clears the path for a “milestone” program to replace traditional three-worker trash collection teams with mechanized, side-loading trucks operated by a single employee.
The opening day of the Maui County fiscal year 2011 budget review Monday was a day of pie charts, spreadsheets and phrases like "tightening belts" and "sharing the pain."
Members of the Hawaii County Band gave perhaps the most important performance of their lives Monday, yet there was nary a musical instrument in sight.
The Hawaii County Band accounts for a scant one-tenth of 1 percent of the county's $375.3 million budget. But Monday night, it consumed 96.7 percent of a three-hour County Council hearing on the budget.
Hawai'i's population grew an estimated 0.7 percent per year from July 1, 2000, to July 1, 2009, a slight decrease from the previous decade, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released yesterday.
The 1960s show tune "Hey Big Spender" may as well be dedicated to Hawaii households because we are third in the United States, according to a new report by Bundle.com.
A West Hawaii Realtor says the real estate market has reached bottom, but a long-time appraiser thinks the market, while showing improvement, has yet to stabilize.
As an 18-month trial period allowing leashed dogs on a section of the multi-use path draws to a close, canine-lovers in favor of permitting their furry friends on the entirety of Ke Ala Hele Makalae are pushing for county action.
Self-described pragmatists, who favor looking forward instead of back, tend to be skeptical of those ever-vocal members of our community who set out to save the crumbling, peeling, faded remnants of what once vibrantly surrounded us.
State Sen. Donna Mercado Kim says her financial plans call for balancing the state budget without raising the general excise tax.
Candy and ice cream sales would be banned at Hawaii public schools under a measure that's close to passing the state Legislature.
President Barack Obama should put his future presidential library in Hawaii, where he was born and raised, according to state lawmakers.
The 174-year-old Royal Hawaiian Band is safe for now.
Barring an agreement between the state and the teachers union and funding from the state Legislature, next year's school calendar will include 17 furlough Fridays — leaving a total of 163 instructional days — under a recently approved public school calendar.
In a bid to crack down on longtime problem areas for prostitution, the Honolulu City Council is considering a bill that would target johns by impounding their cars.
Chinese and Korean visitors, two key targets for growth in the state's recovering tourism industry, find plenty to like about Waikiki but say the night life is lacking.
Honolulu police on Monday evening, caught a Hawaii State Hospital escapee with a violent record.
The federal health reform plan preserves Hawaii's pre-paid health care act of 1974 which has insured 92 percent of the state's population.
Family and friends of Nicole Scherzinger gathered in Makaha Valley to watch the premiere of season ten of "Dancing With The Stars."
Administrators are working to continue Hilo Medical Center's transformation from its humble beginnings as a small-town hospital to a major regional health care provider.
A new farmers market will open in less than two weeks, bringing aquaculture products grown at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority in North Kona to the public one Friday over the next four months.
Admittedly, the traffic mitigation plan to extend Waiale Road to Honoapiilani Highway will take a little imagination on the part of some people to envision, Maui County officials said this week.
The body of 58-year-old Kaua‘i resident Rodney Ahn found in Kalalau Valley last month prompted a state Department of Land and Natural Resources employee to raise questions about funding cutbacks, which he said are hurting the agency’s ability to perform its job.
As Hawai'i's precious recreation areas become increasingly crowded, a bill to protect shoreline access is gaining momentum in the Legislature.
The native koa and ohia trees in the Kau Forest Reserve reach 100 feet into the sky, providing a haven for critically endangered Hawaii birds to nest and forage.
The monumental health care reform bill passed by the U.S. House yesterday will have immediate results for some residents in Hawaii, supporters said.
Hawai'i's congressional delegation yesterday praised the historic restructuring of the nation's health care system as a momentous step forward.
Local supporters of the bill praised its promise to bring health coverage to millions, reduce costs of prescription drugs while extending coverage for consumers with pre-existing conditions.
As the health care reform passed through legislation, some local politicians celebrated the landmark bill.
Scores of private companies, nonprofit groups and state agencies will divvy up more than $412 million this year in earmarked federal funds that were designated by one or more of Hawaii's four members of Congress.
Well, the other shoe has dropped and it now appears that unlike the House, which was willing to look at other ways to fill the looming general fund budget gap, the state Senate seems to be more than willing to solve the fiscal crises facing the state by increasing the general excise tax.
Just weeks before hula's premier event, the hula world is mourning the loss of two of its best-known members.
The hula world, still shaken by the loss of Uncle George Na'ope late last year, is now dealing with the loss of the other pillar.
Beekeepers of all sorts know they must find a way to coexist with the destructive parasite as varroa mites continue to spread across the Big Island.
Drought has made many West Hawaii residents painfully aware of water here where catchment tanks and wells form the backbone of the water supply.
If and when it is up to Hawaii gubernatorial candidate Neil Abercrombie to take the state's reins, he said last week, one of the first orders of business will be to tackle the challenge that has eluded his recent would-be predecessors: Fix the public school system.
The wind was cold and clouds obscured the sun, but the photovoltaic system atop the One Stop Center was producing electricity Friday at Kaua‘i Community College.
Kauai County's Important Agricultural Lands advisory committee met for the third time Friday, revealing the differences of the diverse group.
In January, 19 of our 25 state senators joined together to introduce Senate Bill 2450, a measure to decriminalize possession of less than one ounce of marijuana.
"Simply balancing the budget doesn't get Hawaii back on track," Gov. Linda Lingle told Senate lawmakers Thursday.
Gov. Linda Lingle presented an updated six-year financial plan to the Legislature yesterday that presumes another round of pay cuts for state workers and reduces benefits for people in Quest, the state's health plan for the poor and disabled.
Gov. Linda Lingle appeared before the Senate money committee on Thursday with news that her six year budget plan includes cutting government worker salaries 5.5 percent.
Gov. Linda Lingle's long-term financial plan amounts to a "shell game" that simply shifts money around and relies on more pay cuts for public workers that would have to be negotiated after she leaves office, Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Donna Mercado Kim says.
State Auditor Marion Higa challenged Gov. Linda Lingle to take dueling lie detector tests yesterday, as her office released a stinging report on the Department of Budget and Finance.
The state legislative auditor blasts the Budget and Finance Department for its handling of taxpayer money and fires back at Gov. Linda Lingle administration over criticism of her report.
A feud between state auditor Marion Higa and Gov. Linda Lingle grew more heated yesterday with Higa challenging the administration to take a lie detector test.
State Auditor Marion Higa fired back Thursday afternoon, saying her reputation and credibility was attack two weeks ago when Governor Lingle called her audit draft "shoddy" and "a complete disregard for the facts." Higa said, "I think we need a affirmative response to set the record straight."
A nonbinding resolution that would call for Maui County to study the creation of a light-rail system moved forward Wednesday in the state House of Representatives.
Hawaii could see an increase in crime and other economic fallout if it legalizes medical marijuana dispensaries and softens medical marijuana laws, two Los Angeles police officers warned Wednesday.
Two prospective buyers squinted at azure skylines and tramped through fragrant, sun-warmed sugarcane Wednesday as the county showed off some of its land holdings for sale in Hamakua.
The Hawaii County Council on Wednesday paved the way for East Hawaii's only dialysis center to move into a new Hilo home.
A maximum of three officers on patrol at any given time in the Ka'u district doesn't provide enough police presence to deter crime, residents say.
The state Department of Education and Maui County have been accused of discriminating against girls' athletics.
Proposing to discharge up to 30 million gallons of wastewater effluent and treated shrimp remains into the ocean on a daily basis, Sunrise Capital has filed for a Draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination permit with the state Department of Health, according to an e-mail from the DOH’s communications office Thursday.
The tsunami that hit Hilo Bay on Feb. 27 did no appreciable physical damage, but it may have released a chemical demon.
Birthers beware: Hawaii may start ignoring your repeated requests for proof that President Barack Obama was born here.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority projects 200,000 more visitors this year, and has not wasted any time making sure it happens.
If you've ever had a hankering to wheel one of those big yellow pine trucks down the highway, Tuesday is your chance. Maui Pineapple Co. is auctioning off about 16 of the behemoths, along with a practically unused, state-of-the-art cannery and lots of other stuff that was left over when Maui's last pineapple plantation closed at the end of 2009.
The head of the state Department of Human Services yesterday said the proposed budget for her agency would result in cuts that are "draconian" and would cause "significant harm" to the people who need services the most.
People attending Hawai'i's biggest new-car show will be greeted by a Hawaiian Electric Co. display in what may mark the dawn of the era of the electric car
John Johnson was playing cards at a picnic table in Kapiolani Park when he learned that the Honolulu City Council had passed a ban on tents in parks unless the user has a permit.
You may have seen it, a black flag with the silhouette of a soldier. It's called the "prisoner of war, missing in action" flag. And if a bill clears the Legislature, that flag will fly at the State Capitol, six days a year.
A University of Hawaii student could face disciplinary action for taking nude and semi-nude photos and videos of himself in U.H. Manoa classrooms and posting them on the Internet.
A bill that would outlaw smoking in any motorized vehicle occupied by a child or young adult was advanced Tuesday by a 6-3 vote of a County Council committee.
Outgoing Environmental Management Director Lono Tyson contradicted two of his employees Tuesday, claiming that the department had no intention to close the Kealakehe green waste site and move green waste collections to Puuanahulu.
A 2nd Circuit Court judge has dismissed all remaining claims in a lawsuit filed against the county by three county employees.
Manu Kai, the primary support contractor for the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility, will be notifying 14 full-time employees this week of impending lay-offs, the company’s program manager said Wednesday.
State senators yesterday moved toward a general excise tax increase to help with the state's budget deficit after finding that targeted tax hikes on businesses would likely be passed on to consumers and could undermine economic growth.
A plan to raise the general excise tax 1 percentage point is on the move, but Senate leaders are predicting it will not get far.
The Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee has scuttled a proposed tax on Hawaii health insurance premiums.
House lawmakers passed a bill aimed at stopping private landowners from planting vegetation that encroaches onto public beaches.
Authorities said drunken driving arrests are up in Honolulu, in part because police are stepping up enforcement of DUI laws
It took a lot of trying, but the lone Mānoa coqui frog has been captured.
The skipper of a Pearl Harbor-based attack submarine was fired this week after he was found guilty of drunkenness and conduct unbecoming an officer.
The city's planned route for a new $5.3 billion rail system runs too close to runways at Honolulu International Airport, and that has become a major sticking point holding up the project.
Central Pacific Bank has announced a new chief executive - and a new strategy to build its cash reserves as required by federal banking regulators. The new strategy includes downsizing, and employees have been told there may be layoffs.
Everyone Acts Small in Local Banking
Hawaii's House of Representatives wants to spend $200-plus million to build Big Island schools, roads and even a hydroelectric power plant that may never move beyond a wish-list status.
A
lthough Kaua‘i has the restrictive agricultural-land subdivision rules, people have still been able to navigate around the system and establish residences on prime agricultural lands while not necessarily being engaged in substantial farming.
The Hawaii County Council has been given the Big Island Press Club's 13th annual Lava Tube award. According to the club, the award recognizes the year's most notable offense against the public's right to know.
Mayor Billy Kenoi's administration has done an about-face on selling its coqui frog sprayers following an outcry from a community group that's been conducting its own eradication program.
The coming months will result in the most difficult Maui County budget process in memory, Mayor Charmaine Tavares said Monday as she revealed her administration's fiscal year 2011 budget proposal.
With $53 million less in the county's anticipated fiscal year 2011 budget revenues compared with last year, Mayor Charmaine Tavares on Monday proposed to increase or "adjust" the real property tax rates for several classifications.
State law- makers are con- sidering a temporary solution to the con- tinuing problem of homeless campers living in some of Hawaii's most popular parks. They want the state to designate land for homeless safe zones.
The three leading candidates in the May special election for Congress differed sharply last night on the value of the federal economic stimulus package, with former Congressman Ed Case and state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa contending it was necessary to get through the recession while Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou argued it was too costly and ineffective.
Congressional candidates sought to set themselves apart from the pack last night as six of the challengers vying to replace Neil Abercrombie debated their positions on issues including health care reform, the national debt, public education and campaign finance reform.
The first debate for the six candidates running for Neil Abercrombie's congressional seat was held Monday night.
Debate video
Honolulu City Councilman Rod Tam, who will face a censure vote tomorrow, continued to use his city allowance to pay for meals with constituents and retirement party gifts even when he knew he was being investigated for possible abuses by the city Ethics Commission.
If Hawaii smokers think they are getting a deal buying cigarettes on the Internet, the state attorney general has some advice: Forget it.
Maui and Kauai plan smaller budgets in the next fiscal year, including plans for worker furloughs.
Mayor Charmaine Tavares presented her fiscal year 2011 budget Monday, and it includes increases in fees for water, wastewater, landfill tipping and auto registrations, as well as fare increases for the Maui Bus.
Following the state’s lead and attempting to keep its head above water during a weak economic climate, Kaua‘i County intends to furlough its employees two days per month.
The Kauai County Council’s annual budget deliberations, during which the heads of various county departments and agencies are grilled about their spending proposals, could once again take place with the cameras off.
A $36.7 million contract for Honolulu's planned train project failed to garner any competition.
The company that created the gay and lesbian cruise concept is commemorating its 25th birthday with a Silver Anniversary Cruise in Hawaii.
With Hawai'i's unemployment rate hovering at the highest level in three decades, Gov. Linda Lingle will offer $10 million to help businesses hire new workers by covering half of the workers' health care premiums for one year.
It was a war of words at the state capitol and Governor Linda Lingle took the first shot.
A bill moving through the Legislature would allow the Health Department to use the fees it gets from restaurants to hire more inspectors and put food violation records online.
Funding is in jeopardy for a clinic that has provided prenatal care to 200 pregnant women struggling with addictions and has delivered 82 babies with good results.
The one-woman show that is Project Prevention completed a three-day stint in Honolulu last week, generating 37 calls to the toll-free line and debate about Barbara Harris' unconventional approach to stopping substance-exposed births by paying drug addicts and alcoholics $300 to obtain long-term birth control or be sterilized.
Oahu Publications, Inc.(OPI) is selling the assets used in connection with the publication of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin newspaper, including the Star-Bulletin masthead and the URL, starbulletin.com, and related land, buildings and production assets.
Maui County's budget shortfalls have led to another cutback - television coverage of county boards and commissions.
Akaku: Maui Community Television and other public-access television stations would not have to compete for their contracts under a bill moving through the state Legislature.
The United Public Workers union announced that one of its units, which represents 9,000 blue-collar workers, overwhelmingly approved a new contract agreement with the state and counties.
Hanalei Bay might be touted as the best beach in America, but the bathroom facilities would likely be rated the worst, said Kaua‘i resident Jeff Tucker.
Plans by China's Hainan Airlines to provide service between Beijing and Honolulu appear to be running behind schedule again.
Embattled Honolulu City Councilman Rod Tam said he will introduce a resolution to eliminate the discretionary fund allowance given to council members to avoid the same problems he has encountered.
Police cited 167 Big Island drivers in the first two months of the new ban on using cell phones and hand-held electronic devices while driving.
The parking lot at Pu'u Pua'i Overlook in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park will be closed Monday, March 15, through Wednesday, March 31, for repaving.
Hundreds of beer enthusiasts ascended upon Kailua-Kona Saturday, taking in the views while enjoying a few cold brews to support local nonprofits.
Aging in 22-ounce bottles at the Kona Brewing Company is a very green beer.
For 17 years, the Friends of Moku'ula have dug through red tape to unearth ruins linked to Hawaii's ancient monarchy - and what many consider to be the greatest archeological find in the entire state.
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