Hawaii News

Hawaiʻi’s most immediate developments span weather, public safety, politics and volcanic activity. On Maui, candidates who signed the Our Hawaiʻi pledge are winning or leading in five of nine Maui County Council seats, while the county is also dealing with a police investigation in Lahaina and the selection of 24 businesses for the upcoming ʻUlu o Lele Marketplace ahead of its Nov. 10 opening. Maui Now also reported a federal jury conviction in a methamphetamine case and a guilty plea in a cyberstalking case tied to threats against the Hawaiʻi governor.

The Big Island is centered on Kīlauea’s latest eruptive episode. Episode 56 of lava fountaining at Halemaʻumaʻu reached about 660 feet before fountains ceased later the same day. Big Island Now also flagged nearly two weeks of military convoys and training across the island, including movements from Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport and activity near Keʻāmuku Maneuver Area and Pōhakuloa. Weather forecasts call for showers and possible locally heavy rain in Hilo, with surf also elevated on some shorelines.

Kauaʻi is watching a cluster of coastal and environmental issues. A high surf advisory remains in effect for north and west shorelines, while several brown water advisories have been canceled at beaches including Lawa‘i, Poʻipū and Prince Kūhiō Park. Kauaʻi Now also reported the withdrawal of the final environmental impact statement for the Pacific Missile Range Facility and Kōkeʻe Park Geophysical Observatory, plus a new USDA pilot program for Hawaiʻi farmers and a fundraiser for a Kauaʻi teenager recovering from a spinal cord injury.

Across the state, the Hawaiʻi Senate is settling into new leadership and committee assignments, with Maui and Big Island senators taking key roles and Kauaʻi’s Ronald D. Kouchi continuing as Senate president. Statewide health and federal issues also surfaced in reports on Legionnaires’ disease cases linked to a Kauaʻi condo property and Attorney General Anne Lopez’s push for the federal Kids Online Safety Act.