The Conversation

Across the islands, residents and visitors are dealing with the effects of Hurricane Lane. Fire and rain have forced evacuations across the Big Island and Maui overnight. Tourists are scrambling as airlines have canceled some flights. There are pockets of power outages across various islands due to the gusty winds even though the Hurricane has been downgraded to a Category 2 storm. Hurricane Lane’s advance has slowed to 2 miles an hour.

Hawaii saw its first hurricane of the season skirt us by last week.

But the focus on preparedness drew our attention to a new app, Harmany, that was born out of two storms in the Atlantic. Harvey and Irma. Adam Huminski and Brian Hilinksi wanted to create something to help link evacuees and hosts during a disaster. They flagged the new app they created to us last week as Hawaii watched the 

Copyright Controversy, Hiroshima Peace Ceremony, Plastics & Greenhouse Gases, Portfolio Project

JANUS Decision, Super PAC Spending, Monk Seal Pup, Wave Glider Drone

The eruption at Kilauea has been disrupting life in Puna for almost 3 months. At present, over 700 homes have been destroyed. Many more have been abandoned due to unsafe conditions and lack of access.

Some residents have been receiving payouts from their homeowners insurance to cover the damage. But others are not so lucky. One Big Island couple is suing their insurer over the company's lack of response.

For the past year, all eyes have been on a rare plant high up in the Waianae mountains; its growth has been live-streamed 24/7.

Six months after the infamous false missile alert, Francine Wai of the Disability and Communication Access board joins us to discuss the efforts to improve communications with members of the disabled community during disasters.

Our housing crisis weighs heavy across the state. This morning, Eric Gill, leader of the Hotel workers, joined us to talk about how Marriott Hotel may be warming to the idea of helping its employees through a housing trust fund.

 The growing problem of people bringing their pets into clinics and dentist offices, grocery stores restaurants, shopping malls and even movie theaters has struck a nerve. Enough so that a new law will kick in that carries fines for trying to pass their pets as legitimate service animals.

Intro Music: Let's Go To Tahiti by J. J. Cale

Outro Music: Fram by Rodrigo y Gabriela

The Honolulu City Council says parking is the number one complaint across the island in all the districts. That is why councilmember Carol Fukunaga has cracked down with a bill that regulates commercial vehicles in residential neighborhoods.

Intro Music: Feels Good by Chuck Mangione

Outro Music: Wildflowers by Made In Heights

We talked to Lisa Laughner, CEO and co-founder of Go Electric, a company that provides microgrid systems to commercial, industrial, and military customers in Hawaii and on the mainland.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell discusses Lime Bike’s entrance into the market and the city’s response. Since the city issued its cease and desist order, Lime has hired Glenna Wong’s Public Relations company to help navigate further negotiations.

A six-month moratorium on sand mining on Maui expires today. Lance Collin is an attorney who represents the community group Malama Kakanilua, which seeks to stop sand mining and development on Hawaiian burial grounds.

In response to April’s flash floods, Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho instituted emergency measures that included a ban on vacation rentals. Now the mayor is considering lifting the ban to address the housing crisis in the wake of the floods.

A lawsuit filed by tenants of a Lahaina affordable housing project has become a bellwether case for the future of affordable housing in Hawaii. Victor Geminiani, an attorney with Lawyers for Equal Justice, is representing some of the plaintiffs in the case.

Heather Lusk is the Executive Director of the Hawai‘i Health & Harm Reduction Center, created from a merger of the Life Foundation and the Community Health Outreach Work (CHOW) Project, that seeks to provide services and combat the stigma of HIV/AIDS in Hawai'i.

Tonight Hawaii Emergency Management officials will be in Maui for an open house meeting. They are winding up a series of meetings to get feedback on a draft plan to help make us more resilient as a state in the event of a natural disaster. We spoke with HI-EMA’s David Kennard about this latest effort.

Today’s program is a discussion of the impacts of the ongoing volcanic eruption on Hawaii Island. Catherine Cruz is off this week and I’m joined in the studio by Conversation producer Ryan Finnerty. Joining us by phone on today’s program are Will Okabe, Managing Director for the County of Hawai’i, and Jessica Ferracane of the National Park Service on the Big Island.

Given the recent diplomatic thaw between the U.S. and North Korea, it’s easy to forget that those countries’ leaders were threatening mutual annihilation last year. As part of that escalation, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency began exploring the possibility of constructing a ground-based defensive radar in Hawaii.

The first container-load of solar panels are set to arrive at the Maui College campus in Kahului later this summer. It’s part of a net-zero plan dubbed a “Star Trek” deal that could put the college on the map. During a recent trip to Maui, we thought we would take a closer look at the $6.3 million dollar solar project.

More than 2,500 acres on Hawaii Island are in papaya production. The majority is in the Kapoho area, which is now being affected by lava from Kilauea volcano. The Conversation's Catherine Cruz spoke with Scott Enright, the Director of the State Department of Agriculture, about the potential losses of an industry that is tied to hundreds of jobs.

On Hawaiʻi Island, officials have been meeting with residents of neighborhoods affected by the vog and noxious gases to address concerns about air quality. But if you live in an area that's being affected by the volcano, should you also be concerned about the corrosive effects of volcanic ash, Pele's hair, and acid rain on things like your solar panels?

ACLU Battles for Reproductive Rights in Kauai; Solar Panels in the Wake of Volcanic Emissions; Restoring Maui’s Watersheds; Studying Tourism at UH’s East-West Center

Scrutiny over monster home construction triggered a complaint about a contractor who lost his license, yet continued to build. The Hawaii Construction Alliance flagged the problem to the City Department of Planning and Permitting and the State Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

Yesterday, Mayor Kim ordered the mandatory evacuations of neighborhoods in lower Puna as fast advancing lava flows puts more families at risk. Residents had until noon today to get out of harm's way or take the chance that they may not be able to be rescued - or face incurring the costs of a rescue. 

The Big Island's electric utility, Hawaii Electric Light Company, has been working around the clock to react to the on going Kilauea eruption. Utility crews were recently pulled out of Leilani Estates due to unsafe levels of sulfur dioxide. Additionally, the loss of capacity from the Puna Geothermal Venture has reduced to overall supply of electricity on the island.

Earlier today, Governor David Ige, through the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, reassured the world that "travel is safe to the Hawaiian Island." Ige emphasized that the volcanic activity is having no effect on other islands.

But even though Kīlauea's latest eruptive phase is mainly affecting the Puna area, there have been a rash of island-wise cancellations for June and July because tourists mistakenly think the entire state is a disaster area. Some cruise ships are avoiding Hilo and even Kona as a port of call.

The state is in the throes of a three billion dollar modernization project at the Honolulu airport. If you plan to travel next month, heads up! This week transportation officials announced it is changing the gate numbers, all in advance of big changes at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa have discovered a new type of virus. This new species has been found inhabiting algae on Windward Oʻahu.