Hawaii County News

An evening of song and dance -- in the manner that the hula master would have enjoyed -- marked Friday's celebration of life of the man the world knew as 'Uncle George.' The Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo was decked with thousands of flowers -- both on the stage and on the people -- and dotted with paintings of George Louis ...

New lava flows from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano have reached the ocean, creating a new lava tube separate from the main tube, geologists said.

Hawaii County police are asking the public's help in a sexual assault investigation.

Naeole has informed Council Chairman J Yoshimoto she will be off island from last Saturday to this coming Friday because she's honeymooning on Maui.

A tsunami evacuation in Hilo was just an exercise on Monday. At the sound of the Civil Defense warning sirens, community volunteers and Hawaii County Police officers escorted about 800 people out of the low-lying coastal area of Keaukaha.

Department of Transportation's Airports Division will participate in the mock evacuation.

Maui County's visitor count ticked up by 1.8 percent in September to 134,932, but deep discounting by lodging providers and price cutting by other vendors drove per person per day spending down by 4.9 percent to $167. Statewide, the head count was up 7.2 percent to 494,376, but spending was down to $171 per person, down from $186 in the depressed ...

Nine schoolchildren avoided injury Tuesday when their small school bus overturned after being struck by a car in Hilo, Hawaii County police said.

Creeping lava is no longer threatening a public viewing area near Kalapana, but officials said there's still plenty of activity from the Kilauea eruption, now in its 27th year.

Hawaii County is hoping to give sagging Big Island employment numbers a lift by helping to deliver people to job sites and worker-training classes.

QUESTION: Whatever happened to the pilot project to hold Hawaii's first comprehensive publicly funded elections? ANSWER: Plans are proceeding for the public to finance campaign expenses of some candidates running for Hawaii County Council next year, according to the state Campaign Spending Commission.

A developer hoping to turn a test well into a production well received approval of the Hawaii County Department of Water Supply, despite a national park official's concern that the well could damage park resources, West Hawaii Today reported.

WAILUKU, Maui - Maui drivers may need to hang up their phones - and tear their eyes away from text messages, laptop computers, video games, pagers, digital cameras and other distracting gizmos - in the near future.

HILO - The Hawaii County Board of Ethics yesterday added a second count of ethics code violation against Puna Councilwoman Emily Naeole.

HILO - A 56-year-old Arizona man is being held in connection with an attempted robbery in Kona, Hawaii County police say.

An 18-year-old Big Island woman died in a one-car crash in Hilo, Hawaii County police said in a news release.

The Hawai'i Police Department is advising the public that someone has generated a bogus AMBER alert and is sending it out to cell phones as a text message.

HILO - Hawaii County police say they've wrapped up their investigation into a Puna woman's slaying and have turned it over to prosecutors.

HILO, Hawaii -- Hawaii County Council terms would be increased to four years under a proposal unanimously advanced by the Charter Commission on Friday.

Hawaii County police are asking the public's help in finding a 28-year-old Kona man who was reported missing September 6. Police say Michael Spear's family last heard from him by phone in August.