Options remain for Coco Palms rebirth
$22,231,000.
Coco Palms Defaults
Efforts to redevelop the former Coco Palms resort have collapsed, with the two Oahu men behind the project facing foreclosure after defaulting on $11.2 million in financing they used to purchase the property five years ago.
Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami reflects on plans
Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami was sitting in his office in the Moikeha Building in the Lihue Civic Center recalling his first day at work as Kauai’s chief executive, just 100 days before.
Breathing room for TVRs
Dozens of transient vacation rentals that operate legally in the Wainiha-Haena area closed to the public since last April’s disastrous storms got a one-year reprieve on Monday that will permit them to go back into business when Kuhio Highway reopens — projected for later this year.
Mayor: Time for action on Coco Palms
Saying he is “frustrated” by a lack of progress on the reconstruction of the former Coco Palms resort in Wailua, Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami said Thursday that “we have to remind the developers that there comes a time when they have to fish or cut bait.”
Growing weary on Weke Road
Owners of the two heavily damaged houses on Weke Road in Hanalei that have become symbolic of the horrific storms of mid-April and August have applied for demolition permits to tear them down, though replacement plans have not been filed with Kauai County officials.
Hawaiian handles shutdown challenges
For Peter Ingram, the government shutdown was actually a curse and a blessing.
Haena park opening nears
State park officials have set March 30 as the projected completion date for the total reconstruction of public facilities at Haena State Park.
New council off to a head-shaking start
Kauai County may have just had its most important local election in a generation, but who would have thought the new County Council would begin by calling police to remove a public commenter who refused to relinquish his seat until someone told him who called the meeting?
Danners won’t face prosecution
The Kauai County prosecutor has declined to pursue trespassing and interfering with a government agent charges against Native Hawaiian activist Robin Danner and her son, Garrett Danner, that grew out of a confrontation in Anahola last month.
Numbers tell an accurate election story
Underlying any election results — even those with very small electorates like Kauai’s that exhibit a remarkable indifference to voting — is the question: “What does it all mean?”
Derek Kawakami looks to the future
County Councilmember Derek Kawakami sat back a couple weeks ago in an easy chair in the Rice Street storefront campaign headquarters he’s using as he runs for mayor. He seemed to welcome an opportunity to get off his feet for an hour or so.
Mel Rapozo targets bureaucracy
County Council Chair Mel Rapozo slid into the banquette at JJ’s Broiler on Kalapaki Beach looking a little the worse for wear. He’d had a cold-induced coughing fit that caused a small blood vessel in his eye to burst, so he looked a bit like he’d been in a fight.
Danner arrested
Prominent Native Hawaiian activist Robin Danner and her son were arrested Wednesday during a confrontation with state Department of Hawaiian Home Land enforcement officers and officers of the Kauai Police Department over a disputed campsite near Anahola Beach Park.
Rough road still ahead
State officials have abandoned any pretense that storm-damaged Kuhio Highway west of Hanalei can reopen before late January, and some sources familiar with what they describe as an “unsettled” situation say the road might not be reopen until the second half of 2019 — or even later.
Tax amendment not what it seems
In the annals of bait-and-switch swindles, a proposed Hawaii constitutional amendment to tax “investment real property” and use the revenue “to support public education” stands out not for its brazenness as much as for the obvious hope that voters won’t bother to read or think about it.
Debate, North Shore-style
It was a political debate like no other. At about 5:30 Wednesday afternoon, a column of five pickups and one small blue sedan slipped unobtrusively into the middle of the scheduled Kuhio Highway convoy from Hanalei to Wainiha and headed west with the long line of vehicles.
‘Overtourism’ on Kauai
Probably for the first time ever — but at least since 2006 — Kauai’s official visitor industry has formally acknowledged that the island has reached its capacity in terms of tourist numbers, and that those numbers must be held to current visitor counts.
Deal struck for St. Regis
After weeks of uncertainty, plans for the sale of the St. Regis Princeville Resort and the nearby Makai Golf Club to Starwood Capital Group were confirmed early Friday by a consultant handling the transaction for the large pension fund that currently owns the property.
Mayor ‘not happy’ about Coco Palms
The ongoing melodrama about the future of the former Coco Palms Resort property in Wailua took a new turn last week when Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. gave a one-word answer to a question during an interview. “Do you believe the hotel’s developers have the capacity to see the project to completion?” The mayor’s answer: “No.” He continued: “I’m going to say that comfortably. I’m not happy.”