The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation has hired a consultant to study whether public-private partnerships should be used to complete the final stretch of the rail project into urban Honolulu. Read more
After serving nearly two terms in the state House of Representatives, Rep. Matthew LoPresti has his sights set on the Senate seat representing Ewa and Ewa Beach. Read more
Marine scientists investigating the mass stranding of five pilot whales on Kauai’s Kalapaki Beach last month have ruled out disease as causing the event, and say something sudden must have triggered the stranding. Read more
More than 100 Native Hawaiians are inching closer to homeownership as the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands works to complete a long-planned subdivision in Kapolei. Read more
The nine rail stations at the Ewa end of the city’s mass-transit line have been given Hawaiian names that experts say are reflective of ancient place names and legendary sites along the rail route. Read more
The board overseeing Honolulu’s rail project rejected a request by rail staff to increase a key engineering contract by nearly $18 million. Read more
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The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board voted Friday to reward its former interim executive director and CEO, Krishniah Murthy, with a $32,000 bonus. Read more
Honolulu rail officials took an initial step Friday toward preserving the option to someday extend the rail line past Ala Moana Center, up to the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Read more
Citing recent mass shootings in Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs, Texas, a group of state senators is urging President Donald Trump and congressional leaders to pass “commonsense gun safety laws” to “keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.” Read more
The Honolulu Police Department says that by the end of November it will clear a backlog of nearly 1,400 sexual assault evidence kits, some dating back more than two decades, and will send out all of about 200 more recent kits in the department’s possession for testing by the end of the year. Read more
Veteran state Sen. Donna Mercado Kim announced Wednesday she is joining the race to represent Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House. Read more
Two months after U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa announced her plans to run for governor, candidates looking to fill her seat in Congress are starting to emerge. Read more
Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is calling for an overhaul of the Democratic National Committee and campaign finance laws after an expose by a former committee official detailed the DNC’s close ties to the Hillary Clinton campaign. Read more
Hundreds of protesters ranging from schoolchildren and college students to retirees and legislators gathered in front of the state Capitol on Friday to voice their opposition to President Donald Trump, who is visiting Honolulu on his way to Asia. Read more
A preliminary search for state-controlled land parcels on Oahu where possible “safe zones” could be established for homeless encampments turned up no vacant sites. Read more
As public parks in Kakaako Makai reopened Monday after a three-week closure to clear homeless encampments and repair park facilities, officials say the state will strictly enforce nightly park closures to prevent the parks from being overrun again. Read more
The state will begin regularly enforcing park closures in Kakaako Makai “regardless of housing status,” Gov. David Ige said today, as some of the area’s parks reopened to the public three weeks after sprawling homeless encampments were cleared. Read more
As the state grapples with a severe shortage of affordable housing and the highest rate of homelessness per capita in the country, some lawmakers want the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to pitch in resources to help solve the pressing problems. Read more
Organizers of Hawaii’s first SlutWalk, an international movement protesting so-called slut-shaming of victims of sexual violence, want to demonstrate that women should be free to express their sexuality — through clothing or behavior — without being blamed or shamed for it. Read more
A legislative working group tasked with recommending possible sites for “safe zones” for homeless encampments on state land in Honolulu will expand its search islandwide — and potentially statewide — after ruling out a few vacant parcels in the city’s urban core. Read more
The head of Hawaii Pacific University maintains the school is in solid financial shape despite concerns raised about the tens of millions of dollars the private college borrowed to redevelop Aloha Tower Marketplace amid declining student enrollment. Read more
