Lawmakers Question HECO Plan to Collect $1 Billion From Customers

Hawaiian Electric Co.’s biggest request to lawmakers this session was a $1 billion fund to cover future wildfire liability, paid for by a small fee on its customers. The utility was looking to shore up its battered credit rating, but instead, it has found a political headache.

Civil Beat.

Hawaiʻi Toys With Repealing Tax Credits for Solar, Wind, Renewable Fuel

House Bill 1369 was heard by the House Finance Committee on Wednesday and proposed repealing credits for solar, wind, and renewable fuel.

Hawaiʻi Public Radio.

Hawaiʻi Population Increases in New Estimate

Census estimates suggest that Hawaiʻi’s population edged up 0.3%, or by 4,759 people, in 2024 and bumped up the total population count to 1,446,146 from 1,441,387 in 2023.

Star-Advertiser.

Dead Or Alive? With a Week to Go, Some Sunshine Bills Are Teetering

By the end of this week bills need to have passed out of all the committees to which they’d been assigned, including the money committees, or they are dead for the year. In January, lawmakers introduced about 3,100 bills. As of Friday, 780 remained on the House’s list and 835 in the Senate.

Civil Beat.

Half of Hawaiʻi Inmates Leave Prison Without the IDs They Need to Start Over

More than seven years after Hawaiʻi passed a law meant to address the problem, the number of people leaving prison and jail without key documents has barely budged.

Civil Beat.

O‘ahu Headlines

Threat of Federal Budget Cuts May Sink Rail Tax Extension

The city rail authority is supporting a bill at the Legislature to extend the controversial Oʻahu excise tax surcharge for rail, but some board members worry the threat of federal budget cuts may cause the surcharge measure to die next week.

Civil Beat. Hawaii News Now.

Hawai‘I Convention Center Seeking $55M to Fast-Track Projects

If the $12 million expenditure ceiling request, along with HTA’s CIP request of $52 million, are appropriated, HTA anticipates spending more than $55.4 million on convention center repair and maintenance projects in fiscal year 2026 and more than $16.7 million in fiscal year 2027.

Star-Advertiser.

Wahiawā Charter School Accepts Permanent Closure

The Hawaiʻi State Public Charter School Commission voted to close the school in January, and Kamalani Academy leaders will not challenge the decision.

Civil Beat.

University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center and Queen’s to Collaborate on Oncology Clinic

The University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center and The Queen’s Health Systems are teaming up to provide cutting-edge, comprehensive cancer care to residents under one roof.

Star-Advertiser.

2 More Arrests in New Year’s Fireworks Blast Bring Total to 12

The owners of the Aliamanu home at 4144 Keaka Drive, where a stockpile of illegal aerials accidentally detonated at a New Year’s party killing six people Opens in a new tab, were arrested today on suspicion of fireworks offenses.

Star-Advertiser. KHON2.

Hawai‘i Island Headlines

Apparent Settlement Reached in Honokohau Harbor Sewage Lawsuit

A letter to U.S. District Chief Magistrate Judge Kenneth Mansfield from Elena Bryant, an Earthjustice attorney representing Hui Malama Honokohau, requested putting on hold “existing discovery and other deadlines while the parties finalize the settlement, including securing approval from the County Council.”

Tribune-Herald.

Mayor Kicks Off First of 14 Community Meetings

Dozens of Big Island residents met with Mayor Kimo Alameda and other Hawaii County officials Wednesday at the first of 14 planned community meetings around the island.

Tribune-Herald.

Housing Center for Youth Opens in Downtown Hilo

The Youth Outreach and Supportive Housing Center in Hilo will offer 22 units of housing for young people between the ages of 15 and 24, as well as a youth center to connect at-risk youth with access to essential services.

Tribune-Herald. Big Island Now.

Maui Headlines

Hawaiʻi Man Freed by DNA Evidence After 30 Years in Prison Visits Mother’s Grave and Ponders Ubiquitous Cellphones

One of the first places Gordon Cordeiro visited when a judge ordered him released after spending 30 years in prison for a killing he always maintained he had nothing to do with was his mother’s Hawaiʻi gravesite.

Associated Press. Maui Now.

College No Longer First Option for Maui County Public High School Graduates

There is a developing trend among Maui County public high school graduates over the past five years — foregoing college for more immediate careers, or skipping college because they see tuition and other associated costs as prohibitive.

Maui Now.

‘I Don’t Know How You Guys Expect Us to Pay Rent’

Lahaina resident Beatrice Hoopai narrowly escaped the 2023 wildfire with her family. Now, she’s fighting to keep a roof over their head.

Hawaiʻi Public Radio.

Kaua‘i Headlines

Program Begins Releasing Mosquitoes on Kauaʻi to Protect Endangered Honeycreepers

Conservationists on Kauaʻi have begun releasing hundreds of thousands of male mosquitoes incapable of reproducing in an effort to combat avian malaria, a disease threatening native honeycreepers with extinction.

Star-Advertiser.