Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi
General Assignment ReporterKuʻuwehi Hiraishi is an award-winning journalist and founding member of the ‘Ahahui Haku Moʻolelo (Hawaiian Journalism Association). She was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, and was one of the first graduates of the Hawaiian language immersion school Ke Kula ʻo Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu.
She went on to study Journalism & Mass Communications at Seattle University, and returned home to work on the Hawaiian language television news program ʻĀhaʻi ʻŌlelo Ola, which aired on Hawaii News Now’s Sunrise morning program.
Her unique skillset of Hawaiian language fluency and journalism were valuable assets in building the Hawaiian news media industry with the launch of ʻŌiwi TV, an on-demand television news station with programming produced by and for Native Hawaiians. Her in-depth research and reporting on Native Hawaiian water rights earned her and the ʻŌiwi TV team their first international journalism award at the World Indigenous Television Broadcasters’ Network Journalism Awards in 2012.
After a brief hiatus working in communications for the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, she returned to journalism as a general assignment reporter at Hawaiʻi Public Radio. Her commitment to her Native Hawaiian community and her fluency in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi has led her to build a de facto ʻōiwi beat at the news station, covering issues important to the Native Hawaiian and Indigenous communities. Contact her at khiraishi@hawaiipublicradio.org.
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The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement have partnered to launch the DHHL Wildfire Relief Program.
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After nearly 30 years of grassroots community planning and engagement in East Maui and across the islands, the rural community of Kīpahulu saw its CBSFA signed into law Friday. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports on the response from those who made it happen.
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Hawaiʻi will celebrate Prince Kūhiō Day at the end of this month. For some island residents, this may be just another day off. But for hundreds who celebrate across the island chain and the continental U.S., Prince Kūhiō is more than just a holiday.
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Funding for the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act provides financial assistance for families to obtain homes, make renovations and build community facilities. The funding is a record increase of over $320 million from last year.
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Public health researchers at UH Mānoa are trying to determine just how vigorous outrigger canoe paddling really is. The co-lead researcher said the results could mean increased grant funding for canoe clubs — and potentially health insurance coverage. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi has more.
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A bill that would allow the state Commission on Water Resource Management to hire its own legal counsel is receiving pushback from the state’s largest law firm: the attorney general’s office. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi explains.
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A traditional Hawaiian fishpond on Kauaʻi's north shore is now permanently in the hands of the community. This is welcome news to generations of Hanalei families who pushed back against resort development more than 40 years ago. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports.
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Since the program’s inception two years ago at the Pololū Valley Lookout, community members-turned-stewards have helped to inform and connect people to the history and culture of the area. As HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports, there have been fewer hiking accidents and parking violations.
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The fate of a controversial development on the south side of Hawaiʻi Island remains in limbo after a public hearing in Hilo stretched more than eight hours into Thursday evening. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports.
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Hawaiʻi lawmakers have advanced a measure to bolster a native fish hatchery program in Waiʻanae that would produce pua, or juvenile mullet, for fishponds and stock enhancement. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports.