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
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
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
By Patricia Tummons Heʻeia Estuary: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is asking for public comment on a revision of the management plan for the Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve. As described by NOAA, “this draft revised management plan is … Continued
Remembering ‘Doc’ Maciolek: Dr. John A. Maciolek (1928-2021), a career biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service and former zoology professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, died at his home last summer in Westlake, Oregon. At UH, Maciolek … Continued
Hu Honua Rebuffed: The on-again, off-again dispute over the Hu Honua power plant just north of Hilo is now on again. This comes after Hu Honua itself sought to postpone – possibly for months – the scheduled start of a … Continued
PRI Planning: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are inviting public input as a first step toward developing a management plan for the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. The monument, which covers almost half … Continued
NWHI Sanctuary? The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has launched the process of designating the marine portions of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument as a national marine sanctuary. NOAA announced on November 19 that it would be taking comments on … Continued
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