Hawaii
Rogue Tourists Arrested as Hawaii Battles Disease
Hawaii authorities are cracking down on rogue tourists who are visiting beaches, riding personal watercraft, shopping and generally flouting strict requirements that they quarantine for 14 days after arriving.
Read moreSentencing
The Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest asked Honolulu Federal Court to unseal the sentencing memoranda for a former Honolulu police chief, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney for the City and County of Honolulu, and two police officers, who were convicted of “conspiring to obstruct justice by framing a man for a crime that he did not commit.”
Read moreSupreme Court Snares Maui Fine for Sewage Disposal
The Supreme Court ordered a new hearing in a case that says Hawaii’s Maui County polluted the Pacific by releasing treated sewage without a permit.
Read morePublic Record
The Hawaii Supreme Court overturned a ruling in favor of the state’s attorney general in a public records dispute brought by the Honolulu Civil Beat relating to a report of an investigation of the Office of the Legislative Auditor.
Read more
Feds Agree to Consider Protections for Hawaii’s Cauliflower Coral
The Trump administration agreed Wednesday to determine by this summer whether it will extend federal wildlife protections to Hawaii’s cauliflower coral reef.
Read moreOcean Pollution
The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its Administrator Andrew Wheeler in federal court for failing to consider microplastics pollution in Ocean waters off Hawaii in a mandatory report, in violation of the Clean Water Act.
Read more
Star Quality: Telescope Captures Sun in Greatest Detail Ever
A huge telescope built on the peak of a Hawaiian island has produced pictures of the Sun’s surface in unprecedented detail, revealing boiling plasma cells the size of Texas.
Read moreSave the Fish
The Center for Biological Diversity sued Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources in state court, claiming it’s allowed commercial take of “at least 576,741 individual specimens of aquatic life extracted from Hawaii waters for aquarium purposes,” in defiance of state law and a court order.
Read more
Suspect in Hawaii Police Killings Called Unhinged
A Hawaii handyman with a history of run-ins with police and neighbors faced eviction when he stabbed a woman and killed two officers before the house he and two women were believed to be in burned, authorities and neighbors said Monday.
Read moreHawaii Lawmakers Vow to Make Lives Better for Native Hawaiians
The 30th Hawaii Legislature convened Wednesday with urgent calls by lawmakers to stem the exodus of Native Hawaiians from the islands and to protect the 214,000 of them – nearly half of their population – who live in poverty.
Read more
Dispatches From the Road: Maui and Flavored Beer
In his latest dispatch, Courthouse News’ western bureau chief recalls the Maui locals who aided his descent into a life of brewing sin.
Read more
Rebounding Hawaiian Hawk Removed From Endangered List
Forest conservation efforts, combined with a decline in illegal shootings led the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to remove protections from the Hawaiian hawk, which now boasts a population of over 3,000.
Read more
Helicopter Tours Criticized After Deadly Hawaii Crash
Tour helicopter operations in Hawaii are under increased scrutiny after a deadly crash this week, one of several recent accidents in the state, with a congressman calling the trips unsafe and lacking proper oversight.
Read more
Hawaii Telescope Protesters to Stay as Blocked Road Reopens
Protesters opposed to building a giant telescope on Hawaii’s tallest peak agreed Thursday to move a tent of elders that has blocked the mountain’s access road.
Read moreCeremony Honors Those Killed in 1941 Pearl Harbor Attack
More than 2,000 people attended a ceremony Saturday to remember those killed when Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor 78 years ago and launched the U.S. into World War II.
Read more
Pearl Harbor Vet to Be Last Interment on USS Arizona
On Dec. 7, 1941, 21-year-old Lauren Bruner was the second-to-last man to escape the burning wreckage of the USS Arizona after a Japanese plane dropped a bomb that ignited an enormous explosion in the battleship’s ammunition storage compartment.
Read more