‘Good Cause’ Challenge Upheld: On June 26, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court upheld the right of a Hawaiian group, Mālama Kakanilua, to challenge a decision of the Maui County director of Public Works to grant a time extension of a grading...
Cats’ Role in Dolphin Deaths: Robin Baird of the Cascadia Research Institute has published a brief report on the relationship between cat populations and the deaths of cetaceans, including false killer whales and dolphins, that inhabit the ocean around Hawaiʻi....
Rudo Statement: Alan Rudo, the former Hawaiʻi County employee at the heart of a scheme to profit from the sale of housing credits, was scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on May 28. In anticipation, he has submitted to … Continued
CNMI-ning: Last month, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management moved forward with plans to open up to seafloor mining more than 69 million acres offshore of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. The action was part … Continued
Alakaʻi Wilderness Expansion: The Division of Forestry and Wildlife, part of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, is seeking public comment on a plan to increase by 2,400 acres the protected area of the Alakaʻi Wilderness Preserve on Kauaʻi. … Continued
ADC Squatters: Last March, Environment Hawaiʻi reported on Pacific Biodiesel’s rent-free use of 1.53 acres of land owned by the Agribusiness Development Corporation. The ADC’s “Hawaiʻi Agribusiness Plan 2025” report, dated January 2026, states that the parcel, in Shipman Industrial … Continued
Dolphin, Whale Strandings: A study of dolphin and whale strandings on Hawaiian and other Pacific Islands from 2006 to 2024 found that nearly two-thirds of the stranded animals died as a result of human-caused injury or infectious disease. The research … Continued
Housing Scandal Update: Sentencing for all four defendants in the federal fraud case involving abuse of Hawaiʻi County’s system of awarding credits for affordable housing has been postponed yet again. Ex-county employee Alan Rudo, who pleaded guilty in 2022 to … Continued
Kauaʻi Water Decision: On September 30, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court ruled that the state Board of Land and Natural Resources should not have denied contested case hearing requests by Kia‘i Wai O Wai‘ale‘ale and Friends of Māhāʻulepū over revocable permits … Continued
Trail Contract: After a jury found in April 2014 that the state — not Haleakala Ranch Company — owns the historic Haleakalā bridle trail, plaintiff David Brown, the executive director of Public Access Trails Hawaiʻi, stated,“We have a moral obligation … Continued