Ryan Finnerty

Several months after Hawaii County stopped accepting plastic products at its recycling program, residents are looking for an alternative, and one not governed by international markets.

Problems abound but no single issue appears to have yet united Hawaii lawmakers as the opening of the 2020 legislative session approaches on Wednesday.

Hawaii Island is in the enviable position of having a landfill with anywhere from 20 to 100 years of capacity left to take in trash. But the island still wrestles with significant issues like plastic products that are no longer being recycled.  

Hawaii’s chief economist told lawmakers on Tuesday that 24% of Hawaii homes were purchased by buyers from outside the state. The figure is even higher on the neighbor islands.

The 2020 state legislative session hasn’t even begun, but already a dispute is brewing over funding for the University of Hawaii.

The National Weather Service is changing the way it sends out some cell phone alerts, with the goal of better capturing users’ attention.

Updated: Dec. 26, 2:15 p.m.

Hawaii County is temporarily closing the Mauna Kea Access Road on Hawaii Island until Saturday as the road is cleared and made completely accessible to the public, Mayor Harry Kim announced Thursday. This follows a morning when public traffic was flowing around protestersʻ tents on the road. 

In a recent national poll, the YWCA asked female voters what issues are on their minds ahead of the 2020 election.

Updated: Dec. 20, 6:45 a.m.

Hawaii Gov. David Ige announced Thursday he is withdrawing state law enforcement officers from Mauna Kea after informed that the $1.6 billion Thirty Meter Telescope won't proceed with construction at this time. Protesters who have stopped construction of the telescope say they were told to move out by Dec. 26 or face arrest.

The number of vacation rentals on Oahu declined more than 5 percent from the same time last year. Honolulu’s recent restrictions on short-term renting appear to be the cause.

A provision in the annual defense appropriation bill authored by Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz would grant 2 million federal workers 12 weeks of paid family leave.

The United States, Mexico, and Canada have finalized the details of a new free trade agreement. Hawaii stands to see modest benefits.

Thousands of people attended a ceremony over the weekend marking 78 years since the Pearl Harbor attack, despite two recent mass shootings at Navy bases, including the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.

Hawaii has some of the highest construction costs in the country. That makes building new housing an expensive prospect.

Hawaii will need an additional 65,000 housing units statewide by 2025. Getting there will require more public infrastructure, like water, sewage, and electricity.

Scientists from NASA have confirmed the presence of water millions of miles from Earth. The observations were made using the W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea.

Fewer Chinese visitors are coming to Hawaii, according to the latest figures from the Hawaii Tourism Authority. That matches a broader trend for the United States.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to renew the charter of the Import-Export Bank, largely along party lines, but approval from the Senate is unlikely.

Traditional economic data measures features like output and productivity, but typically ignores subjective qualities that make up the human experience. A study by University of Hawaii economists could help to change that by asking whether factors like poverty influence well-being.

During an hour-long hearing on the Maui Clean Water Act case, the U.S. Supreme Court justices seemed to be seeking a legal path to keep polluters from skirting the law without ensnaring ordinary homeowners. 

Until December 15th, anyone without health insurance coverage can sign up to purchase an individual plan through the federal Affordable Care Act marketplace.

On Wednesday, the nine justices of the nation's highest court will hear oral arguments in a case accusing Maui County of violating the federal Clean Water Act. 

As Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of Hawaii's worst mass shooting, it's worth noting that the state has some of the strictest gun restrictions in the country and the lowest rate of gun deaths.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced new rules that help clear the way for commercial cultivation of hemp in the country, Hawaii  included.

Evidence from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology shows that corals are already naturally adapting to higher temperatures. But the rate of increase may be too rapid for them to keep up.

In Oahu’s Kaneohe Bay, researchers with the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology are engaged in a one-of-a-kind effort to document coral reefs as they undergo bleaching.

Although we are still months away from the 2020 Hawaii legislative session, lawmakers are already looking at ways to limit the use of electronic smoking devices.