‘Aina Le‘a Suit Dismissed: The state has prevailed in the efforts of DW ‘Aina Le‘a, LLC, to claim $200 million in damages as a result of the Land Use Commission’s reversion of land it once owned from the Urban land use … Continued
A huge area of the open ocean lying between Hawai`i and Mexico could be open to the mining of metallic nodules found on the seafloor as early as the middle of next year. And, at this time, it’s an open … Continued
Wire Leader Ban: The National Marine Fisheries Service has published a final rule that, effective May 31, will ban the use of steel wire leaders by Hawai`i longline fishing vessels that target tunas. The leader is the part of the … Continued
Kihei High Update: “While construction of the two classroom buildings, administration building, and locker rooms is proceeding at a brisk pace, due to some unavoidable construction and material delays, we have been informed that completion of these new facilities will … Continued
Hawaiʻi County Sued in Federal Court Over Closure of Waipiʻo Valley Road Hawaiʻi County mayor Mitch Roth announced on February 24 that he was immediately closing the only road leading into Waipiʻo Valley to all but residents and farmers for … Continued
By Patricia Tummons One of the key features of the Hawaiʻi planning law is the placement of all land in the state into one of four land use districts: Conservation, Agricultural, Rural, or Urban. And another key feature, until last … Continued
Whales on the Line, I: Last year, the Hawai`i-based longline tuna fleet hooked five false killer whales inside the Exclusive Economic Zone around Hawai`i. All of the animals were determined to have been mortally or seriously injured (M/SI) by the … Continued
Photo: Ted Hong, attorney for Community Based Education Support Services. By Patricia Tummons In the end, it wasn’t even close. By the time the Land Use Commission was set to vote on a special permit allowing the construction of a … Continued
Hu Honua Rebuffed: The on-again, off-again dispute over the Hu Honua power plant just north of Hilo is now on again. This comes after Hu Honua itself sought to postpone – possibly for months – the scheduled start of a … Continued
Can a private entity’s petition to designate state lands as Important Agricultural Lands advance without the state’s permission? That question and many others arose last month, when the Land Use Commission met to consider a petition to designate 12,123 acres … Continued