-
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi is formally asking to create a standalone Department of Ocean Safety on Oʻahu. The council has been moving along its own measure that would ask voters this year if they wanted an ocean safety department with its own oversight commission.
-
The owner of the property selected for Lahaina's fire debris disposal site has filed a lawsuit against Maui County and its eminent domain actions to acquire the 20 acres. As HPR's Catherine Cluett Pactol reports, the property owner tried to donate 5 acres, but the county said it needs all 20 acres.
-
The report indicates that environmental and geographic factors combined with preparedness and response conditions enabled the Lahaina fire to rapidly intensify in August 2023. In the coming days, the HPR news team will bring you stories about how the report impacts local government, Hawaiʻi's main electric utility, and the community.
-
The 2024 Hawaiʻi legislative session is heading into the home stretch. Both chambers must discuss and agree on changes to measures that have survived this far. Here's how that process works.
-
Hawaiian Electric faces its share of recovery costs and legal fees related to the Maui wildfires. State lawmakers are debating whether or not to allow the utility to recoup some of those expenses through securitization — a fancy term for public financing of utility debt. HPR's Savannah Harriman-Pote has more.
-
U.S. Army leases on Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island expire in five years, and the Board of Land and Natural Resources is considering a land exchange as an alternative to new leases. This idea was met with overwhelming opposition at a recent BLNR meeting. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi has more.
-
The Maui Fire Department is expected to release a report Tuesday detailing how the agency responded to a series of wildfires that burned on the island during a windstorm last August.
-
The Board of Land and Natural Resources’ ongoing practice of issuing temporary permits to divert water from East Maui streams was upheld in a decision by the Hawaiʻi appeals court. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports.
-
Lawmakers are considering a resolution that would address vegetation management to reduce risks of future wildfires. The group would focus on invasive, flammable grasses along utility lines and other vegetation growing on utility poles.
-
Sen. Brian Schatz urged lawmakers to pass additional disaster relief funding for Maui and other disaster-impacted communities across the country.
-
Honolulu officials have started the process of removing the Haʻikū Stairs from the Koʻolau Mountains. The popular illegal hike, also known as the "Stairway to Heaven," has about 4,000 stairs. Debate has surrounded the removal for decades, heightened by neighborhood complaints of trespassing and noise. HPR's Ashley Mizuo reports.
-
Mayor Mitch Roth has submitted his proposed $888 million operating budget to the Hawaiʻi County Council for the next fiscal year. The mayor’s budget is up 6.6% from last year. It says $30.5 million of that bump would go to salary increases for employees.