Mark Ladao
News ProducerMark Ladao moved to Hawaiʻi as a teenager and graduated from Moanalua High School. He graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with a bachelor's in biology and, later, in journalism. He was a general assignment reporter at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser for four years before coming to Hawaiʻi Public Radio as a news producer in 2023. He usually spends his free time rewatching Amélie.
Contact him at mladao@hawaiipublicradio.org.
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A measure to allocate nearly $20 million during the next fiscal year to the state Department of Agriculture for biosecurity measures is being described by some as a "landmark" bill. Nearly $3.2 million would fund 44 new department positions to support biosecurity. -
The Honolulu Salary Commission wants to give the mayor, city lawmakers and department leaders a raise of about 3.6%. The commission this week made its final recommendations for the salaries, which now go through the Honolulu City Council. It includes a salary of $217,000 for the mayor, $127,000 for the council chair and $117,000 for councilmembers. -
Some important invasive species bills are close to making it through this legislative session. It’s clear that prevention of invasive species is a focus for state lawmakers this year. -
A handful of Honolulu councilmembers have introduced resolutions to let voters decide how the commission operates. The resolutions come a year after the commission gave councilmembers a controversial 64% raise. The commission said the raise followed and made up for years of stagnant pay. HPR's Mark Ladao has more. -
Long-term funding could finally be coming to the state’s DA BUX program. The initiative cuts the price in half for eligible produce grown by Hawaiʻi farmers, and this year’s state budget bill could allocate a recurring $1 million annually to DA BUX. -
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. -
Herbal cigarettes don’t contain tobacco or nicotine but can still be harmful to users, so the Honolulu City Council wanted to limit their accessibility to Oʻahu’s youth via Bill 1. -
Last week the Senate Committee on Ways and Means allocated the funding in House Bill 2619. That money would go toward more than 100 new and existing DOA positions related to the state’s management of invasive species. -
Four months after live coconut rhinoceros beetles were found in Kīhei, the state Department of Agriculture says no other evidence of the invasive pest has been found. -
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.
