Latest news with #Hawaiʻi
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
HIDOE students feast on sweet potatoes
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Hawaiʻi public schools, like Hilo Union School, saw the return of local ʻuala, a sweet potato, to the school's lunch menus. According to the Hawaiʻi Department of Education, approximately 372 pounds of local Okinawan sweet potato were distributed to 91 participating schools. Sweet surprises await at Kulu Kulu Students enjoyed ʻuala in its steamed form for the Month of May. HIDOE said that the ingredient will expand also to be served as potato mash and yogurt bowls in the next school year. 'It's good. It's got a nice texture. The flavor, it's always been my favorite part,' said Hilo Union School sixth grader Isabella-Marie Wells. 'And I always know that it has a lot of nutrition in it; so, I know it's really good for me.'HIDOE said the Okinawan sweet potatoes have more antioxidants than other kinds of sweet potatoes, as it contains high levels of anthocyanin. The root is also rich in vitamins A, C and B6. Wells isn't the only fan of the food. The ʻuala is liked by students, especially due to its differing flavor from a traditional potato. Like first grade student Jaxon TongaBennette-Drayer said: 'It tastes like a normal potato, but it's sweeter.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Yahoo
Hōkūleʻa to stop in Hilo before traveling the world
HONOLULU (KHON2) — The esteemed Hōkūleʻa, along with Hikianalia, are set to depart Sand Island this weekend, where they will set sail for Hilo, marking their final stop on the Pae ʻĀina Statewide Sail before leaving the islands for the three-year Moananuiākea Voyage. The canoes are due to arrive in Hilo on May 20, where they will be docked for over a week for community engagement and voyage preparations. Future of Oahu's landfill in limbo as leaders look at other options There will be several events to honor the canoes' stay in Hilo, hosted by the County of Hawaiʻi, Island of Hawaiʻi Visitors Bureau, Grand Naniloa Hotel and the Hilo Community. There will be a welcome ceremony at the Grand Naniloa Hotel, which is tentatively scheduled for May 20, weather permitting. The next day, there will be a public dockside engagement event at the same hotel from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The final event will be Hilo's Hōkūleʻa Hoʻolauleʻa on May 24 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the ailoa Boat will also celebrate the canoes with music, entertainment, food trucks and more. During this time, Lihiwai Street from Kamehameha Avenue to Banyan Drive will be closed from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a one-way traffic pattern in place. 'We are honored to welcome Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia to Hilo as they embark on the next leg of the Moananuiākea Voyage,' said County of Hawaiʻi Mayor Kimo Alameda. 'This visit is an opportunity to celebrate our heritage of exploration while deepening our shared responsibility to the ocean that connects all of us.' The canoes are tentatively scheduled to depart from Hilo to French Polynesia on May 30. Their upcoming voyage will span approximately 43,000 nautical miles and will visit 36 countries and archipelagos, about 100 indigenous territories and over 345 ports. Around 400 crew members from Hawaiʻi and the Pacific will take part in the voyage. For updates on their world tour, visit the Hōkūleʻa website and follow them on social media @hokuleacrew. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
This ancient practice is rebuilding Maui's future: Here's how Lāhainā's reclaiming its forests
HONOLULU (KHON2) — From mountain peaks to coral reefs, Hawai'i's natural systems are deeply connected. The ʻāina (land), wai (water), holoholona (animals) and kānaka (people) rely on each other to survive. That idea isn't new. Native Hawaiian practices have honored those connections for generations. But today, groups across the islands, including the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), are putting that knowledge to work in powerful ways. One major effort is happening on Maui, where the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), along with local nonprofits and volunteers, is helping bring life back to native forests that once shaped rainfall, fed watersheds and supported entire communities. Here's what you should know about the work and why it matters. Healthy forests play a major role in collecting rain. That rain seeps into the ground and becomes the water we use every day. But if the forest is overrun with invasive weeds or rooted out by wild animals, it doesn't work the same. The West Maui watershed, stretching from Honokōwai to Honokōhau, covers more than 9,000 acres of land. The land used to be part of a pineapple plantation. Now, thanks to a conservation easement with Maui Land and Pineapple Company, it's being restored by Aloha Puʻu Kukui and The Nature Conservancy, with support from DOFAW. 'You can't just manage one part of it,' said John Meier, president of Aloha Puʻu Kukui. 'You have to manage the whole, from the peak all the way to the ocean. They're all connected. If you want the ocean to be healthy, the mountain above it has to be healthy.' Not all trees are created equal. Native Hawaiian plants like koa and a'ali'i support the watershed and keep the soil in place. Invasive species like Guinea grass and ironwood do the opposite. They spread quickly, use up resources and don't hold the same value for native animals or the land. At one site in West Maui, volunteers removed invasive plants and planted koa. Meier pointed to a small koa sapling and said, 'This area used to be all invasive weeds and ironwood trees. Now it's going to be koa and a'ali'i forest.' It can take years to see progress; but with time and care, the land year, Kula Kaiapuni 'o Lahainaluna, the ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi language immersion program at Lahainaluna High School, joined the effort. Students come to the forest, begin with pule and work with their hands in the dirt by weeding, digging, planting, learning. 'It's very important,' said student Aina Kapu. 'Because here in Hawai'i, this is where we come from, this is where we stand. This is where we expand our ʻike, our kuleana and our kūpuna did this for thousands of years, and we just want to repeat that same thing.' Kaliko Kalani Teruya added, 'ʻĀina momona [care for the land], choke plants make the rain come more often. ʻĀina momona: So, we can sustain and protect our native forest.' Pomaikaʻi Kaniaupio-Crozier, director of Conservation at Aloha Puʻu Kukui, leads many of the on-the-ground efforts. He works with school groups, nonprofits and other community members to make the restoration possible. 'Having the connection of Hawaiian reforestation and stewardship is really that pilina, that connection of what it takes to mālama, what it takes to be connected,' Kaniaupio-Crozier said. These projects are not quick fixes. They rely on people willing to show up year after year to build something lasting. While DLNR provides the structure and oversight for Hawai'i's land and water resources, much of the restoration work is possible because of collaboration. Groups like Aloha Puʻu Kukui and The Nature Conservancy bring their own experience; and landowners like Maui Land and Pineapple Company contribute through conservation agreements. Kaniaupio-Crozier said, 'We're very pleased. Maui Land and Pineapple Company and the Puʻu Kukui watershed, in collaboration with the DLNR, TNC, and Aloha Puʻu Kukui. It's nice to see community rally around any landscape, but especially a landscape like Honolua.' After the devastating Lāhainā fire, the work of restoring native forests carries even deeper meaning. 'Our forest in Lahaina was destroyed, and it was devastating,' said Kaniaupio-Crozier. 'But it's also an opportunity now, moving forward.' Volunteers are replanting native species using seeds that have been in those areas for thousands of years. The idea is not just to restore the forest, but to reconnect people to the knowledge and values passed down from their kūpuna. 'They're not doing it for a brochure,' he said. 'They're doing it because they're walking in the footsteps of their ancestors as kupa o ka ʻāina of these areas.' This year has been named 'The Year of the Community Forests' by Governor Josh Green, M.D. But what makes a forest 'community' isn't just who plants it. It's who carries its story. Kaniaupio-Crozier put it this way: 'It's a humbling thing to touch ʻāina, to care for ʻāina in places like this. We know our kūpuna and ke akua, that he puts us in places for reasons, not to just pass through, but to make that ʻāina momona.' That's what this work is really about: restoring the ʻāina (land), protecting the wai (water) and remembering that kānaka (people) and place are part of the same system. When you take care of one, you take care of both. Learn more about DLNR programs and how to get involved in forest restoration click . Get news on the go with KHON 2GO, KHON's morning podcast, every morning at 8 You don't need a degree or experience to be kuleana. All you need is a willingness to mālama ʻāina. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Yahoo
Federal jury convicts Hawaiʻi man, 38, of sex trafficking
HONOLULU (KHON2) — A federal jury has convicted a Hawaiʻi man of multiple counts of sex trafficking for crimes committed between 2019 and 2021. Officials say Isaiah McCoy, 38, trafficked three adults and one minor, promising them a life of luxury, romance and financial security. Miske daughter-in-law to serve 7 years in prison According to the Department of Justice, McCoy would lure them in with these false promises before turning violent and abusive if they didn't follow his rules. Officials added that he would force them into commercial sex work and would abuse them if they did not comply. Additionally, prosecutor say McCoy forced the victims to give him all their money from his commercial sex business 'because he felt that the money belonged to him.'He would then use the money to buy designer items for himself and would use them as 'rewards' for the victims. Today's conviction vindicates the rights of multiple women and girls who the defendant terrorized over several years within the District of Hawaii. There is no place in a civilized society for the defendant's atrocious conduct, and the Justice Department is committed to standing up for vulnerable human trafficking victims and holding their traffickers accountable. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division McCoy faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and restitution when he is sentenced in August. Check out more news from around Hawaii Anyone who may have information on human trafficking should call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at (888) 373-7888. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Over 360 firearms surrendered at DLE amnesty event
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Over 360 firearms of all types were turned in today to the Hawaiʻi Department of Law Enforcement at a gun buyback event on April 12 on Oʻahu. The gun buyback program is part of Gov. Josh Green's effort to minimize gun violence in the islands, in partnership with the Department of the Attorney General, Honolulu Police Department and the Aloha Stadium Authority. Iconic Hawaiʻi boxer becomes namesake of boxing gym 'I want to thank everyone who turned in an unwanted firearm today, because in doing so, you have helped to make our community that much safer,' Green said. 'Keeping ourselves and each other safe and healthy is a personal choice that also benefits our neighbors. We thank DLE Director Mike Lambert for continuing this effort and for our partners' help in this ongoing gun buyback program.' Those who surrendered their firearms were given Foodland gift cards as thanks, with $200 gift cards going to those who turned in automatic firearms of any time, semi-automatic rifles and ghost guns. Those who turned in handguns, rifles, shotguns, bump stocks and Glock switches were thanked with a $100 gift card. Participants could turn in as many firearms as they wish, but recipients were maxed out at three gift cards working and non-working firearms were accepted at the event, and DLE also offered gun locks to those who did not want to surrender their firearm but wanted to ensure their safety. DLE says that they will plan to hold gun buyback events on neighbor islands, with the schedule to be announced once the events are official. 'We are working to make our community safer in many ways, including initiatives like this gun buyback program,' Lambert said. 'These unwanted guns will never again be used. They will never again pose any type of threat to a loved one or have an opportunity to be used in a crime.' The buyback event served as an amnesty program, meaning no questions were asked about the individua surrendering any firearms, and no identification was required. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
