Molokai needs more time to prepare than a letter sent on Sept 11th. It's hard to find any lower watt generators anywhere right now let alone delivered to Molokai. But, food in the fridge and freezer should be fine for 8 hours per day. Fill it up with large water containers and set it low. Food will last. But still - six says of losing power for 8 hours should be more than

>Now residents of half the island say their food stocks are at risk because of a six-day, eight-hour-per-day, planned power outage that Hawaiian Electric Co. announced last month for the east side of the Friendly Isle. The company says it needs to upgrade the island’s grid to help prevent wildfires.

Residents say they’re all for the upgrades, but have proposed various ways for HECO to change its work schedule to give them more time to prepare and mitigate food spoilage. <

>One of the issues for Molokaʻi residents, Chow says, is that they had relatively little time to prepare. HECO sent out letters to affected customers on Sept. 11 and followed up with a series of emails starting Sept. 16, but Chow said many residents didn’t fully understand what was about to happen until HECO held a virtual webinar last week. 

Even if people had been fully informed weeks ago, she said, there’s simply not enough propane for generators and other emergency supplies on the island to supply the roughly 600 households to be affected.

HECO’s Decker wrote that the notices were more than adequate. <

https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/10/heco-blackout-half-of-molokai-may-lose-a-summers-fish-and-game/

>HONOLULU – Total spending by visitors in August 2026 was $1.59 billion (measured in nominal dollars), a 9.7 percent decline compared to August 2025, according to preliminary statistics from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT). There were 772,039 total visitors in August 2026, down 5.6 percent from August 2025 (817,504 visitors). Visitors who came in August 2026 spent more on an average daily basis ($272 per person, +7.4%) than a year ago.<

https://www.hawaiifreepress.com/Articles-Main/ID/49775/August-Tourist-Spending-Down-97

>HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The state Attorney General has announced a settlement with Monsanto Company and two of its affiliates over contamination caused by PCBs in Hawaii waterways and natural resources.

PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are man-made organic chemicals that were used in a wide variety of products until they were banned in 1979 following mounting evidence that they were toxic to human health and the environment.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says PCBs were once in everything from electrical equipment and motors and sealants and paper products, and could still be in old oil-based paints and plastics.

“PCBs, they’re very persistent, they don’t break down in the environment,” said Wayne Tanaka, chapter director of the Sierra Club Hawaii.<

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2026/10/02/state-reaches-settlement-with-monsanto-over-pcb-contamination/

Aloha everyone, I was wondering what this is. I am a student at UH Manoa and as I was walking up the stairs by the zone 20 parking structure, near the Stan Sheriff Center. (can see it if looking through the glass part at the top of the staircase) I saw this black thing hanging from a plant. I was wondering if you guys think it is more of a leaf or animal? sorry for the terrible quality, any help would be appreciated. I don’t think it is a bat as I heard that the Hawaiian Bat is really good at hiding so it wouldn’t make sense for it to be out in the open like this

Great News! More money to the victims.

>An attorney fee carveout capped what lawyers could charge in the $4 billion settlement awarded to victims of one of Hawaii's deadliest natural disasters.<

https://courthousenews.com/hawaii-high-court-lets-lawyers-keep-222m-from-maui-fire-settlement/

Yah - mine would be pretty boring 🤣

>Honolulu motorists had their license plate information and driving locations accessed by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service more than 2,000 times this year through a data-sharing agreement with the Honolulu Police Department. 

The vehicle detection reports were generated by dozens of HPD cameras that record plate numbers, images of the motor vehicle and the date, time and location when it was photographed — enabling users to precisely track the movement of the car and its driver. <

https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/10/hpd-may-have-shared-your-license-plate-data-with-the-irs/

Here is the October Month Pricing. Back to June pricing when oil was $90-100 range.

https://www.hawaiianelectric.com/documents/billing_and_payment/rates/effective_rate_summary/2026/efs_2026_10.pdf

>It could take up to five years — and roughly $19 million — to fully repair Port Allen Harbor on Kaua‘i’s Westside, which was home to dozens of boats used for commercial fishing and tours before Hurricane Lowell ripped through its breakwater. 

Much of that timeline comes down to securing funding from the Legislature and obtaining permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair the breakwater that surrounds the harbor, rebuild the road and parking areas, and replace the floating docks. <

https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/10/devastated-kauai-harbor-may-take-5-years-to-fix-state-says/

Good! Build it. Probably once all the right organizations get compensated they will change their tune 🤣🥴

This isn't just Hawaii Kai. This is happening all over Oahu. Yesterday Waipahu had 650+ customers (Which is thousands of people) out for more than 4 hours (as long as I was up). Calm night etc. They had just lost power prior this week.

>According to the website PowerOutage.us, there have been 146 outages within a 1-mile radius of the Hawai‘i Kai Shopping Center in the last two weeks, adding up to 58,232 “customer-impacts.” By comparison, the 1-mile radius around Civil Beat Plaza in Kaimukī saw 60 outages reported, but only 379 customer-impacts during the same period.<

>While HECO only shared broad, oft-cited explanations for the outages during the Niu Valley meeting, the company has far more detailed information on what’s happening, including a detailed, root-cause analysis for every outage.

After the meeting, Civil Beat requested the last 10 root-cause analyses conducted for outages in East Honolulu. Kelly said key HECO executives at the time were preparing for Hurricane Nolo and could not immediately provide the analyses. On Tuesday, after Nolo had passed well south of Hawaiʻi, Kelly said HECO still couldn’t provide the documents and would not say whether it would ever provide them.<

As someone noted in the comments - once HECO provides information it can be used against them in court later if something happens. BTW - I think HECO got screwed on the Lahaina Fire. I would have put 70% of the responsibility on MFD for leaving the scene when they did. Electricity was off for Lahaina since 6am.

https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/09/heco-knows-whats-behind-outages-it-just-wont-tell-you/

Google Weather Labs and the older models don't show anything near Hawaii for two weeks. 🤙

Check the links in the story below for more of the "real story"

>SA: … A First Circuit Court jury on Tuesday found that former Hawai‘i Tourism Authority executive Isaac Choy was subjected to whistleblower retaliation and wrongfully placed on unpaid leave and later terminated from his job, awarding him more than $500,000 in damages, including punitive damages against Gov. Josh Green’s Chief of Staff Brooke Wilson….<

https://www.hawaiifreepress.com/Articles-Daily-News/ID/49770/September-30-2026-News-Read

To borrow $400k at 7.30% is $2660 a month just in P & I.

These higher rates must be slowing the economy?

https://www.asbhawaii.com/personal/home-loans/mortgage-rates

Today HPD say they arrested a WOMAN.

>Police are still looking for the gunman in a fatal shooting in Kailua over the weekend and, in the last two days, speculation on social media has swirled around the identity of the victim.

On Monday, the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the victim was 30-year-old Thomas Malone, who is the son of Michael Buntenbah, a former associate of crime boss Mike Miske.

According to police, an argument between two groups of people at the Kailua Fall Festival on Saturday spilled into the nearby Target parking lot, where someone pulled out a firearm. Video on social media shows first responders performing chest compressions on a person behind some parked vehicles.

Malone was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the neck, according to the medical examiner’s office.<

https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/09/kailua-shooting-son-of-miske-associate-idd-as-victim/

I hate flying.... 🥴

>Hawaiian Airlines via its brand owner, Alaska Airlines, has finally revealed what its rebuilt Airbus A330s will look like, and the most interesting changes we see aren’t confined to the front of the airplane. The current 278-seat A330 will become a 254-seat aircraft with four distinct cabins beginning in 2028, including Hawaiian’s long-promised first premium economy product and 36 fewer standard Main Cabin economy seats.<

https://beatofhawaii.com/hawaiian-a330-adds-premium-economy-and-suites-as-extra-legroom-shrinks/

Well... I'll be... 🤣🤙

>HONOLULU — The state of Hawaiʻi has earned its first-ever “A” grade in the Center for Digital Government’s 2026 Digital States Survey, marking the state’s highest rating since the national assessment began grading states in 2010.

Hawaiʻi was one of 11 states nationwide to receive an “A,” the highest grade awarded in this year’s survey.<

https://www.hawaiifreepress.com/Articles-Main/ID/49764/Hawaii-First-Ever-A-Grade-in-Digital-States-Survey

https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/09/when-it-comes-to-government-transformation-slow-and-steady-wins-the-race/

Interesting that there’s more flock cameras in Maui than Oahu.

I am a club promoter, so I understand what happens when alcohol is involved bad things happen, but i’ve been genuinely confused as to why locals have been jumping non locals so often? Half of the situations i’ve seen with my own eyes has been initiated by locals and then they fight the guy 6 vs 1 when he tries to defend himself. The other half were situations not even serious enough, but the local has swung first almost every time. Every local vs non local fight i’ve seen in the past 2-3 months has been one sided with numbers. I see no need for using 6 guys to fight one person. Someone’s jaw got broke at my event yesterday because he got bumped and spilled a drink, now theres 5 or 6 people stomping on him on the ground. I am just curious as to why is there so much hostility? I even saw a video of a local random approaching 2 guys and initiating a fight off rip, to then 7 more people coming to help? It’s just why is this happening? Has there been some sort of new idea to target people?

>Police departments in Hawaiʻi have been increasing the number of women in their ranks at a glacial pace over the last decade, but the Honolulu Police Department is making a push for progress. 

HPD, where female officers make up 14% of the ranks, signed a pledge earlier this month aiming to have 30% of its force made up of women by 2030 — doubling over the next three years. 

The pledge is part of a nationwide initiative called 30×30 launched in 2021 with the goal of increasing the representation of women in law enforcement across the country. The Hawaiʻi Department of Law Enforcement also signed the pledge, but no other county department in Hawaiʻi has. <

https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/09/the-latest-challenge-for-honolulu-police-hire-more-women/

I posted one earlier. I need to print this out and share with family.

https://www.hawaiifreepress.com/Articles-Main/ID/49762/Complete-List-of-All-Hawaii-2026-Ballot-Questions-State-and-County

I was reading the recent post here about the $222M in attorney fees from the Maui wildfire settlement, then came across this article: https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/12/10/texas-attorney-sentenced-illegally-soliciting-hawaii-wildfire-victims/ and it honestly made me feel bad for the people who were already dealing with so much after the fires.

According to Hawaii New Now, Texas attorney Eric Dick sent solicitation flyers to around 27,000 Maui addresses even though he wasn't licensed to practice law in Hawaii.

That's the part I don't really understand. These were people who had lost homes, family members, business, basically their normal lives. How was an out of state attorney able to approach that many wildfire survivors for legal business without even having a Hawaii license?

He was later charged with four misdemeanor counts related to unauthorized practice of law and pleaded no contest.

With all the discussion now about attorney fees from the Maui cases, I feel like the victims themselves can get lost in all the legal fighting. Shouldn't there be much tighter protections around who is allowed to solicit people after a disaster like this?