Lawmakers again fail to agree on measures for Banyan Drive redevelopment
Redevelopment of Banyan Drive will have to wait until next year once again after the failure of three bills earlier...
Political
Charter Commission says no to amendment that would abolish minimum tax
Some owners of vast Hamakua land holdings don’t pay much more in annual property taxes than an owner of a...
Lawmakers give preliminary OK to corrections reform measure By Sophie Cocke
Hawaii’s jails and prisons are poised to come under the oversight of an independent commission with powers to conduct investigations,...
State Senate might allow vacation rental platforms to collect taxes By Kevin Dayton
In the face of intense lobbying by the hotel industry, the state Senate signaled Thursday night it might once again...
Charter Commission rejects special election
Citing the cost and prospect of a low turnout, the Charter Commission on Thursday rejected the idea of a special...
Cardiac funding bill stalls
A bill that would further fund Hilo Medical Center’s interventional cardiac program has stalled in the final stages of the...
Embattled Public Safety director confirmed by Senate for another 4 years
KAILUA-KONA —The state Senate voted today to confirm Department of Public Safety director Nolan Espinda for another four years. The...
Lawmakers approve statewide mail-in voting By Kevin Dayton
Leading lawmakers have finally agreed on a plan to switch to statewide mail-in balloting starting in the 2020 election, a...
Funding measures for HINET, Hawaii Promise sent to Ige
Dozens of Hawaii Community College students will be among those who will benefit if legislation to fund programs intended to...
Office of Information Practices says ad hoc budget panel could violate state Sunshine Law
Behind-the-scenes budget meetings could run afoul of the state Sunshine Law, County Council members learned Tuesday. The council Finance Committee...
Mass Transit mismanagement could hurt entire state’s federal funding
Millions of dollars in federal funding could be in jeopardy because the county Mass Transit Agency didn’t submit its required...
(Oahu)Battle lines take shape as 2 vacation rental bills advance By Gordon Y.K. Pang
When it comes to the thorny issue of vacation rental homes on Oahu, it seems the clearer the issue gets,...
Gov. David Ige urges Hawaii Legislature to resurrect water rights bill opposed by environmentalists By Sophie Cocke
Gov. David Ige is prodding state lawmakers to resurrect a controversial bill that would give public water users, including Alexander...
Council begins three days of combing through departmental spending plans
A full 38% of the county’s proposed 2019-20 budget is eaten up by employee pensions, retirement, health insurance and payment...
County Council District 9 update: 04-15-19 By Tim Richards County Council
Aloha! Once again, it is time for the monthly update from our office. BUDGET SEASON On March 1, the administration...
Council approves lava disaster aid measures
The Hawaii County Council gave final approval to all but one of three lava disaster aid bills on the table...
Ranked voting could make its way to Hawaii
Ranked voting, a new way to elect candidates for political office, could be coming to Hawaii if a bill making...
Council members say Big Pharma should help fix opioid crisis, vote to join class action lawsuit
Hawaii County is jumping into a multi-state class action lawsuit against Big Pharma manufacturers and distributors, seeking compensation for opioid...
Gabbard reaches donor threshold to qualify for debate
Gabbard reaches donor threshold to qualify for debate WASHINGTON — Tulsi Gabbard says her 2020 presidential campaign reached the donor...
State closer to forcing Airbnb to collect taxes on rentals
State lawmakers on Tuesday, eager to gather tax revenue from Hawaii’s flourishing, yet mostly unpermitted, vacation rental sector, passed legislation...
