Fewer Kids in Hawaiʻi Are Getting Routine Vaccines

The state health department is warning that more unvaccinated students could put children at higher risk for infections like measles. In the 2023-24 school year, 21% of students were missing vaccinations, up from nearly 19% in the previous year.

Civil Beat. Big Island Now.

Report Urges Help for Hawaiʻi Households Struggling Financially

The 2024 ALICE in Hawaiʻi report shows that while the percentage of households below the poverty line decreased to 12% in 2024 from 14% in 2022, the proportion of ALICE households remained unchanged at 29%. Nearly one-third of Hawaiʻi households are classified as ALICE  — asset-limited, income-constrained, employed.

Star-Advertiser. Hawaii News Now. KHON2.

Advocates Renew Push for Hawaiʻi Legislative Reforms

A coalition of local community organizations seek changes in ethics, public access and campaign reforms. The coalition delivered a letter and petition with about 1,600 signatures to House and Senate lawmakers asking for five rule changes to legislative procedures and five new laws in the wake of high-profile corruption scandals and reduced voter participation that the letter writers said lead people to question whether engaging with Hawaiʻi’s legislative system even matters at all.

Star-Advertiser.

State Department of Agriculture Asks for Additional $28M in General Funds

Hawaiʻi’s Agriculture Department is asking state lawmakers for an additional $28 million in general funds over the next two years. The governor’s proposed budget for the next biennium would allocate $73.4 million to the state Department of Agriculture and $71.5 million for its operating budget over the next two fiscal years, respectively.

Hawaiʻi Public Radio.

DOE Gets an F: Hawaiʻi Schools Miss Their First Local Food Target

The Hawaiʻi Department of Education was supposed to buy 10% of its school lunch ingredients last year from local producers. Instead, the DOE backslid since the goal was set in 2022, when 6.2% of its food was local. DOE officials blame the supply chain and cost, but the department has come under fire for reportedly being inflexible and difficult to work with. After missing its first target, will Hawaiʻi public schools be able to meet the state mandate of 50% local food by 2050?

Civil Beat.

O‘ahu Headlines

OHA Pitches Community on Kakaʻako Makai Housing

The state Office of Hawaiian Affairs worked to wrangle public support Wednesday night for its revamped proposal to undo a state law prohibiting residential use of land it owns in Kakaʻako.

Star-Advertiser.

Legislators Consider New Laws to Restrict Where Landfills Can Be Placed

Debate over landfill site is aired before lawmakers. Two joint Legislature committees held an informational meeting over the city’s plan to site its dump on Dole Food Co. Hawaiʻi property near Wahiawā. A 2020 law places restrictions on locating waste-disposal facilities, particularly those close to conservation lands or half-mile “buffer zones” near residential areas, schools or hospitals, as well as near airports or tsunami inundation zones.

Star-Advertiser. Hawaiʻi Public Radio.

Federal Investigators Join HFD in Search for Answers in Deadly McCully Fire

Federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are on Oʻahu working closely alongside the Honolulu Fire Department at the scene of a deadly fire along Young Street. Together, investigators are trying to piece together a cause of the blaze that killed a young firefighter Monday night.

Hawaii News Now.

Death at Illegal North Shore New Year’s Eve Party Stokes Safety Concerns

To residents of a community along Oʻahu’s North Shore, the annual New Year’s Eve party in the woods was no secret. So why, they ask, did a young partygoer fall to her death in the early hours of 2025 despite warnings about this illegal party? Residents of Haleʻiwa say a New Year’s Eve gathering in a Pūpūkea-Paumalū State Park Reserve bunker has grown larger and larger over the years, drawing teens and young adults. Tiare Cuoto, 19, died after slipping and falling on a dark, muddy trail.

Civil Beat.

Hawai‘i Island Headlines

County Plans to Install Dozens of Drywells Along Kawili Street

The Hawai‘i County Department of Public Works is in the early stages of a $21 million construction project to improve East and West Kawili streets and Manono Street by installing a continuous sidewalk along the road, as well as other various pavement and striping maintenance.

Tribune-Herald.

Lots of Work Still Ahead for Road Into Waipi‘o Valley

Almost three years after the county restricted access, Department of Public Works spokeswoman Sherise Kana‘e-Kane said the project remains “in its preliminary design stages.”

Tribune-Herald.

New EIS Prep Notice Posted for Expansion at Leilani Quarry

Sanford’s Service Center is seeking a State Land Use District Boundary Amendment to reclassify 94-acres in order to expand mining of black-colored cinder at the quarry.

Big Island Video News.

Captain Cook Post Office to Get Name Change Honoring Vietnam War Veteran Lt. Kauhaihao

President Joe Biden signed US Rep. Jill Tokuda’s bill into law, naming the Captain Cook Post Office on Hawaiʻi Island the “Army 1st Lt. John Kuulei Kauhaihao Post Office Building.”

Maui Now.

Maui Headlines

Federal Disaster Funding Signals a Shift for Lahaina

There was a shift at Wednesday’s disaster recovery community meeting in Lahaina where residents were informed Maui County is gearing up to distribute more than $1 billion funds that’s been allocated to the county through the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery funds.

Maui News.

HIDOE to Restore One Additional School Bus Route for Kalama Intermediate School on Maui

The Hawai‘i State Department of Education announced today that one previously suspended school bus route serving Samuel E. Kalama Intermediate School will be reinstated starting on Monday, Jan. 13, restoring service for approximately 31 student bus riders.

Maui Now.

Kaua‘i Headlines

Real Property Tax Collections Office Closed Until Further Notice

Kaua‘i County is notifying the public that the Real Property tax collections office at the Līhu‘e Civic Center is closed until further notice because of unforeseen circumstances. Payments can be made in the Real Property tax assessment office or online.

Kaua‘i Now.

Kapa‘a Bypass Closed Daily Starting Monday, Will Shut Again in February for Repairs

Traffic will be re-routed to Lehua Street, according to the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation. The road will be open every afternoon after 3 p.m. and on weekends and holidays.

Kaua‘i Now.