Revenue ramps up at Hawai‘i Convention Center
HONOLULU — The Hawai‘i Convention Center achieved its best revenue performance since the center’s opening in 1998, which along with strong net income saved $8.9 million in state subsidy this fiscal year.
Council seeks to revitalize downtown Honolulu malls
HONOLULU — Downtown Honolulu is being readied for an economic revival.
Hawaiian homestead spending plans still in flux
HONOLULU — Two years into a three-year plan for the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to use $600 million primarily for developing homestead lots for beneficiaries, the agency’s plan is still very much in flux.
Home sales on O‘ahu spiked in July
HONOLULU — O‘ahu’s sluggish real estate market is finally starting to pick up steam.
Insurers object to order preventing lawsuits
Attorneys for more than 160 insurance companies claim that a Maui judge’s decision barring them from suing any party thought to be responsible for last year’s Maui wildfires has no precedent around the country.
Hawai‘i man gets 20 years for sextortion
A 33-year-old Hawaii man was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison by a federal judge in Missouri for the sextortion of a 14-year-old Missouri girl and sharing explicit images of other young girls in Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado.
North Kohala farmers applaud DLNR’s $5.7M project to restore well
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources in September will start a yearlong $5.7 million project to improve a well in North Kohala so it can be used for agricultural purposes once again.
Pilot project cuts fire break for Waianae school
WAINAE, Hawai‘i — Leihoku Elementary School in West Oahu now has a firebreak — a 1,000-foot strip of cleared land — along the school’s fence line to help protect against wildfires.
Senior housing project on Maui breaks ground after delays
A private development partnership backed by state financing kicked off construction Tuesday, Aug. 13, on a 117-unit rental apartment complex in Kihei reserved for seniors with low incomes.
Sheraton Kaua‘i workers vote to authorize strike
Unite Here Local 5 workers at the Sheraton Kauai Resort have authorized a petition giving the union’s negotiating committee the power to call a strike.
Japan market sluggish, despite little boosts
HONOLULU — Japan returned more than a year ago to its position as Hawai‘i’s top source of international tourists, but the market isn’t expected to attain its pre-COVID-19 level of more than 1.5 million visitor arrivals until 2026 or 2027.
Lane closures scheduled on Kaua‘i
LIHU‘E — A number of road-related projects are on tap in the coming week with work stretching from the West Shore to the North Shore, the Hawai‘i Department of Transportation said in an update on Friday.
Polynesians lead 3 top tourism agencies
HONOLULU — Come September, all three of Hawai‘i’s top state-funded tourism management and destination branding organizations, which together control more than $128 million in state funds, will have a Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander at the helm.
Man faces sex assault trial involving 2 teenage girls
HONOLULU — A 28-year-old Kapalama man is headed for trial on two somewhat similar sexual assault cases involving two girls, ages 13 and 14, he met online.
Criminal case against former Maui lawmaker is dismissed
A Honolulu District Court judge Tuesday dismissed the 2023 criminal case against former Maui state Rep. Kaniela Ing, who pleaded no contest to not filing timely campaign spending reports.
Agency detects chemical plume in Aiea wells
HONOLULU — Testing by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply earlier this summer indicated that a plume of contaminants often associated with petroleum fuel recently passed through a pair of drinking wells in Aiea near the Navy’s underground Red Hill fuel storage facility.
Insurers’ Maui fire settlement objection is nixed
HONOLULU — An effort by insurance companies to upend or alter a tentative $4 billion settlement over the August 2023 Maui wildfire disaster was rejected in state court Tuesday.
Team tackles climate change’s impact
Gov. Josh Green created a tough assignment in May for the retired leader of a Hawaii real estate investment firm to assemble a team that can recommend policies to minimize climate-related natural disaster impacts in the state.
Kahului man arrested in blast investigation
Maui Police Department officers arrested a 47-year-old Kahului man Saturday in connection with the discovery of a series of improvised explosive devices, one of which detonated and took out a sport utility vehicle in Pukalani on Thursday.
Awards to fund University of Hawai‘i research soar by $100 million
HONOLULU — The University of Hawai‘i was incredibly competitive in obtaining research funding this past fiscal year, blowing by its previous record by $100 million.