Kids May Lose After-School Options Under Hawaii’s DOE Budget Cuts. The $2.3 billion budget, which will be presented to the Board of Education on Thursday, would eliminate funding for school learning centers statewide. Civil Beat.Governor defends controversial water commission appointment in exclusive interview. Governor Josh Green is making a strident defense of his nominee to the state Commission on Water Resource Management, and is calling for compromise on water and development issues. Hawaii News Now.Rural Hawaiian Homelands Residents Should Be Online By 2025. Most of the 150 households on the Big Island and Maui left without internet and phone service earlier this year after Sandwich Isles Communications said it would disconnect its customers should be back online by the end of the year, officials from the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and Hawaiian Telcom told state lawmakers Wednesday.  Civil Beat. KITV4.Commerical harbor users to launch modernization and resilience campaign. Over 20 companies make up the Hawaiʻi Harbor Users Group, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2025. It’s been planning for rising seas and bigger vessels — all part of becoming more efficient and resilient due to Hawaiʻi's dependency on harbors for goods and services.  Hawaii Public Radio.Hawaii awarded $59M for hydrogen station. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded the state of Hawaii $59.2 million for the deployment of zero-emission equipment and other climate adaptation projects at its ports. Star-Advertiser.Grassroot Institute proposes expedited permitting for housing shortage relief. The institute released a policy brief written by Grassroot policy researcher Jonathan Helton. The aim is to relief one of Hawaiʻi’s “most persistent homebuilding headaches: building-permit delays, which are a major contributor to the state’s housing crisis,” according to the institute. Maui Now.Corrections Officials Deny Prison Water Made Hawaii Inmates Sick. But in an 'abundance of caution,' water filters have been ordered for housing units in Arizona where Hawaii prisoners are held. Civil Beat.Oahu2,500+ ballots may not be counted due to signature issues. The Honolulu county clerk said signature issues may cause a couple thousand ballots to not be counted but they said there’s time to fix the issues. KHON2.Honolulu updates its nondiscrimination law. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi hosted city officials and community groups focused on diversity, equity and inclusion on Wednesday to sign Bill 32 into law, updating Honolulu’s nondiscrimination policy that prohibits discrimination in hiring and employment within Oahu as well as in the delivery of city services. Star-Advertiser.Oahu’s next landfill site is slated to be named in November, city says. But whether that new dump site — which replaces the 35-year-old Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill in Kapolei — will actually be usable remains to be seen. Star-Advertiser.Piles of historic Honolulu sidewalk and curb stones irk commission. The Oahu Historic Preservation Commission is raising concerns about the lack of a city policy or plans to preserve or reuse granite stone sidewalks that have existed in parts of Chinatown and downtown Honolulu for over a century, as well as historic lava rock curbs that for many years have been disappearing from downtown streets and other old Honolulu neighborhoods. Star-Advertiser.Pickleball part of the Hawaii’s long-game sports tourism strategy. The Hawai‘i Convention Center hosted a blessing Wednesday celebrating the expansion of its sports courts program, which includes 45 new pickleball courts, some 19 of which have been designated for use in the Aloha Pickleball Games &Festival that debuts Friday and runs through Sunday. Star-Advertiser.Hawaii IslandNumber of students at UH Hilo down 4% while most other UH campuses see gains. While the entire UH system overall had a 3% enrollment increase — and some campuses, like Leeward Community College and UH Maui College had increases of 7% and 6%, respectively — UH Hilo’s enrollment fell by 4% from 2023, from 2,781 to 2,668 students. Tribune-Herald.Hawaiian homesteads may have a wealth of geothermal energy — but can it help beneficiaries? Scientists think that the energy the island currently uses may be a fraction of the resource’s potential, and an abundance of geothermal power could lie below land set aside for Hawaiian homesteads. Hawaii Public Radio.Reported Unexploded Ordnance Closes Waimea Nature Trail. The Waimea Nature Trail was temporarily closed from Opelo Road to Kahawai Street, police say, after a report of a UXO found in the stream next to the trail. Big Island Video News. Big Island Now.MauiFatal Lahaina fire was not a crime, state AG says. No criminal charges will result from the state investigation into the wildfires that leveled Lahaina, killed 102 people and destroyed Maui’s visitor industry, according to state Attorney General Anne E. Lopez. Star-Advertiser. Maui Now. Maui Fire Settlement Cases Inch Toward Victim Payout. A proposed settlement could become final by early 2025. Civil Beat.Historians calling on community to help preserve Lahaina’s past. The Lahaina Restoration Foundation is calling on the community to send in their photos, videos, documents, even physical items to help tell Lahaina’s story before, during and after the disaster to co-create the 2023 Lahaina Fire Archive. Hawaii News Now.Last-minute negotiations could avoid Maui Health workers strike, but the two sides appear to be far apart. Unless a new labor agreement is reached beforehand, a number of essential workers at Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital are planning a three-day strike beginning at 7 a.m. Monday and ending when they return to work Nov. 7. Maui News.Half Of All Coral Reefs Are Dead. A Maui ‘Super Reef’ Offers Hope. Olowalu reef may be an example of how to survive climate change disaster — just 4 miles from the epicenter of the August 2023 Maui fire. Civil Beat.KauaiHome sales spike in final month of summer on Kauai. Sales of single-family homes leaped 52.94 percent to 26 in September from 17 in September 2023, according to monthly data pooled from multiple sources by Hawai‘i Realtors in Honolulu.  Garden Island.Efforts to address climate change to be on display at Kauaʻi’s first Community Climate Fair. The state is raising awareness about efforts to address climate change and its bringing its public education campaign to Kauaʻi this weekend for the first time. Kauai Now.