thirty meter telescope

BARCELONA, Spain — The director of a Spanish research center said Wednesday that a giant telescope, costing $1.4 billion, is one step nearer to being built on the Canary Islands in the event an international consortium gives up its plans to build it in Hawaii.

The latest draft of proposed administrative rules for Mauna Kea has been released by the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents, which will take up the matter at a special meeting Wednesday in Hilo.

A plea deal was offered to protesters arrested on the Big Island during the first week of Mauna Kea demonstrations in July, state authorities said.

KAILUA-KONA — A Hawaii County attorney told an ethics panel he would not face conflicts by prosecuting cases arising from demonstrations against the building of a Mauna Kea telescope.

Honolulu police say parts of  Ala Moana Boulevard and Kalakaua Avenue will close Saturday afternoon for a planned march in support of the protest on Mauna Kea.

Updated: Sept. 26, 4:42 p.m.

In the wake of the arrest of 28 protesters Thursday blocking access to Waimanalo Bay Beach Park that officials wanted to redevelop, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell tweeted the city won't build a sports complex planned in the Sherwood Forest area.

Twenty-seven people pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of obstructing government operations related to the ongoing protest against the planned Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea, according to media coverage.

HILO, Hawaii — The state attorney general's office is ordering the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to provide information about how the agency is helping protesters blocking construction of a giant telescope.

To avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, the Hawaii attorney general's office will take over prosecution of protesters arrested for blocking construction of a giant telescope.

An unverified Twitter account has closely copied the appearance of the official Thirty Meter Telescope account and is sending out derogatory and culturally insensitive posts.

HONOLULU — Losing the Thirty Meter Telescope could mean losing billions of dollars in research funding over the next few decades, a senior University of Hawaii official said.

Oʻahu motorists should expect traffic delays Sunday morning heading west from Hawaiʻi Kai to Waiʻanae. 

Updated: Sept. 6, 1:45 p.m.

State officials Friday morning tore down a structure at the base of Mauna Kea that was unlawfully constructed on Department of Hawaiian Home Lands property.

HILO, Hawaii — Demonstrators opposed to a huge telescope planned for the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island have constructed a wooden building in a lava field near their telescope protest camp without obtaining a permit, officials said

Gov. David Ige says he’s pleased with progress made so far by Big Island Mayor Harry Kim in engaging the native Hawaiian community in efforts to resolve the conflict on Mauna Kea.

When starlight from billions of years ago zips across the universe and finally comes into focus on Earth, astronomers want their telescopes to be in the best locations possible to see what's out there.

HILO — Hawaii County has spent more than $3 million on overtime and other costs as a result of protests against the Thirty Meter Telescope, officials said.

MAUNA KEA— Police have issued about 100 tickets daily since last week for parking and traffic violations near the site of a protest against the construction of another telescope on Hawaii's tallest mountain.

Hawaii state officials are debating jurisdiction over the road leading to a contested telescope project, a report said.

Three of the thirteen telescopes on Mauna Kea are set to be decommissioned before the planned Thirty Meter Telescope is built. This could involve relocating one of the telescopes elsewhere on the mountain, and that has its own issues.

BARCELONA, Spain  — The director of a Spanish research center says an international consortium that planned to build a giant telescope on Hawaii's tallest peak has decided to seek a permit for an alternative site in the Canary Islands.

The man tasked with trying to find a way out of an impasse over the construction of a giant telescope in Hawaii says he met with Native Hawaiian leaders Friday. But the only issue they reached a consensus on was to meet again.

Updated: July 29, 5:51 p.m.

Some workers have been allowed access to observatories on Mauna Kea in an agreement that also permits Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners to make their way up the mountain, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources said Monday.

Updated: July 23, 3:41 p.m.

Hawaii Gov. David Ige acknowledged Tuesday that the ongoing protest against the Thirty Meter Telescope planned atop the state's highest mountain is also about addressing the treatment of Native Hawaiians going back more than a century.