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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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Anyone convicted of unauthorized driving three times would be guilty of a Class C felony under House Bill 2526. A driver’s vehicle could also be taken away.
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The bill would amend a $10 million city program by offering grants to developers before the construction of rental units, instead of just after construction. It would also allow developers to receive up to $35,000 per eligible unit — up from a maximum of $15,000.
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This week represents a key deadline for bills to move forward this legislative session, and lawmakers have kept some alive for the most problematic pest species in Hawaiʻi.
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Two measures at the Honolulu City Council aim to help police take down illegal game rooms. HPD Maj. Mike Lambert has said that about 100 illegal game rooms are operating on Oʻahu at any given moment. HPR's Mark Ladao has more.