General News

The state has extended an emergency proclamation to cover Maui County so that funds can be used to restore parts of Honoapiʻilani Highway affected by landslides in the recent heavy rains.

The third and latest federal subpoena sent to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation asks for copies of all unredacted minutes from the transit agency's board of directors meetings, including those from executive sessions, over about an eight-year period, the agency said today. 

Statewide hotel occupancy dropped to its lowest January level in four years, as every major island began the year with fewer occupied hotel rooms. According to a report from the data and analytics firm STR, statewide occupancy dropped 3.4% to 79.5% when compared to January 2018.

Contraflow lanes between Kailua/Kaneohe and downtown Honolulu will continue on the Pali Highway through Friday, the state Department of Transportation has advised drivers.

During the work week, the lanes operate in the Honolulu-bound direction between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. and accommodate Kailua/Kaneohe-bound traffic  from 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. 

Officials plan to issue a revised schedule the week of March 4.

Over the weekend, the highway was closed as work continued between Castle Junction and Waokanaka Street to remove loose material, debris and boulders above the road.  

Scientists measuring the thickness of Kilauea volcano's newest lava flows have said molten rock added as much as 180 feet of lava to parts of the Big Island last year. New land created in the ocean reaches as high as 919 feet.

The U.S. Geological Survey released the data last week along with a preliminary map of the flows, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported .

Southern Airways says it is laying off 10 percent of Mokulele Airlines' staff after acquiring the Big Island-based carrier earlier this month.

A federal investigator is expected to visit Honolulu next month as part of a developing grand jury probe into the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, the agency charged with building the city's rail project.

A Wailuku man is suing Hāna Fresh, claiming the nonprofit was negligent by distributing "unreasonably dangerous" produce that carried a slug infected with rat lungworm, a charge the food producer disputes.

Contraflow lanes are open today on the Kailua-bound side of the Pali Highway, a major roadway that had been closed since Monday following several landslides near the Pali tunnels. But a permanent solution to fully restore the highway may be months away.

Crews removed a section of Old Pali Road that had been hanging above the highway, making it safe for drivers and allowing the contraflow traffic, officials said in a news release.

State lawmakers are weighing two bills intended to create a housing voucher program for full-time teachers employed by the Hawaii Department of Education or at public charter schools.

The bills would authorize the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. to implement the housing program, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported Tuesday.

A deputy Hawaii sheriff shot and killed a man during a struggle at the state Capitol.

California's attorney general filed a lawsuit Monday against President Donald Trump's emergency declaration to fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Joining in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Virginia.

The U.S. Department of Justice has subpoenaed more than 30,000 documents from the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation.

The Hawaii Supreme Court today ordered Honolulu City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro to respond to a petition filed by the state attorney general seeking to suspend the prosecutor while a federal corruption probe moves forward.

The City and County of Honolulu has reached an agreement in completing a street improvement project that was ordered under a 1997 federal consent decree.

Attorney Ted Tsukiyama, a U.S. Army military intelligence translator during World War II who returned to Hawaii with other Japanese-American veterans to transform the political landscape of the islands, died Wednesday.

He was 98 years old.

Tsukiyama, whose fair and civil demeanor won him trust and respect in Hawaii's legal and political circles, is widely credited for his trailblazing work in establishing legal arbitration in the state.

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation received a federal subpoena for project documents this week, the agency said today.

Odds may still favor the eventual construction of former President Barack Obama's $500 million museum and library in a public park along Chicago's lakeshore, but it's no longer a sure thing in the face of a formidable legal challenge by a parks advocacy group.

Obama picked Chicago over other places, including Hawaii where he was born. Erin Adams, a Chicago resident who attended today's hearing, said she worries that frustration over the lawsuit and the delays it has caused will lead Barack and Michelle Obama to rethink their selection.

Strong winds from a winter storm caused minor damage to at least two observatories on Hawaii's tallest peak, officials said.

The Big Island summit of Mauna Kea recorded wind gusts of 191 mph (307 kph) late Sunday, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported .

A Hawaii pain doctor and his former prosecutor sister were released on bond Wednesday while awaiting trial on charges they dealt opioids.

The State Department of Health has confirmed a visitor and a resident have contracted rat lungworm disease on Hawaiʻi Island.