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Kim Coco Iwamoto spoke to The Conversation about the revenue the state would lose from passing HB 2653. She also shared her perspective as an heir to Roberts Hawaii, her family's tour and transportation company.
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While the state is still dealing with the aftermath of the Maui wildfires, the state legislature is considering a measure to address property damage in the case of future catastrophic wildfires.The measure would allow stakeholders to pay into a wildfire relief fund that would compensate property owners in the case of another wildfire.
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Changes to the Honolulu Salary Commission could be coming to reduce the chances of conflict. A handful of Honolulu City Councilmembers have introduced resolutions to let voters decide how the commission operates.
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The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court says the state attorney general's office must pay attorney fees for using last year's Maui wildfire tragedy to file a petition in “bad faith” that blamed a state court judge for a lack of water for firefighting.
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Long-term funding could finally be coming to the state’s DA BUX program. The initiative cuts the price in half for eligible produce grown by Hawaiʻi farmers, and this year’s state budget bill could allocate a recurring $1 million annually to DA BUX.
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A state legislative bill to create a pilot program for a state-initiated expungement process for Hawaiʻi County passed a final reading in the House and will be transmitted to Gov. Josh Green for approval.
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The 10 red-light cameras currently installed in urban Honolulu have issued over 900 citations. The chosen intersections, such as King Street and Ward Avenue, have a history of high crash rates.
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Hawaiʻi's two electric utilities briefed the Senate on Thursday about their wildfire mitigation efforts since the Aug. 8 fires. The vast majority of the 3.5-hour briefing was dedicated to Hawaiian Electric.
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Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi is formally asking to create a standalone Department of Ocean Safety on Oʻahu. The council has been moving along its own measure that would ask voters this year if they wanted an ocean safety department with its own oversight commission.
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The owner of the property selected for Lahaina's fire debris disposal site has filed a lawsuit against Maui County and its eminent domain actions to acquire the 20 acres. As HPR's Catherine Cluett Pactol reports, the property owner tried to donate 5 acres, but the county said it needs all 20 acres.
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A new report released by Hawaiʻi Attorney General Anne Lopez includes a minute-by-minute analysis of the actions taken by emergency organizations and first responders, as well as an assessment of the environmental conditions that exacerbated the Lahaina fire in August 2023. It does not, however, determine the cause of the fire. HPR's Ashley Mizuo and Savannah Harriman-Pote have more.
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Herbal cigarettes don’t contain tobacco or nicotine but can still be harmful to users, so the Honolulu City Council wanted to limit their accessibility to Oʻahu’s youth via Bill 1.