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
Hawaiʻi County and its planning director, Zendo Kern, are being sued by a rabbi and the religious organization that employs him. The lawsuit alleges that the fines the county has imposed over the use of his Kona home for religious … Continued
To be “qualified” can be a good thing. But when it comes to audits, a qualified audit is one that has problems – like the financial audit of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council for 2022. The audit report was … Continued
After seven years of litigation, the state of Hawaiʻi has finally prevailed in the lawsuit brought by DW ʻAina Leʻa Deveopment, LLC – DW for short. The company, owner of about 1,000 acres of land in the Big Island district … Continued
Monk Seals on the Rise: The National Marine Fisheries Service has released a draft assessment of the populations of marine mammals in waters around Hawai`i, among other areas. The date of the publication is July 2023 and includes assessments of … Continued
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the American Bird Conservancy were awarded their motion for summary judgment in a case brought by Maui resident Tina Lia and a group she founded last year, Hawaiʻi Unites. Lia had … Continued
In late 2015, the Board of Land and Natural Resources did what it had been doing annually for years: approved four revocable permits that allowed Alexander & Baldwin and affiliated companies to withdraw up to 100 million gallons a day … Continued
Preset Ban Ignored: “No commercial vendor shall preset commercial beach equipment on any beach … unless the customer is physically present for the immediate use of the commercial beach equipment.” So states Act 227 of the 2023 Legislature, which is … Continued