Hawaii
Senators call for HECO investigation following weekend outages
Power outages that left thousands of Oahu and Hawaii Island residents in the dark last weekend have prompted state Senate leaders to urge the Public Utilities Commission to investigate Hawaiian Electric’s ongoing reliability issues.
In a letter to the PUC, Sens. Glenn Wakai, chair of the Senate Committee on Public Safety and Intergovernmental an Military Affairs; Jarrett Keohokalole, chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection; and Lynn DeCoite, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, Economic Development and Tourism, called on the commission to exercise its investigative powers to protect the public interest.
“The PUC has the statutory responsibility to regulate Hawaiian Electric proactively in the public interest and can use its investigatory powers pursuant to Section 269-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to ensure that electric utility services are delivered in a safe and reliable manner,” the senators wrote. “The lack of reliability due to insufficient energy generation, HECO’s aging equipment, unreliable oil-fired power generation, and immediate and long-term solutions should be investigated.”
In the letter, dated April 16, the senators noted that one outage on Oahu knocked out power to 13,000 HECO customers, prompted the closure of four East Oahu school and triggered the release of 237,500 gallons of sewage into the ocean when the East Honolulu Treatment Plant lost electricity. They also noted the loss of power to 21,500 customers on Hawaii Island.
On April 14, HECO reported that heavy rains and severe weather damaged one of the main transmission lines that bring power across the Koolau mountain range into East Honolulu. According to the utility, about 4,000 feet of 46-kilovolt line fell across a second transmission line, taking both lines out of service. Repair efforts were hampered by steep terrain and the inability to use a helicopter due to continued bad weather.
The same evening, HECO asked residential and business customers on Hawaii Island to reduce their electricity use to prevent further rolling outages after more than 21,000 customers experienced a 30-minute outage.
HECO explained that the request was prompted by the unavailability of several large generators. HECO’s Hill 5 steam unit tripped offline the previous day. Its Puna steam unit and CT01 combustion turbine unit are under repair and its Keahole CT-5 unit is offline for annual overhaul until the end of the month.
According to HECO, these units generate about 62 megawatts combined. In addition, independent power producer Hamakua Energy, the island’s largest generator, was offline and wind and solar resources were forecast to be lower than normal, HECO reported.“These unplanned rolling outages and calls for conservation showcase Hawaiian Electric’s struggle to provide safe and reliable energy to customers,” they wrote. “Even worse, HECO expects more blackouts in the months ahead, without any indication of when these energy reliability issues will be resolved.”
The senators asked the PUC to investigate the matter to better understand “the nature, duration and resolution of these outages.”
The demolition of Aloha Stadium on Oahu took a big step forward Thursday with the first section of seating pulled down from the steel structure.
Half of the elevated deck-level seating on the stadium’s makai side was severed and toppled backward as part of demolition work that began in February.
The other half of the upper makai-side seating is slated to come down Tuesday, followed by similar sections on the mauka side and both end zones, though the concrete foundations for lower-level end-zone seating are being preserved for a new, smaller stadium to rise on the same site.
A private partnership, Aloha Halawa District Partners, led by local developer Stanford Carr, is replacing the 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium, which opened in 1975 and was shuttered in 2020, with a new stadium featuring up to 31,000 seats.
AHDP is using $350 million of state funding toward the cost of the new stadium, which could be $475 million or more, and will operate and maintain the facility on state land for 30 years with a land lease.
The development team also is to redevelop much of the 98-acre stadium property dominated by parking lots with a new mixed-use community that includes at least 4,100 residences, two hotels, an office tower, retail, entertainment attractions and open spaces expected to be delivered in phases over 25 years and costing close to or more than $5 billion or $6 billion.
Earlier parts of stadium demolition work led by Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. included removing four covered multistory spiral walkways leading to the upper level from the ground, and concourse bridges.
Demolishing the stadium is projected to be done by August, according to Carr.
Building the new facility is expected to be finished in 2029.
Hawaii
This Airbnb Tiny Home Sits on a Lava Field in Hawaii With Unbeatable Night Sky Views—and It’s a Guest Favorite
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/tal-airbnb-one-off-tout-1465b3bde0864117b43761b0d1dd346e.jpg?ssl=1 "This Airbnb Tiny Home Sits on a Lava Field in Hawaii With Unbeatable Night Sky Views—and It’s a Guest Favorite")
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The team behind a popular Hawaii-based home renovation show is now facing legal troubles after airing content that shouldn’t have been released, according to the state.
Hawaii’s Attorney General is now involved after HGTV’s ‘Renovation Aloha’ showed uncensored images of apparent ancient skeletal remains that were discovered at a Hilo property.
In a now-deleted clip on social media, Kamohai and Tristyn Kalama, along with the production team, discovered a cave beneath a Hilo property where they found the remains deep inside.
Video documented their shock when it was found, with the hosts saying, “There’s bones back here. I got to get out of here. Are you fricken serious? I’m serious dude. Is that a skull?”
Tristyn was seen standing further back, saying “This is terrifying. I’m at my stopping point” before leaving.
Hawaii News Now is not showing the bones, but confirmed with HGTV the episode was filmed in December 2025.
Video didn’t show them touching or moving the remains, and HGTV said authorities were notified after the discovery, the property was not developed, and the site was later blessed.
At the time, police said no crime was committed, and the state AG obtained a TRO to prevent the broadcast of the images in accordance with state law.
However this week, uncensored video of the bones was posted online by the Kalamas and HGTV, and included in the episode, triggering a quick rebuke from the community.
“We don’t kaula’i iwi. We do not lay our bones out in the sun to expose him in this manner,” former Oahu Island Burial Council Chair Kumu Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu said.
She also said the release of the images was “extremely disappointing,” saying the damage was already done.
“It is irrelevant that bones were not moved. It is irrelevant that they were not disturbed, per se, because somebody didn’t touch them — but you went into their space and that space becomes kapu space once they have transitioned over to po. And when you do that, we honor that. We don’t disturb them,” Wong-Kalu added.
The AG said they took immediate legal action to prevent the unlawful broadcast of images, pointing to a TRO issued prior to the episode’s release. They also said, “We are aware that the segment aired notwithstanding the court’s order, and we take this matter very seriously. The Department will pursue additional action as necessary.”
Court Documents revealed the Kalamas and producers of the show are now facing four counts for allegedly breaking Iwi Kupuna protection rules.
“If that were our grandparent, would we want them, after they have physically transitioned to po, would we want to share our family in this manner? I don’t think so,” Wong-Kalu added.
HGTV said in a statement, “We take the concerns raised by the community very seriously and are committed to ensuring our programming is respectful and appropriate. We apologize to anyone who found any part of the episode offensive, that was not HGTV’s intention.”
They also confirmed the original episode was removed, and re-edited without the bones included.
Through our communication with the HGTV spokesperson, Hawaii News Now offered the Kalamas a chance to respond directly, but they did not. They did however take to Instagram to address the episode, saying they followed the protocols they knew, and never intended to build there. They stressed their respect for Hawaiian culture and practices.
The investigation remains active.
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
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