Business News

Workers from ILWU Local 142 and UNITE HERE! Local 5 held an afternoon rally Tuesday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort as contract negotiations continued between UNITE HERE! and several hotels. HPR's Mark Ladao and Catherine Cruz have more.

The Conversation talked with former labor leader J.N. Musto about the changing labor landscape. He was with the University of Hawaiʻi Professional Assembly, the faculty union, for more than three-and-a-half decades.

It's been two years since Hawaiʻi's last coal plant shut down, marking the end of a 30-year relationship with coal. But what happened to that big facility in Kapolei? HPR's Savannah Harriman-Pote called up the energy company AES to find out.

For five decades, the Pacific Gateway Center has helped immigrants and refugees settle in Hawaiʻi. Catherine Cruz learned about an upcoming event to honor the nonprofit's past and inspire its future.

We jump into a hemp house and talk to a builder and a homeowner of one of the first homes built of what has been described as Mary Jane's “sober” cousin — and we talk about the possibilities of industrial hemp in Hawaiʻi.

Life of the Land has intervened in Hawaiʻi Gas' rate case before the Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission. Henry Curtis, head of Life of the Land, said he intends to use the public forum to file information requests with the gas company about their lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions over the last decade.

Workers rallied at the Kyo-ya properties, which include the Moana Surfrider and Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Hotel, to draw attention to the labor contract dispute. HPR spoke to various workers taking part in the strike.

Hemp is already grown locally, but mostly for its cannabinoids — the compounds used in gummies, tinctures, lotions and even oils. A task force recently finalized recommendations to lawmakers on how to support what is mostly an unrealized fiber hemp sector. HPR's Mark Ladao has more.

The recent Made in Hawaiʻi Festival is being described as a record-setting event. Pacific Business News editor in chief A. Kam Napier has more.

After years of negative headlines, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding and changing policies, such as welcoming girls. We'll hear about the state of scouting in Hawaiʻi from Blake Parsons, the CEO of the Aloha Council.