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Audit: Monster Houses Still Running Amok Despite City Law
A small group of developers continue to build monster homes on the watch of Honolulu planning and permitting officials who are disorganized, inconsistently apply rules and fail to manage and enforce...
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Top Honolulu Rail Official Leaves HART As Project Reaching Critical Stage
Honolulu’s rail agency has lost yet another top procurement officer as it seeks to award the multibillion-dollar transit project’s last major contract. Paula Youngling resigned from the Honolulu...
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Children’s Playground A Bad Fit For Ala Moana Park
The proposal to build a privately funded children’s playground in Ala Moana Regional Park has been criticized by opponents as a playground for the wealthy who live in nearby luxury homes. Even though...
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This Honolulu Lawyer Has Run A Marshallese Baby Business With Impunity
The mainland couples who had been trying to adopt a newborn knew to expect paperwork and drudgery and endless waiting. But once they connected with Honolulu attorney Laurie Loomis, who specialized in...
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Acting Honolulu Prosecutor Hit With Federal Subpoena
Acting Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Nadamoto was served with a subpoena from federal officials on Monday, he announced on Wednesday. He said it’s unclear to him what the feds are investigating....
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New Snags Hold Back Ala Wai Flood Control Project
Until recently, Honolulu’s Ala Wai flood control project was moving ahead swiftly despite strong community opposition. Now, it’s in a state of limbo. What flood-control features will ultimately take...
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Former Judge Steve Alm Announces Bid For Prosecuting Attorney
Steve Alm, a former prosecutor, retired judge and probation advocate, is running to head the Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The office is currently “in crisis,” Alm said during a campaign...
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More HART Employees Hit With Federal Subpoenas
As their criminal probe involving rail widens, federal authorities have served more subpoenas to Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation employees. The latest batch of orders, seeking interviews...
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Honolulu May Sue Convicted Police Chief To Claw Back Retirement Money
When the Honolulu Police Commission let Louis Kealoha walk into retirement in 2017 with a $250,000 severance package, it made him promise to give the money back if he were convicted of a felony within...
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HART’s Last Original Board Member Hasn’t Left As Planned
This past June, Damien Kim announced he would step down from the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board later in the summer when his term ended and city leaders found his replacement....
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Denby Fawcett: Rescuing A 12th Century Heiau From A Garbage Dump
Pahukini is a heiau of the highest chiefly order perched in the middle of the now closed Kapaa landfill. For more than 30 years, community groups and individuals have tried to protect the heiau, a...
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Honolulu Council Chair’s Staffer Announces Bid For Windward Seat
Alan Kekoa Texeira, community director for Honolulu Council Chair Ikaika Anderson, announced on Tuesday that he is running to take over the seat his term-limited boss will vacate at the end of next...
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‘Please Hold’: Disabled Handi-Van Users Face Long Waits To Book Rides
Handi-Van passengers and management are growing increasingly frustrated with the paratransit service’s city-controlled reservation line and the obstacles it poses to booking a ride. Typically, those...
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Now’s Our Chance To Clean House In Honolulu Government
The new year will see dozens of candidates vying for office, including notable fields for Honolulu mayor and city prosecutor. Candidates are already promising a clean start for our local government,...
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Security Deposits Put Housing Out Of Reach For Some In Hawaii
Ann Albert didn’t know how she was going to pay for her security deposit. After years in a homeless shelter with her three children, she secured a coveted Housing Choice voucher and found a place...
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Case Dismissed: Four Trials, No Conviction And A Honolulu Man’s Life Derailed
Sefo Fatai drove to a Chuck E. Cheese in Pearl City one day in 2011 to run an errand for his boss, picking up some money she said she was owed. Instead, he said, the woman who jumped in his car in the...
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Council Passes Landmark Bill Restricting Single-Use Plastics On Oahu
The Honolulu City Council passed a landmark measure Wednesday that looks to heavily restrict single-use plastics on Oahu. Bill 40 aims to ban most food vendors on Hawaii’s most populous island from...
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New HART Analyses Show Millions Of Dollars In Added Rail Costs
The projected costs to complete Honolulu’s 20-mile rail transit system have grown by about $70 million in the past four months, based on the local rail agency’s ongoing analyses of risks to the...
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How The Gas Company Plans To Fight A Bill Banning Gas Water Heaters
Hawaii Gas, the 115-year-old supplier of natural gas for Hawaii now at a crossroads amid the state’s shift from fossil fuels, is considering creating a separate community organization as part of a...
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This Central Oahu City Is About To Bloom With New Economic Life
Wahiawa, located in the central plains of Oahu, was once the second-largest city in the Hawaii territory, the home of a global pineapple empire that employed thousands of people in the islands. And it...
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