Most of the state is now under the highest Centers for Disease Control level for COVID-19. The levels are "a measure of the impact of COVID-19 illness on health and healthcare systems," the CDC says.

It’s no secret that housing prices in Hawaiʻi have soared in recent years. But rental costs have also been rising sharply since just before the pandemic began. Pacific Business News editor in chief A. Kam Napier has more on the rising prices — and what’s behind them.

President Biden was in South Korea on Friday starting his first trip to Asia as president. He’ll also travel to Japan and meet with other members of the “Quad” — leaders of Australia, India and Japan. One topic will be a new regional economic plan. HPR’s Bill Dorman has more in this Asia Minute.

Nolan Espinda, the former head of the Hawaiʻi Department of Public Safety, was found dead Thursday in Kailua.

The Hawai‘i Department of Health’s Food Safety Branch has issued red placards and shut down two separate restaurants on Maui and Oʻahu.

We Are Samoa Festival hosted the World Fireknife Championships at the Polynesian Cultural Center last week. HPR’s Zoe Dym attended the event and talked with two of the competitors.