Kaua‘i Mayor Derek Kawakami delivers 2025 State of County Address
According to Kawakami, his proposed $347 million budget emphasizes infrastructure projects, affordable housing initiatives and improved customer service for county employees.
Blangiardi looks forward as State of the City, decision on landfill near
The Mayor hopes to continue prioritizing infrastructure projects to include 35 additional roads totaling 48 lane miles under contract, costing $21 million.
Kawakami also hopes to continue expansion of the Kekaha Landfill as well as find a new landfill location before Kekaha reaches capacity in 2027.
Officials said affordable housing remains essential in the budget, with hundreds of affordable housing units planned in the near future.
He also spoke about the struggle to fill vacant county positions.
Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news
'We have proposed a budget initiative to convert full-time positions to two part-time positions to attract people who may be eager to work, but require flexibility. As we highlight our vacancies, let me quickly shout out any federal employee on Kaua'i looking for work. We have a place for you here at the County of Kaua'i,' said Kawakami.
The County said they are also committed to purchasing a new twin-engine helicopter to support first responders and assist with wildfires and rescues.
In his final words of the address, Mayor Kawakami emphasized Hawai'i's desire to find common ground, even in times of chaos, to provide a beacon of hope.
'As I have this rare opportunity to speak to my fellow state elected officials, I offer you the same challenge. No matter the conditions, we must always be that steady beacon of hope, and light the path forward for generations.'
Check out more news from around Hawaii
To view Mayor Kawakami's full State of the County Address, visit Kaua'i County's Facebook page.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
2 hours ago
- Business Insider
An Android Amazon Tablet? Amazon Stock (NASDAQ:AMZN) Slides on Potential Change
Online retail giant Amazon (AMZN) is known for its internal hardware, and for the Fire operating system (OS) that runs it. But there is a chance that the next Amazon tablet could feature something completely different: an Android OS built in. Investors did not seem particularly happy about this, however, and sent Amazon shares sliding nearly 2% in Wednesday morning's trading. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Reports note that, not only will the new tablet boast a whole new operating system, but also, it will be a 'higher-end' tablet, suggesting a significant performance upgrade. Currently, Amazon's tablets run on what is known as a 'forked' version of Android, which means that any apps made for the tablet have to be compatible with FireOS, and be distributed on the Amazon App Store. But with a tablet that runs strictly on Android, a whole new range of apps could be made available for Amazon tablets. Since this is a higher-end tablet, though, it will also come with a pretty hefty price tag. New reports suggest that this tablet will run about $400, a far cry from the $230 Amazon charged for the Fire Max 11. Though for those watching their budgets more closely, Amazon already plans some new devices running Vega, a Linux-based platform that Amazon uses in some of the Fire TV devices. A Raftload of Recalls But Amazon also offered word about several recalls of products sold on its site. The recalls impact about 190,000 total products, and cover a wide range of product classes from wireless power banks to a certain kind of hair dryer. The devices represent a range of different threats, from electrocution risk to '…potential child poisoning.' For instance, a hair dryer from Empower Brands apparently lacks an 'immersion protection device,' which means that the hair dryer could cause electrocution if it were ever dropped into water that someone was standing in. Amazon actually has a recall page, so more information on getting refunds and finding out if your purchases were impacted should be available therein. Is Amazon a Good Long-Term Investment? Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on AMZN stock based on 44 Buys and one Hold assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 26.59% rally in its share price over the past year, the average AMZN price target of $264.56 per share implies 18.67% upside potential. Disclosure
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Amazon Plans Android-Powered Fire Tablet in Major Software Shift
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Amazon (AMZN, Financials) is preparing to overhaul its Fire tablet lineup by ditching its custom Fire OS in favor of Android, sources told Reuters. The company plans to launch a higher-end tablet next year as part of a project codenamed Kittyhawk. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Sign with AMZN. Since debuting the Fire tablet in 2011, Amazon has relied on a forked version of Android that required developers to build separate apps for its own store, limiting app availability. Analysts say the shift to Android could make Fire tablets more attractive to consumers who want full compatibility with mainstream Android apps and devices. The planned tablet could carry a $400 price tag, nearly double the Fire Max 11's $230 cost, signaling Amazon's push into a higher-performing category. Apple (AAPL, Financials) dominates tablets with a 33% market share, followed by Samsung at 19%. Amazon holds about 8%, according to IDC data. While Amazon declined to comment, insiders said the multiyear effort reflects a philosophical change for the Seattle-based company, which has historically avoided third-party software. The strategy echoes its more recent partnerships with AI providers like Anthropic, whose Claude model powers parts of Alexa. Lower-priced Fire tablets will continue to run on Amazon's Linux-based Vega operating system, now used in some Fire TV devices. Over time, the company expects to move its full lineup to Android. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Downtown Honolulu Rail construction: ‘5 years is a long time'
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Big changes are coming to Downtown Honolulu as the Rail project moves forward, and it could snarl traffic for years. Around the clock testing starts for phase 2 of Skyline rail project KHON2 found out what drivers, businesses and residents can expect. Folks in the Downtown area are bracing for a major traffic shake-up. The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation started work on the City Center Guideway and Stations — it requires lane closures on Nimitz Highway between 'Awa and Bishop streets, . HART Executive Director Lori Kahikina wanted to stress that it is not a complete shutdown. ''What do you mean, you guys are shutting down Nimitz?' We're not shutting down Nimitz! We're shutting down one lane in each direction and the main reason for this is we're actually going to be pushing the traffic more towards the outside. So, we're using the median strip,' she said. Get news on the go with KHON 2GO, KHON's morning podcast, every morning at 8 The lane closures on the major corridor are daunting for drivers. Detours will redirect traffic at intersections like 'Awa Street and Nuuanu Avenue, King and Beretania streets are alternate routes. Some worry it will be a traffic nightmare. 'This is a very busy street; everybody uses this street. Yeah, so people that's going home or coming back the other ways,' said Downtown-Chinatown Neighborhood Board chair Ernest Caravalho. Caravalho said he was initially shocked at the half-decade timeline. 'I was like, 'Wow, are we kidding?' But I understand it has to happen, yeah? HART has to do this,' he said. 'It's just getting there. Five years is a long time, right?' Kahikina says this phase — unlike the construction on Dillingham — will not affect access to shops and residents along Nimitz Highway. 'If you can look at what happened on Dillingham or maybe even the West Side — there is probably still going to be impact to the businesses that are immediately in the area — but access will always be open to them,' she said. 'We do understand that this is having a major impact on the community, but it is a necessary evil that we do this.'Segment Two of the Rail — which will reach the Kalihi Transit Center — is set to open to the public on Saturday, Oct. 16, and officials said the first weekend will be free to riders of Skyline and TheBus. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
