Kauaʻi

Kauaʻi this week became the first of the major islands in Hawaiʻi to be fully fiber-enabled. It's part of Hawaiian Telcom's plan to make Hawaiʻi the first state in the U.S. to be fully fiber-enabled by the end of 2026. We get more on that story from Pacific Business News Editor-in-Chief Janis Magin.

Kauaʻi Police Chief Todd Raybuck has announced he will retire on June 12. The Kaua‘i County Police Commission is seeking public input as it begins its search for a new chief.

Kauaʻi councilmembers have proposed some budget changes that divert money from projects that have stalled or don't have solid plans going forward.

Competition kicked off Thursday night at the 2025 Merrie Monarch Hula Festival in Hilo with the soloist competition. Thirteen contestants competed for the title of Miss Aloha Hula, including Jaedyn Pavao, who represented Kauaʻi's only hālau in this year's festival. HPR contributor Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi has more.

HPR continues to look at how federal funding cuts have affected people in Hawaiʻi. HPR's Savannah Harriman-Pote talked to three federal workers who were fired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Kauaʻi amid Trump's efforts to downsize the government.

The state measure is largely a response to the City and County of Honolulu's plans to site its next landfill in Wahiawā — on farmland and near a drinking water aquifer.

Illegal vacation rentals, federal funding uncertainties, budget plans and more were the topics of a live discussion with Kauaʻi County Mayor Derek Kawakami as he prepares to deliver his state of the county address Friday.

Volunteers from the Surfrider Foundation on Kauaʻi collected more than 162,902 pounds of marine debris and trash from beaches and coastlines in 2024.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Accounting and General Services will construct a monument of two concrete columns with a gap between them, symbolizing the rift between the two sides of the labor conflict that left 20 people dead. The memorial is expected to be completed in 2026.

The Kauaʻi Humane Society has no more space for pets — and is asking the public for help. The organization is currently housing 578 animals.