4-year-old state hospital building rife with defects
Hawaii taxpayers may be coughing up $35 million or more to fix a state hospital building that a private contractor designed and built for $160 million four years ago. Read more
Andrew Gomes
Andrew Gomes is a business reporter at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Gomes is a longtime Hawaii journalist who for most of his career has concentrated on business subjects with a particular focus on real estate and land-use topics that include housing, development and agriculture.
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He is a fourth-generation kamaaina born on Oahu who earned a journalism degree from the University of Hawaii. Gomes has been a reporter for local newspapers since the mid-1990s. He regularly enjoys surfing, bodysurfing and skateboarding.
Latest Stories by Andrew Gomes
Bottle bill would boost deposits for beverage container recycling
Hawaii consumers and businesses could see a 100% spike in the cost to discard beverage containers via curbside recycling, the trash and other means outside of a state redemption program. Read more
Hawaii governor orders expedited hiring for displaced federal workers
Federal government employees in Hawaii who lose their jobs under a purge by President Donald Trump are being offered expedited consideration for state positions. Read more
State agency recommends revisiting liquefied natural gas
A state agency guiding Hawaii energy policy is recommending that Hawaiian Electric generate power on Oahu from liquefied natural gas — a decade after the state blocked the utility from such a move. Read more
Cuts to Hawaii’s federal workforce loom
Fear and uncertainty loom large over how much smaller the federal workforce in Hawaii will become under an unfolding multipronged effort by President Donald Trump, though the impact may be less, relative to other states. Read more
Federal job losses could be local government gains
Vast federal job cuts being driven by President Donald Trump could benefit Hawaii state and county workforces burdened by high vacancies. Read more
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Nuclear power exploration legislation gains steam
State lawmakers are advancing further this year down a path toward possibly using nuclear power to make electricity in Hawaii. Read more
‘Modest’ piece of wildfire settlement promoted for insurers
Gov. Josh Green doubts that Hawaii’s insurance market will suffer from a Monday court decision supporting a tentative $4 billion Maui wildfire settlement, but he still sees merit in sharing settlement proceeds with insurers. Read more
Maui wildfire settlement clears state Supreme Court hurdle
Maui wildfire victims are closer to sharing a $4 billion settlement, possibly before the disaster’s second anniversary in August, after a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling Monday. Read more
Maui wildfire settlement clears Hawaii Supreme Court hurdle
The state’s high court ruled unanimously in answering three questions of Hawaii law that a Circuit Court judge used to underpin the validity of the settlement deal. Read more
Hawaiian Homes agency seeking an additional $600M
Hawaii lawmakers are considering big funding increases to produce homesteads for state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands beneficiaries after a historic $600 million appropriation in 2023. Read more
State high court probes conditions of Maui wildfires settlement
Hawaii Supreme Court justices posed many exacting, and sometimes skeptical, questions Thursday to attorneys in a case pertaining to the validity of a $4 billion deal to settle Maui wildfire litigation. Read more
OHA Kakaako Makai housing bill advances
Three Hawaii Senate committees have advanced a contentious bill to allow housing on land owned by the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs in Kakaako, makai of Ala Moana Boulevard. Read more
Hawaii’s plan to develop leasehold homes advances
An unconventional state initiative to build more homes for Hawaii residents with moderate incomes is approaching a critical test to see whether homebuyers want high-rise condominiums with 99-year land leases. Read more
Hawaii Supreme Court considers fate of $4B wildfire settlement
Answers to three questions posed to five justices could soon determine the fate of a stalled $4 billion settlement for close to 10,000 Maui wildfire victims. Read more
Cameras almost ready to ticket drivers
Automated cameras to ticket speeding drivers could be activated on Oahu by the end of the month, and state officials want to greatly expand the system. Read more
Kakaako Makai housing bill attracts a flood of testimony
A contentious bill to largely undo a state law prohibiting residential development on the peninsula in Kakaako drew almost two-thirds more support than opposition at an initial public hearing Wednesday. Read more
Relief from soaring Hawaii property insurance costs is elusive
More affordable solutions to exorbitant homeowner insurance policy costs in Hawaii don’t appear near under an emergency state effort initiated in 2024. Read more
Group sues governor over water commission appointee
A group of Hawaii residents concerned about state water policy has sued Gov. Josh Green seeking to invalidate an unusual appointment to the Commission on Water Resource Management. Read more
Hawaii kauhale ‘villages’ for homeless go far beyond tiny homes
Hawaii could see its biggest one-time investment ever from state leaders this year to house the homeless. Read more
Hawaii offshore wind farm plan buffeted by Trump order
The political winds in Washington, D.C., have shifted against offshore wind energy plans that include at least one ambitious and controversial project proposed for Hawaii. Read more
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