It may get even harder for renewable energy projects to hook up to electricity grids on O`ahu, Maui, and Hawai`i if a proposal by the utilities on those islands wins state approval. The utilities say they are just trying to … Continued
Court Gets Forest City Appeal: The Queen Lili`uokalani Trust has appealed the decision of the state Land Use Commission approving the Kona project known as Kamakana Villages, to be developed by the Hawai`i Housing and Finance Development Corporation and Forest … Continued
The state’s management scheme for game mammals is in serious need of an overhaul and recently proposed revisions to hunting rules are only a minor improvement, conservationists say. But instead of merely lifting bag and season limits in certain sensitive … Continued
Too many boats. Too few tuna. In the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, the rights of countries to catch fish have outrun the fish’s ability to keep up. With no one willing to give ground, the result is a giant … Continued
Pacific West Energy, LLC is not going away quietly. With a handful of high-profile backers, its request to lease feedstock land for a proposed 20-megawatt power plant may yet win approval from the state Agribusiness Development Corporation. Or it may … Continued
The fight to “keep the country country” isn’t confined to O`ahu’s North Shore. It’s happening right now on the Leeward Coast. Eric Enos, founder of the non-profit Cultural Learning Center at Ka`ala Farm, compared the light industrial park proposed by … Continued
Good News for Golden Gooneys: The Fish and Wildlife Service has been fluttering with excitement for the last few weeks, ever since it discovered a short-tailed albatross chick had hatched at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. And anyone who views … Continued
After all was said and done, the would-be developers of a thousand acres in Waikoloa simply had no more credibility with the Land Use Commission. On January 20, members of the commission voted, 5-3, to return the land to the … Continued
The Department of Land and Natural Resources, the state’s first line of defense against environmental and ecological depredations, has been hit hard over the last two years with blows to its budget. In light of the serious budget shortfalls that … Continued
Kona Blue Escapes Fine for Pen’s Coral Damage Fining a company for damaging coral inside a boat harbor just didn’t seem fair. So instead of imposing the $6,750 fine its staff had recommended, the state Board of Land and Natural … Continued