Hawaiʻi Public Radio

01/25/2025

Enjoy a few photos of your Hawaiʻi shared by our listeners. These beautiful captures were featured in our weekday newsletter, the Akamai Recap.

1. Incense left for a figure of Guanyin in Chinatown - submitted by Steve
2. Waterside on the Windward side of Oʻahu - submitted by Kyla
3. Looking west from ʻAiea - submitted by Lily
4. A Kāneʻohe sunrise - submitted by Ken

Sign up for the Akamai Recap and find out how to have your photo featured. Visit hawaiipublicradio.org/akamai to subscribe to our daily news recap, sent each weekday afternoon.

01/25/2025

Last year, the Legislature created a pilot project to see how difficult it would be to expunge – or clear – arrest records for those who were arrested for ma*****na possession but not convicted on Hawaiʻi Island before 2020.

A pilot project to clear non-conviction ma*****na possession arrest records on Hawaiʻi Island is underway. HPR's Ashley Mizuo reports on the effort.

01/24/2025

The Molokaʻi community is getting excited for concession snacks, comfy seats, and even a phone app to reserve tickets and food. This IS a regular movie theater — except it's on Molokaʻi, where there hasn’t been a theater since 2008.

“We've also designed this so that it's more than a movie theater,” said owner Brad Ellis. "It can be a community gathering spot."

A movie theater is coming soon to the island of Molokaʻi for the first time since 2008. HPR’s Catherine Cluett Pactol reports on the community’s excitement for what’s to come.

01/24/2025

The Kauaʻi Humane Society has no more space for pets — and is asking the public for help.

The Kauaʻi Humane Society has no more space for pets — and is asking the public for help. The organization is currently housing 578 animals.

01/24/2025

When the Lahaina Restoration Foundation took over management of the Old Lahaina Courthouse more than 20 years ago, it was told repeatedly that a safe deposit box in the basement prison area of the building was empty.

But during recent fire debris processing, construction workers and archeologists urged opening it up, just to double-check.

Fire debris cleanup is still ongoing, and amid the many losses, the Lahaina Restoration Foundation just discovered what they call a “bright light.” HPR’s Catherine Cluett Pactol reports on the miraculous find.

01/24/2025

The family of José A. Fajardo, our former President and General Manager, invites you to make a donation in his memory to the "HPR's José A. Fajardo Student Internship Fund." The fund was created in honor of José’s deep commitment to developing the next generation of public media leaders. It will help introduce local students to career opportunities in public media.

Please specify “the Fajardo internship fund” in the comment box at the bottom of the donation form when you give online at hawaiipublicradio.org.

Learn more about HPR's José A. Fajardo Student Internship Fund, created in memory of HPR's former President and General Manager.

01/24/2025

This week, the state House of Representatives amended the rules that govern how it operates, from when public testimony gets uploaded to the power of committee chairs.

The state House of Representatives amended the rules that governs how it operates, from when public testimony gets uploaded to the power of committee chairs. But some say they did not tackle big changes to promote transparency. HPR's Ashley Mizuo reports on the changes.

01/24/2025

The Hawaiʻi County Council has introduced a resolution urging the state Department of Agriculture to work with local poultry farmers to develop a comprehensive plan to manage the flu.

Some Hawaiʻi Island lawmakers want the state to come up with a humane plan to manage avian flu. The Hawaiʻi County Council has introduced a resolution urging the state Department of Agriculture to work with local poultry farmers to develop a plan. The resolution was heard in a council committee me...

01/23/2025

Gov. Josh Green’s State of the State address highlighted his accomplishments over the last two years: a historic income tax cut, expanding kauhale villages and a push for more affordable housing.

However, Green emphasized that the state’s biggest problems would take years to fix. That’s why his priorities this legislative session are the same as the year before: cost of living and housing.

Gov. Josh Green's State of the State speech highlighted his accomplishments over the last two years. However, he is also preparing for possible budget impacts at the federal level. HPR's Ashley Mizuo reports.

01/23/2025

Hawaiʻi Appleseed released a report late last year that examines how HDOT spent its dollars between fiscal years 2019-2024. It determined that the agency spent almost two-thirds of its budget for capital improvement on projects that “increase vehicle transportation.”

A local advocacy group is calling on the state Department of Transportation to spend more of its budget on building out alternatives to cars. But HDOT says its priority is to spend what it takes to keep roads safe. HPR’s Savannah Harriman-Pote has more.

01/23/2025

Officials previously believed that thousands of people left Maui after the fires. An analysis of state tax filing addresses brings long-awaited answers on just how many Maui residents migrated.

We've heard that a lot of Maui residents have moved off the island in the wake of the 2023 wildfires. Officials previously believed that number to be in the thousands, but HPR's Catherine Cluett Pactol brings us the latest estimates from researchers.

01/23/2025

What's up with Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny's song, "LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii"? The song's title translates to “What happened in Hawaiʻi,” and the lyrics compare issues like the displacement of locals and overtourism between the two islands

Rudy Guevarra, Jr. a professor at Arizona State University and the author of "Aloha Compadre," discussed the song and how the medium brings these issues of colonization and gentrification to a wider audience.

The Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny released a new album with a track titled, "LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii," a song with a prominent reference to the islands. The Conversation talked to Rudy Guevarra Jr., a professor of Asian-Pacific American studies at Arizona State University, about the hist...

01/19/2025

HPR will present a special episode of Open to Debate () on Monday, Jan. 20, at 11 a.m.

Join us as we follow eight students during the final rounds of Incubate Debate, the U.S.’s fastest-growing high school debate league. They debate the following questions: “Should College DEI Programs Be Abolished?” and “Is Climate Change An Emergency?”

Open to Debate will air on Jan. 20 in place of The Conversation — ask your smart speaker to "Play KHPR" or listen on hawaiipublicradio.org.

See more: https://opentodebate.org/debate/young-voices-debate-tough-topics-dei-and-climate-change/

01/19/2025

"I have nothing against RFK Jr. from a human perspective, he should probably be an environmental leader, that's the kind of thing he's trained for — but under no circumstance should he be a health secretary. So his health secretary position, or the potential position, will doom us to outbreaks for our kids," Gov. Josh Green said.

This week, following a big news conference Monday about fireworks enforcement, we learned that Jordan Lowe, the director of the Department of Law Enforcement, stepped down. HPR talked with Gov. Josh Green on Thursday morning.

01/19/2025

The 2025 agenda for the nine Republicans in the state House of Representatives is wide-ranging but highlighted by measures that would reduce taxes, ban cellphones in schools, and establish a “stand your ground” law.

01/18/2025

One of President Joe Biden's last official actions was an acknowledgment of the sacrifices of a group of 135 young Native Hawaiian men who helped secure a handful of remote Pacific Islands under U.S. jurisdiction in the 1930s.

One of President Joe Biden's last official actions was an acknowledgment of the sacrifices of a group of 135 Native Hawaiian young men who helped to secure a handful of remote Pacific Islands under the jurisdiction of the U.S. in the 1930s.

01/18/2025

Check out photos of your Hawaiʻi shared by our listeners. These beautiful photos were featured in our weekday newsletter, the Akamai Recap.

1. Cotton candy clouds at Makapuʻu Lighthouse - submitted by Maddie
2. The lookout at Boiling Pots on the Big Island - submitted by Jeri
3. Canoes off the waters at Magic Island - submitted by Corinne
4. Maunaloa during the 2022 eruption, as viewed from Saddle Road - submitted by Donna

Sign up for the Akamai Recap and find out how to have your photo featured! Visit hawaiipublicradio.org/akamai to subscribe to our daily news recap, sent each weekday afternoon.

01/18/2025

Starting next month, Maui renters can be evicted for not making payment — circumstances that had been previously protected following the wildfires.

The state has set a staggered schedule through Act 202 to help prevent an onslaught of eviction cases. Here's what to know.

Starting next month, Maui renters can be evicted for not making payment — circumstances that had been previously protected following the wildfires. HPR’s Catherine Cluett Pactol explains.