Mitch Roth, the newly elected mayor of Hawai‘i County, made supporting business one of his key promises to voters. Roth was regarded by many as a steady hand, having held the elected post of county prosecuting attorney for the previous … Continued
Big Island Dairy: The cows are gone and the site has been cleaned up, at least to the satisfaction of the state Department of Health. The Big Island Dairy near O‘okala, on the Hamakua Coast of the Big Island, has been … Continued
Koʻolauloa Plan Advances: On November 19, the Zoning and Planning Committee of the Honolulu City Council voted to adopt a revised Sustainable Communities Plan for the windward Koʻolauloa area that limits Hawaiʻi Reserves, Inc., which manages the land in Laʻie … Continued
For years, the various owners of land in South Kohala where the ʻAina Leʻa development is proposed have struggled to move forward with their plans. The problems they have faced related to permitting and entitlements, but also to finances. The … Continued
It has been more than a year since the Big Island Dairy in Oʻokala, along the Hamakua Coast of the Big Island, shut down. The closure followed a series of disastrous spills of manure into streams that outraged residents and … Continued
Last month, the Hawai‘i County Leeward Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the application of Kupunakane Ranch, LLC, dba Puakea Ranch, to run a hotel on 14.9 acres of land in the state Agricultural District in North Kohala. Plans call … Continued
On October 16, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that a draft recovery plan for the Main Hawaiian Islands insular population of false killer whales had been prepared and was open for public comment. The insular population, numbering 167 individuals, … Continued
At the virtual meeting last month of the False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team (TRT), it became clear, early on, that agreement on substantive recom- mendations the group is tasked with making to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) would be difficult, if … Continued
More than three years ago, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court issued its ruling in a case that many observers thought would halt commercial aquarium fish collection, at least for a time. The high court determined in Umberger v. Dep’t of Land and Natural Res. that … Continued
Last May, the Board of Land and Natural Resources refused to accept an environmental impact statement that had been prepared by a private group seeking to reopen much of the west coast of Hawai‘i island to commercial aquarium fish collectors. In … Continued