Seawall Case Heads to Settlement Talks With Court Rulings in the State’s Favor
The state and homeowners who built a seawall on Oʻahu’s Sunset Beach in 2017 without any government approvals head into settlement talks this month, following a 1st Circuit Court ruling on October 21 granting in part and denying in part … Continued
New & Noteworthy: Dairy Update, Records Request
Dairy Update: In 2019, the Big Island Dairy shut down, never having been able to prevent runoff from its manure-filled ponds fouling streams that ran to the ocean off the Hamakua coast of the Big Island. The dairy sits on … Continued
Department of Education Told to Adhere To LUC Conditions of Kihei High School
Deputy attorney general Stuart Fujioka lobbed a sandbag at the members of the Land Use Commission when it met on October 27. And the commissioners were not pleased. The LUC is a quasi-judicial body, with procedures governed by a set … Continued
BOARD TALK: Guidance for Water Leases May Face Legal Challenges, Legislative Tweaks
“We have to find a way forward somehow. Sometimes that way forward is very messy,” said state Board of Land and Natural Resources chair Suzanne Case as the board met on October 22. At that meeting, the board narrowly rejected … Continued
FWS Proposes Downlisting Bat From Endangered to Threatened
Based on a new five-year status review released earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking to reclassify the ‘ōpe‘ape‘a or Hawaiian hoary bat from endangered to threatened. The species was listed as endangered in 1970, “based … Continued
County,ʻAina Leʻa Sign MOA While Court Cases Drag On, Taxes Go Unpaid
One of the first actions taken by the new administration of Hawaiʻi County Mayor Mitch Roth following his inauguration last December was to soften the county’s stance toward the ʻAina Leʻa development. The previous administration had been insisting that the … Continued