Get the latest news coverage of politics including Honolulu city and county government, Hawaii legislative issues, U.S. Congress and the White House.
It was September 2008, and Brown, a U.S. Army captain, had been leading his platoon to the aid of fellow soldiers who had been ambushed by the Taliban. Then, his Humvee struck a roadside bomb. In an explosion of fire and concussive sound, Brown’s life was forever changed. Read more
The call came just hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken left Washington for his latest trip to the Middle East aimed at scaling back the war in Gaza. Blinken will start in Saudi Arabia, where he will see Egyptian and Qatari officials who have served as intermediaries with Hamas in the cease-fire and hostage talks, which remain in a stalemate. Read more
The agency is now looking to emerge from this session with an appropriation in House Bill 1800 that funds 30 positions and a $63 million recurring budget. Read more
Blangiardi said 60% of Hawaii families live paycheck-to-paycheck, which puts them at financial risk of becoming homeless. Read more
Noem writes that her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, got loose and killed a neighbor’s chickens — after which Noem lured the wirehair pointer to a pit and shot it. Read more
Biden has ramped up his attacks on Trump, sharpening the split-screen between a president on the campaign trail and a former president spending his days in a courtroom. Read more
Trump’s legal strategy mirrors his political talking points as his lawyers portray the case as an unjust assault on the former president’s character. Read more
The deferral came Thursday after strongly favorable votes in the Senate and House on differing drafts of the bill in March and earlier this month. Read more
The measure, House Bill 2404, would double the standard deduction for the 2024 tax year and then keep raising it every two years through 2030. Read more
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The announcement is another setback for Food and Drug Administration officials, who drafted the ban and predicted it would prevent hundreds of thousands of smoking-related deaths over 40 years. Read more
Returning to the witness stand for a fourth day, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker was grilled about his memory and past statements. Read more
State House and Senate leaders have determined that close to $1 billion should be appropriated by the state for Maui wildfire response and recovery work through mid-2025. Read more
House and Senate legislators negotiating changes are under pressure to approve final bills by 6 p.m. tonight to avoid what Senate President Ron Kouchi called “the chaos” that surrounded the end of 2023’s session. Read more
The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation on Thursday announced $125 million in long-awaited federal funding to aid in the ongoing construction of the nearly $10 billion Skyline project. Read more
Both diplomats underscored the importance of keeping lines of communication open but they each lamented that divisions between their countries were increasing and becoming more serious in nature. Read more
Though the justices appeared likely to reject Trump’s absolute immunity claim, it seemed possible he could still benefit from a lengthy trial delay. Read more
Pecker’s testimony was a critical building block for the prosecution’s theory that their partnership was a way to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election. Read more
Hawaii House and Senate leaders resolved their differences over spending priorities Tuesday evening, settling on a conference committee draft of the state budget bill that appropriates $19.2 billion for operations during the fiscal year beginning July 1. Read more
The full House and Senate will now consider the question of whether to allow each county to determine how — if at all — to regulate short-term vacation rentals on their islands, including the possibility of outlawing them. Read more
John Titchen, Honolulu’s Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division chief since 2018, has been placed on administrative leave effective Tuesday, the city confirmed. Read more
Gov. Josh Green has promised to sign the latest version of Senate Bill 2919 if it gets to his desk. Read more
