A federal rule that, for all intents and purposes, does away with bigeye tuna catch limits for the Hawai`i longline fleet is being challenged in U.S. District Court. The lawsuit, filed November 20, was brought by Earthjustice on behalf of … Continued
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources last month unanimously approved a 65-year pipeline easement to Summit Biofuel, LLC. The company plans to use the pipeline to move biofuels from cargo ships at the port of Hilo to a … Continued
Over the last year, Hu Honua Bioenergy, LLC, builder of the proposed biomass-fueled, 28-megawatt power plant on the Big Island coast a few miles north of Hilo, has faced multiple applications for mechanic’s and materialman’s liens filed by contractors and … Continued
What’s the difference between “grubbing” and “mowing”? That was the question posed to the Hawai`i County Board of Appeals earlier this year, as a Kona landowner challenged the accusation he had violated the county’s prohibition on grubbing without a permit. … Continued
How much did U.S. taxpayers spend to argue against the recent expansion of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument? Environment Hawai`i asked that question after the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Wespac) issued a press release describing a meeting … Continued
A Seal by Any Other Name…: The endangered Hawaiian monk seal has a new name: Neomonachus schauinslandi, reflecting its genetic divergence from the Mediterranean monk seal. The name change reflects recent genetic studies by researchers at the Smithsonian and colleagues … Continued
For years, drivers on the old Red Road in lower Puna, the coastal highway running from Kalapana to Kapoho, have been treated to such unusual sights as jugglers practicing their craft on the sea cliffs and unicyclists pedaling unsteadily on … Continued
The Hawai`i Supreme Court agreed last month to hear arguments on whether the University of Hawai`i should have prepared a full environmental impact statement for its Haleakala High Altitude Observatory Site master plan — a plan the state Department of … Continued
No one saw it coming. Not the Hawai`i County Planning Department, which had given its blessing to the 7,500-square-foot house being built by Scott Watson and his partner, mainland attorney Gary Olimpia, on the Pepe`ekeo coast a few miles north … Continued
By the time it reached Hawai`i island, Hurricane Iselle was barely hanging on to its status as a hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 74 miles per hour. And yet it managed to turn large swaths of the rural district … Continued