The long-running dispute over what activities are permitted on the Big Island’s agricultural land is as far from being resolved as it ever has been. Last year, the 3rd Circuit Court found that the state Land Use Commission was wrong … Continued
Cliff Sheds, Price Soars: A coastal house in Hilo had to be partly demolished a few years ago, when county inspectors deemed it unsafe. The house, perched atop a cliff near Honoliʻi, had begun to slide into the ocean. Debris … Continued
Hawaiʻi Housing Scandal: Federal court schedules concerning the criminal conspiracy to defraud the Hawaiʻi County Office of Housing and Community Development have been set, cancelled, and set again. On November 2, U.S. Magistrate Judge Rom Trader approved a request to … Continued
When is the total less than the sum of its parts? That seems to be at the heart of the issue that the Public Utilities Commission confronts as it gears up to conclude a years-long dispute over a solar energy … Continued
Dawn Chang, a member of the state Land Use Commission, had a question for David Hamilton, president of the non-accredited University of the Nations-Kona, relating to the school’s plans for developing about 62 acres of undeveloped land adjoining the existing … Continued
What on earth is going on at the University of the Nations-Kona? More specifically, what is the Land Use Commission going to do with the messy situation that confronts it? The development proposal that prompted the LUC to redistrict 62 … Continued
Clawing Back: Hawaiʻi County is arguing that the federal government should give it the land in Kealakehe that was purchased as part of a fraudulent housing scheme, $938,428 in cash forfeited by former housing employee Alan Rudo, and 45 affordable … Continued
NEW & NOTEWORTHYʻĀina Leʻa Update: On October 7, 3rd Circuit Judge Wendy DeWeese approved the sale of roughly 38 acres of land in the Big Island district of South Kohala to Romspen Investment, one of the several creditors of ʻĀina … Continued
Above photo: These affordable units built by ‘Aina Le’a more than a decade ago are still not ready for sale. What’s been happening recently with ʻAina Leʻa, the development that has been proposed for around 1,000 acres across Queen Kaʻahumanu … Continued
Poems and Pinions: One of the heaviest, most serious tomes in any reputable library of a Hawaiʻi conservation biologist is Alien Plant Invasions in Native Ecosystems of Hawaiʻi, edited by Charles Stone, Cliff Smith, and Tim Tunison. And now that … Continued