Chabad House: Hawaiʻi County’s efforts to force the Chabad Jewish Center of the Big Island to obtain a use permit in order to hold services at a home in Kailua are unlikely to succeed. As we reported in March, the … Continued
In all the hand-wringing over the lack of affordable housing in Hawaiʻi, the state Land Use Commission is often held out as the whipping boy. Obtaining approvals for redistricting land into the Urban District can be a long and involved … Continued
At the Land Board meeting on April 26, a score or more of members of the public waited hours outside a standing-room-only boardroom to have a chance to testify on the proposed sanctions of parties accused of destroying critical habitat … Continued
The term of Honolulu attorney Gary Okuda on the state Land Use Commission has ended. But even as his time on the commission was running out, his frustration with developers who do everything but develop seems to have increased, even … Continued
The Hawaiʻi-based longline fishing fleet has chafed for years under a management plan that limits the number of animals belonging to the Hawaiʻi pelagic population of false killer whales that the fleet can seriously injure or kill in the normal … Continued
Forefeiture: Six acres of Kona land acquired by disgraced former Hawaiʻi County housing staffer Alan Rudo and his three associates through the use of affordable housing credits acquired by deceit are now being offered for sale. The asking price is … Continued
Rising seas. Increasing disease threats. Accumulated chemical pollutants in top predators. All this spells trouble for marine mammals in Hawaiian waters, especially two of the most endangered species: monk seals and the insular population of false killer whales. At recent … Continued
Despite years-long drought conditions for much of the island of Hawaiʻi, the Hawaiʻi County Planning Department defends its use of 2007 rainfall data as the “best available data.” This was acknowledged by Planning Director Zendo Kern as the county Board … Continued
FKW Trigger Lowered: The National Marine Fisheries Service has reduced the level of observer coverage in the deep-set longline fishery of Hawaiʻi. And as the level of observer coverage is lowered, so, too, is the number of false killer whales … Continued
The Hawaiʻi County administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have agreed on a consent order that is intended to address the many serious operational issues at three of the county’s wastewater plants on the windward side of the Big Island. … Continued