Rapid ohia death reaches Oahu

Rapid ohia death, a mysterious fungal disease, was recently discovered on a dead ohia tree on Kamehameha Schools land in the Koolau mountains, marking Oahu’s first fatality. Since first spotted on Hawaii island in 2014, the disease has also spread to Maui and Kauai.

While the Oahu case is bad news, there’s a bit of solace in that it involved the less aggressive of two forms of the disease. Ceratocystis huliohia is known to take months to years to kill ohia trees, while the more aggressive species, Ceratocystis lukohia, can kill within weeks and is responsible for wiping out 90% of hundreds of thousands of diseased trees.

Opening up the Pali a bit more

The expansion of hours on the still-under-repairs Pali Highway may prove more convenient for Kailua residents — and also to tourists.

An additional five hours of drive time in the middays Sundays-Fridays, have been added: townbound, 5-11:30 a.m.; Kailua-bound, 12:30-7 p.m. This ensures tourists have lots of time to get there for lunch and a lot of beach time, too. But until the project ends in November, Kailuans still have to find alternate routes home after Saturday nights on the town.