Latest news with #Hawaiʻi
Associated Press
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Lawsuit asks court to halt Haiku Stairs demolition, citing Hawaii agency flip-flop
An Oʻahu court is being asked to reverse a decision made by the State Historic Preservation Division backing plans by the City and County of Honolulu to demolish the Haʻikū Stairs. The suit was filed in district court Thursday by the Friends of Haʻikū Stairs – a nonprofit that has lobbied for retaining all or part of the 50-year-old mountain path that rises more than 2,000 feet offering climbers spectacular views of the Windward Coast. The city has been trying to dismantle the structure since 2021, but requires the agreement of the State Historic Preservation Division, a branch of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, under Hawaiʻi statutes. The filing asks the court to permanently halt the demolition, alleging that SHPD failed to require the city to 'conduct adequate historic and archaeological surveys of the full project area,' and allowed the city to reject 'a viable alternative to preserve the Stairs.' SHPD had previously expressed a preference for preserving and restoring the structure in a 2019 letter to the city, according to the filing. 'SHPD's preferred alternative would be to keep the Haʻikū Stairs and … and restore the damaged section of the stairs,' the letter read. But on April 9, SHPD wrote to the city's Department of Design and Construction that the demolition could proceed. The Friends of Haʻikū Stairs argue that SHPD's April letter was deficient because it didn't adequately explain why it abandoned its previous support for preservation. 'We just think that SHPD's rapid shift from preservation to demolition without explaining or doing any of the steps necessary under state law was fundamentally wrong and voids the whole process,' Justin Scorza, vice president of the Friends of Haʻikū Stairs, said on Monday. The group had first appealed the letter April 12 with the Hawaiʻi Historic Places Review Board, but the board lacked a quorum to rule on the legality of the letter, Scorza said. DLNR spokesman Dan Dennison said Monday he would not comment on pending litigation. City spokesman Ian Scheuring said the city was confident the Circuit Court does not have jurisdiction over the case and expected the lawsuit to be dismissed. Demolition Already On Hold Pending Appeal The lawsuit is the latest installment in the legal maneuvering around Honolulu''s efforts to demolish the stairs citing safety concerns, liability and security costs. Built during World War II as part of a top-secret naval radio project, the nearly 4,000 stairs remained an off-limits destination for hikers despite being closed in 1987. In 2019, former Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell had briefly floated the idea that the county's Department of Parks and Recreation take over the stairs and develop a managed access plan, including addressing traffic jams at the trail's residential access point. But an environmental impact statement in 2020 by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply recommended demolishing the stairs, and the formal decision was made by the Honolulu City Council and Mayor Rick Blangiardi in September 2021. The demolition was meant to take six months and cost $2.6 million but in August 2023 Friends of Haʻikū Stairs asked a court to halt the plan, arguing that the Board of Water Supplies environmental impact statement was out of date. Friends of Haʻikū Stairs lost that decision, but nevertheless, a temporary injunction was placed on the project in June last year, pending a decision by the Intermediate Court of Appeals on whether the lower court erred in its finding. Honolulu filed for an expedited appeal decision in February, saying it had spent nearly $2 million on police overtime to guard the steps from June to December last year. Over 120 arrests for trespass were made during that time, according to the city. Although there have been no reported deaths on the stairs, emergency workers rescued nearly 200 hikers from the trail from 2010 to 2022, the city said. ___ This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Your Costco ID is not valid for TSA entry
HONOLULU (KHON2) — If you've been thinking your Costco membership card is good enough for airport security, think again. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently made it clear that Costco cards will not be accepted as valid identification when you're flying. In a post on their official Facebook page, TSA shared: Hawaiʻi residents: Get your REAL ID before May 7 'We love hotdogs & rotisserie chickens as much as the next person, but please stop telling people their Costco card counts as a REAL ID because it absolutely does not.' This statement comes after a lot of confusion from travelers, some of whom thought their Costco card, which has a gold star on it, would count as a REAL ID. Some of those who engaged with the TSA post even joked online, saying things like 'at least it has a STAR on it' or 'So, you're saying we should bring you a chicken?' But the truth is, a REAL ID is a special kind of ID that meets strict government standards. The REAL ID Act was passed in 2005, and it has taken nearly 20 years for all states to issue these you want to fly domestically, you'll need either a REAL ID-compliant driver's license, a state-issued ID or another acceptable form of ID like a passport. You can get a REAL ID by visiting your state's driver's license office and providing documents like your full name, birth date, Social Security number, proof of address and legal status. You can click to learn more about state issued identification cards and for information on obtaining a Hawaii State driver's license. Get news on the go with KHON 2GO, KHON's morning podcast, every morning at 8 So, while Costco cards are great for shopping, they won't help you board your flight. Make sure you have the proper ID next time you travel! Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
HIDOE students feast on sweet potatoes
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Hawaiʻi public schools, like Hilo Union School, saw the return of local ʻuala, a sweet potato, to the school's lunch menus. According to the Hawaiʻi Department of Education, approximately 372 pounds of local Okinawan sweet potato were distributed to 91 participating schools. Sweet surprises await at Kulu Kulu Students enjoyed ʻuala in its steamed form for the Month of May. HIDOE said that the ingredient will expand also to be served as potato mash and yogurt bowls in the next school year. 'It's good. It's got a nice texture. The flavor, it's always been my favorite part,' said Hilo Union School sixth grader Isabella-Marie Wells. 'And I always know that it has a lot of nutrition in it; so, I know it's really good for me.'HIDOE said the Okinawan sweet potatoes have more antioxidants than other kinds of sweet potatoes, as it contains high levels of anthocyanin. The root is also rich in vitamins A, C and B6. Wells isn't the only fan of the food. The ʻuala is liked by students, especially due to its differing flavor from a traditional potato. Like first grade student Jaxon TongaBennette-Drayer said: 'It tastes like a normal potato, but it's sweeter.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Yahoo
Hōkūleʻa to stop in Hilo before traveling the world
HONOLULU (KHON2) — The esteemed Hōkūleʻa, along with Hikianalia, are set to depart Sand Island this weekend, where they will set sail for Hilo, marking their final stop on the Pae ʻĀina Statewide Sail before leaving the islands for the three-year Moananuiākea Voyage. The canoes are due to arrive in Hilo on May 20, where they will be docked for over a week for community engagement and voyage preparations. Future of Oahu's landfill in limbo as leaders look at other options There will be several events to honor the canoes' stay in Hilo, hosted by the County of Hawaiʻi, Island of Hawaiʻi Visitors Bureau, Grand Naniloa Hotel and the Hilo Community. There will be a welcome ceremony at the Grand Naniloa Hotel, which is tentatively scheduled for May 20, weather permitting. The next day, there will be a public dockside engagement event at the same hotel from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The final event will be Hilo's Hōkūleʻa Hoʻolauleʻa on May 24 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the ailoa Boat will also celebrate the canoes with music, entertainment, food trucks and more. During this time, Lihiwai Street from Kamehameha Avenue to Banyan Drive will be closed from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a one-way traffic pattern in place. 'We are honored to welcome Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia to Hilo as they embark on the next leg of the Moananuiākea Voyage,' said County of Hawaiʻi Mayor Kimo Alameda. 'This visit is an opportunity to celebrate our heritage of exploration while deepening our shared responsibility to the ocean that connects all of us.' The canoes are tentatively scheduled to depart from Hilo to French Polynesia on May 30. Their upcoming voyage will span approximately 43,000 nautical miles and will visit 36 countries and archipelagos, about 100 indigenous territories and over 345 ports. Around 400 crew members from Hawaiʻi and the Pacific will take part in the voyage. For updates on their world tour, visit the Hōkūleʻa website and follow them on social media @hokuleacrew. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
This ancient practice is rebuilding Maui's future: Here's how Lāhainā's reclaiming its forests
HONOLULU (KHON2) — From mountain peaks to coral reefs, Hawai'i's natural systems are deeply connected. The ʻāina (land), wai (water), holoholona (animals) and kānaka (people) rely on each other to survive. That idea isn't new. Native Hawaiian practices have honored those connections for generations. But today, groups across the islands, including the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), are putting that knowledge to work in powerful ways. One major effort is happening on Maui, where the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), along with local nonprofits and volunteers, is helping bring life back to native forests that once shaped rainfall, fed watersheds and supported entire communities. Here's what you should know about the work and why it matters. Healthy forests play a major role in collecting rain. That rain seeps into the ground and becomes the water we use every day. But if the forest is overrun with invasive weeds or rooted out by wild animals, it doesn't work the same. The West Maui watershed, stretching from Honokōwai to Honokōhau, covers more than 9,000 acres of land. The land used to be part of a pineapple plantation. Now, thanks to a conservation easement with Maui Land and Pineapple Company, it's being restored by Aloha Puʻu Kukui and The Nature Conservancy, with support from DOFAW. 'You can't just manage one part of it,' said John Meier, president of Aloha Puʻu Kukui. 'You have to manage the whole, from the peak all the way to the ocean. They're all connected. If you want the ocean to be healthy, the mountain above it has to be healthy.' Not all trees are created equal. Native Hawaiian plants like koa and a'ali'i support the watershed and keep the soil in place. Invasive species like Guinea grass and ironwood do the opposite. They spread quickly, use up resources and don't hold the same value for native animals or the land. At one site in West Maui, volunteers removed invasive plants and planted koa. Meier pointed to a small koa sapling and said, 'This area used to be all invasive weeds and ironwood trees. Now it's going to be koa and a'ali'i forest.' It can take years to see progress; but with time and care, the land year, Kula Kaiapuni 'o Lahainaluna, the ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi language immersion program at Lahainaluna High School, joined the effort. Students come to the forest, begin with pule and work with their hands in the dirt by weeding, digging, planting, learning. 'It's very important,' said student Aina Kapu. 'Because here in Hawai'i, this is where we come from, this is where we stand. This is where we expand our ʻike, our kuleana and our kūpuna did this for thousands of years, and we just want to repeat that same thing.' Kaliko Kalani Teruya added, 'ʻĀina momona [care for the land], choke plants make the rain come more often. ʻĀina momona: So, we can sustain and protect our native forest.' Pomaikaʻi Kaniaupio-Crozier, director of Conservation at Aloha Puʻu Kukui, leads many of the on-the-ground efforts. He works with school groups, nonprofits and other community members to make the restoration possible. 'Having the connection of Hawaiian reforestation and stewardship is really that pilina, that connection of what it takes to mālama, what it takes to be connected,' Kaniaupio-Crozier said. These projects are not quick fixes. They rely on people willing to show up year after year to build something lasting. While DLNR provides the structure and oversight for Hawai'i's land and water resources, much of the restoration work is possible because of collaboration. Groups like Aloha Puʻu Kukui and The Nature Conservancy bring their own experience; and landowners like Maui Land and Pineapple Company contribute through conservation agreements. Kaniaupio-Crozier said, 'We're very pleased. Maui Land and Pineapple Company and the Puʻu Kukui watershed, in collaboration with the DLNR, TNC, and Aloha Puʻu Kukui. It's nice to see community rally around any landscape, but especially a landscape like Honolua.' After the devastating Lāhainā fire, the work of restoring native forests carries even deeper meaning. 'Our forest in Lahaina was destroyed, and it was devastating,' said Kaniaupio-Crozier. 'But it's also an opportunity now, moving forward.' Volunteers are replanting native species using seeds that have been in those areas for thousands of years. The idea is not just to restore the forest, but to reconnect people to the knowledge and values passed down from their kūpuna. 'They're not doing it for a brochure,' he said. 'They're doing it because they're walking in the footsteps of their ancestors as kupa o ka ʻāina of these areas.' This year has been named 'The Year of the Community Forests' by Governor Josh Green, M.D. But what makes a forest 'community' isn't just who plants it. It's who carries its story. Kaniaupio-Crozier put it this way: 'It's a humbling thing to touch ʻāina, to care for ʻāina in places like this. We know our kūpuna and ke akua, that he puts us in places for reasons, not to just pass through, but to make that ʻāina momona.' That's what this work is really about: restoring the ʻāina (land), protecting the wai (water) and remembering that kānaka (people) and place are part of the same system. When you take care of one, you take care of both. Learn more about DLNR programs and how to get involved in forest restoration click . Get news on the go with KHON 2GO, KHON's morning podcast, every morning at 8 You don't need a degree or experience to be kuleana. All you need is a willingness to mālama ʻāina. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
