“Mufi Hannemann’s events spark inquiry into funding from tourist agency.”
Views expressed in this Hawaii News update are those of the reporters and correspondents. Accessed on 26 March 2025, 2036 UTC.
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Mufi Hannemann’s Events Spark Inquiry Into Freebies From Tourism Agency
Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann chairs the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority. He also leads two nonprofits at the center of a newly opened investigation by the Hawaiʻi State Ethics Commission. Those nonprofits received $14,000 in food and beverages provided at two breakfast events. And they didn’t pay for the use of state facilities.
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Hegseth Tours Hawaiʻi Bases, Makes Appeal to Pacific Allies
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continued his tour of Hawaiʻi on Tuesday, meeting with troops, touring bases and giving a speech in Waikīkī in which he made overtures to American allies in the Pacific and called on them to help the U.S. confront China.
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Prince Kūhiō Day Eve Event Rallies Support for $600M Hawaiian Homes Funding
The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands held a unity rally Tuesday at the state Capitol to pay tribute to Prince Kūhiō a day ahead of his birthday and to counteract recent resistance to homestead development funding at the Legislature.
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The Unlikely Odyssey of Prince Jonah Kūhiō
Raised in nobility and imprisoned after the overthrow of the monarchy, Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, born March 26, 1871, had an outsized impact on modern Hawaiʻi.
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Digitized Agriculture Form Disrupts Tourism Data
Akamai Arrival, the pilot program for a digitized agriculture disclosure form, left out the optional tourism questions from the back of the form, creating a blip in the state’s continuous tourism arrivals set that goes back to before the jet age.
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HAWAII BUSINESS MAGAZINE
20 for the Next 20: Liane Sugimoto, Prince Resorts Hawaii
The CFO and chief administrative officer uses her expertise in accounting and operations to “take care of employees in innovative ways.”
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O‘ahu Headlines
Honolulu Permitting Department to Purge Old, Inactive Building Permit Applications
DPP announced that it will purge building permit applications that have been in its review system for more than 365 days, with no activity from the applicant, effective immediately. This includes permits that have been approved to be issued but have not been picked up.
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Co-Owner of Waiʻanae Company Arrested for Import of Illegal Fireworks
The seizure of 24 tons of fireworks was the largest single interdiction by the state Illegal Fireworks Task Force. Josephine Quintanilla, a co-owner of Explicit Pyrotechnics, was charged on March 11 with allegedly importing fireworks into Hawaiʻi without a state license, a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
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Lawmakers Vote to Support New Aloha Stadium Project
A public hearing was held at the state’s capitol building Tuesday, with two resolutions urging lawmakers to support the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District Project.
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Sponsored By CENTRAL PACIFIC BANK
CPB is the only bank in Hawaii offering an online lending portal for small business
Small businesses can apply online or in person with a CPB Banker
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TheBus, Skyline, Handi-Van Phone Lines Resume After Outage
The outage follows scheduled maintenance early Tuesday, after which the phone lines failed to come back online.
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Balancing Safety: Speed Humps Reduce Crashes, But May Be Slowing Honolulu Fire’s Response Times
The Department of Transportation started installing speed humps in 2019. In total, there are 180 across O‘ahu with 11 more in the works. DOT says there’s been a 74% reduction in total crashes near speed humps, a 59% percent decrease in speeding and a 92% reduction in fatalities. But it seems the safeguard may have an unintended downside by potentially increasing HFD’s response times.
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Hawai‘i Island Headlines
Kīlauea Begins ‘15th Episode’ of Eruption
Scientists at Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said episode 15 of the ongoing eruption commenced at 12:04 p.m. Tuesday “with the onset of vigorous overflows from the north vent,” along with “continuing cycles of lava rise, fountaining and vigorous overflows, and drainback events.”
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Sayre Foundation Partners With Life Flight Network to Provide Big Island With New Air Ambulance
The Big Island will soon have a new tool able to rapidly respond to and transport the most critical patients from even its most rural areas because of two nonprofits dedicated to saving lives.
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HAWAII BUSINESS MAGAZINE
The Governor’s Choice: Hawai‘i’s Undemocratic Cycle of Influence and Power
The governor’s power to fill vacant seats in the state Legislature has been used at least 82 times. Some appointees then launched big political careers.
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A Monument for Vietnam Vets Planned for School in Kona
Vietnam veteran Clyde Brumaghim is currently leading an effort to raise money from the community for an elegant monument that will stand at Konawaena High School to honor the Wildcats who served in the Vietnam War, which took place from 1954 to 1975.
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Management Plan for a Popular Big Island Trail Focuses on Capacity, Cultural Preservation
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ new management plan for the Pololū Trailhead aims to perpetuate Native Hawaiian culture, preserve the ʻāina and address the overwhelming number of visitors.
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Maui Headlines
Mayor Bissen Presents $1.512 Billion FY2026 Budget to Maui County Council
The document addresses funding needed for housing, recovery and well-being, natural and cultural resources, water, infrastructure and public safety.
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Lawsuit Challenges Trump Freeze on Maui Funding
The state Department of Human Services will have to shut down its ongoing relief efforts for 4,431 remaining survivors of the 2023 Maui wildfires on April 4 unless the Federal Emergency Management Agency lifts a funding freeze, according to a federal lawsuit filed by attorneys general from both Republican and Democratic states.
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Shuttered Maui Fire Victims Jobs Effort Gets Funds, but Fate Still Unclear
The U.S. Department of Labor announced Tuesday it had given $2.5 million to the program “to continue employment and training services, and support disaster-relief jobs” for Maui residents who had been thrown out of work by the Aug. 8 wildfires. The new funding will help cover expenses it already racked up.
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Kaua‘i Headlines
Did You Hear the Siren? Let Kaua‘i Emergency Management Know With New Online Tool
Kaua‘i County’s emergency management agency launched a new online reporting tool so residents and businesses can voluntarily help monitor the monthly tests.
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Hanalei Pavilion and Parking Lot to Close
The Department of Parks and Recreation has scheduled Hanalei Pavillion to close for two weeks for septic repairs and maintenance.
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