Stories by Jessica Else

Ending suicide stigma

In 2017 the words “suicide epidemic” rocked Kauai, catching statewide attention, as well as that of three Kauai women who started talking about real solutions.

Another sick dog ‘not lepto positive’

Kauai Humane Society’s field trip program was paused Tuesday after the facility recevied reports of another dog showing symptoms of the bacterial disease leptosperosis (lepto) after being transferred off-island to a mainland shelter.

Meeting on immunizations

A monthly public meeting discussing immunizations is kicking off Feb. 3 at the Kapaa Neighborhood Center and is set to be held on the first Sunday of every month at 11 a.m.

Removing, and eating, invasives

Lihue Kaiser Permanente physician Todd Kuwayhe was thinking about sustainability as he waded through the loi at the Waipa ahupuaa during Monday’s Kaiser Permanente Day of Service held annually on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Barnacles come ashore

A new method of parking enforcement is set to hit Princeville’s streets in early February, a vehicle-immobilization device called the Barnacle that covers the windshield instead of using a conventional boot on the wheel.

Jungle adventure in Wailua

Though tucked away in Kauai’s jungle along the Wailua River, Uluwehi Falls, or Secret Falls, is anything but uncharted, though it bears the moniker.

Smoother road ahead

Residents are cautiously optimistic their lives on Kahiliholo Road will return to the pre-flood normal in the near future after meeting with Mayor Derek Kawakami and hearing progress on repairs to the sinkhole in the road.

Lepto halts field trips

Just days after some Kauai Humane Society dogs went Home for the Holidays, a program that allows people to take shelter animals home over Christmas, one of the transfer dogs brought a present of its own to Seattle.

Protecting Kauai’s forests

From endemic plants to invasive species, watershed restoration to endangered forest bird conservation, the Kokee Resource Conservation Program connects people with Kauai’s forests.

Still some salvinia

Many hands have removed large amounts of the invasive aquatic plant salvinia from the Kilauea River over the past few years, but nature’s April flooding really swept it downstream.

Staying put

After more than 100 coconuts and 500 letters, two community meetings and countless conversations with local, state and federal officials, the U.S. Postal Service last year announced it was closing the Rice Street post office. “This decision is final,” said a Dec. 1 press release. Not quite. The Lihue post office on Rice Street will be staying put.

Teamwork and tow straps

It took teamwork and a few tow straps to remove a 20-foot black culvert from the Kauai coastline near Anahola, but after some effort it’s now at the organization’s marine debris center in Kapaa.

New ropes at Hideaways

Someone repaired the rope handrails that help guide people down the steep trail to Kenomene Beach, or Hideaways Beach, on Kauai’s North Shore. But who?

Legislators against offshore drilling

The deepest channel in the main Hawaiian Islands lies between Oahu and Kauai, and though the chain’s oldest main island isn’t at the top of the list for offshore-drilling-related activities, activists are still supporting legislative opposition to new oil and gas programs.

Learn climate change impacts

Geologists and economists, experts in technology and natural resources, and people involved with public policy and planning are all meeting together on Oahu today.

‘Mourning Armageddon’

Singer-songwriter Makana wasn’t planning on recording “Mourning Armageddon” in decommissioned Russian bunker 703.