A quasi-judicial hearing over a Kilauea property owner’s plan to build an upscale house on environmentally sensitive coastal land started with an all-day session yesterday at the Mo‘ikeha Building.
County Planning Commission Chair Steven Weinstein presided over the contested case, expected to resume April 1, acting as a judge while attorneys questioned witnesses ranging from building [...]

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Following 15 months since it last inspected the Ka Loko Reservoir Dam, the state is waiting until next Friday to decide whether its engineers will conduct a second structural assessment.
The last time the Department of Land and Natural Resources inspected the dam was Oct. 10, 2006, when state engineers conducted phase I of its post-breach [...]

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Researchers at the nonprofit Cetos Research Organization have shown for the first ever that humpback whale calves make sounds.
The organization studied the whales off the coasts of Maui and Kauai, and said the squealing noises made by the young whales are messages to their mothers.
However, the sounds are not as complex as the continuous, repetitive [...]

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Gay & Robinson Inc., which plans to build Hawaii’s first ethanol plant, is hopeful that its financial and logistical stumbling blocks are now behind it, but there remains a level of tension at the company as it moves ahead with plans to shift from producing sugar to distilling fuel.
Several difficult issues remain in launching [...]

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As part of a suit filed in May 2007 by several conservation groups, an injunction was issued Friday by a Hawaii federal district judge over the U.S. Navy’s use of active sonar that he recognized as harmful to whales. Judge David A. Ezra stated that the evidence presented by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and [...]

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Informational public meetings on the Superferry’s Environmental Impact Statement conducted by the Hawai‘i State Department of Transportation for the Hawai‘i Superferry are under way.
“The meetings are intended to give the public an opportunity to give their input,” said Mike Formby, DOT Harbors Division chief. “It’s an opportunity to engage the community.”
Formby said there will be [...]

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The Ag Moratorium Bill was killed at Wednesday’s Council meeting by way of Council Member Rapozo making a motion “to receive” and Kouchi seconding immediately (vote tally below).
How the Public Testified
Every person to testify during the public comment period was IN SUPPORT of the temporary moratorium bill. A council member later stated that there were [...]

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After more than 25 years of delay, the use of a 75-acre agricultural park in Kilauea will be determined by stakeholders with the help of county-hired Kimura International, an O‘ahu-based firm.
The project gained ground when acreage in the Crater Hill area was transferred to the county in the fall of 2006. The donation of the [...]

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Representatives from both sides of a North Shore land use debate took turns reacting to the county Planning Commission with dropped jaws, scoffs, hand-waving and head-shaking, yesterday, at the Mo‘ikeha Building.
The morning session stretched into the evening as commissioners grappled with how to handle an after-the-fact permit request for Moloa‘a Bay Ranch.
After paying $44,000 in [...]

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The Department of Land and Natural Resources has temporarily suspended issuing camping permits for the remote Kalalau Trail, Kalalau Valley camping area in the Na Pali Coast State Park, due to weather and trail conditions and dangerous stream crossings caused by current heavy rains.
Trail closure signs have been posted at the information booth at the [...]

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