Hawaii
Public invited to provide feedback about ecosystem restoration study of Kahalu‘u Bay? – West Hawaii Today
Hawaii Island residents are invited to discuss how best to preserve the fragile coral ecosystems of Kahalu‘u Bay.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in partnership with the Hawaii County Department of Parks and Recreation and the Kohala Center’s Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center, will hold a public meeting on Thursday, Dec. 12, to discuss an ongoing study that will investigate methods to restore the bay’s marine environment, which has become degraded due to human impact and changing weather patterns caused by climate change.
The study — called the Kahalu‘u Bay Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Study — will determine the factors that are contributing the bay’s ecological degradation and recommend measures that can mitigate the damage, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.
“The bay itself, it’s such a beautiful place,” said Cindi Punihaole, director of the Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center. “But it has a lot of stressors, especially because of climate change. We’re dealing with sea level rise, high surf, tides … and there’s sewage, cesspools along Ali‘i Drive, that we need to address.”
The bay, located about five miles south of Kailua-Kona village, is attractive to tourists, divers and fishers thanks to its coral reef ecosystem, but is also particularly susceptible to climate-related impacts. In 2015, marine heatwaves caused a catastrophic mass coral bleaching event in West Hawaii, leading to the death of about 90% of the area’s population of cauliflower coral.
An Army Corps fact sheet about the study notes that, during storms, runoff deposits sediment from the shore onto the coral reef, smothering the corals and other marine life that lives there, and inhibiting photosynthesis. Storm runoff also brings toxins and heavy metals from the nearby parking lot into the water.
“But we also see hope here,” Punihaole said. “We asked Parks and Recreation in 2018 to close the bay for coral spawning, and they allowed it.”
Each year since 2018, the bay has been closed in tandem with the coral’s natural spawning cycle, allowing the species to reproduce undisturbed — to great results.
Punihaole said there were six viable coral heads in the bay after the mass bleaching in 2015. Today, she said, there are about 47,000 living coral heads in Kahalu‘u.
Despite this rebound, Punihaole said other help for the bay has been slow to come. She said it has taken years to bring county and federal leaders together to develop the restoration study.
Parks and Recreation spokesman Thatcher Moats said via email the study will cost $1.02 million, split evenly between the Army Corps and the county. The study is underway, but an estimate for its completion could not be confirmed Wednesday.
Punihaole said next week’s meeting is important to gather the community’s mana‘o about the importance of the area and what should and should not be considered for any plans to address its problems.
She said the education center’s public outreach has significantly contributed to the bay’s improvement, explaining that “about 99%” of visitors to the bay want to be respectful toward the reef and are willing to change their behaviors when asked.
In addition to soliciting public feedback, the meeting also will provide additional background information and answer questions about the study.
The meeting will take place 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 12 at the West Hawaii Civic Center in Kailua-Kona. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. Virtual attendance will be possible at tinyurl.com/4a229hr6.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
Hawaii
HGTV’s ‘Renovation Aloha’ accused of broadcasting human remains illegally
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.
Hawaii
Hawaiian Airlines Ends April 22. What Replaces It.
That headline is something many of us never expected to read. This April 22, 2026, is the day Hawaiian Airlines officially ends. Alaska’s reservation system takes over, Hawaiian flight numbers disappear, and all operations move to Alaska. Hawaiian joins the oneworld alliance too on the same day, but for Hawaii travelers, the alliance is not the headline. The airline you knew will cease to exist as part of the process that began with Alaska’s purchase of Hawaiian on December 3, 2023.
You can still board a plane painted with the iconic Pualani on the tail, but you will not book an HA flight anymore. Your confirmation email shows AS (Alaska). Your boarding pass shows AS. What airport departure boards and gate screens display on day one is a separate question. That and more will be revealed later.
When the code disappears, not the paint.
The Hawaiian call sign already ended last fall, when HA866 flew from Pago Pago to Honolulu on October 29, 2025, closing out 95 years of Hawaiian flight numbers in the sky. Call signs are largely for pilots and air traffic control, and most travelers never really see them. April 22 is entirely different because flight numbers exist on your itinerary, your receipt, your screenshot, and your email, and when HA disappears from those, you see it.
What booking Hawaiian looks like after April 22.
Customer service interactions will route entirely through Alaska’s systems. Schedule changes, irregular operations, rebooking rules, and automated notifications follow Alaska’s logic, and frequent travelers will notice these differences first.
A huge reservation system change is happening behind the scenes.
April 22 is also when Alaska’s reservation system replaces what remains of Hawaiian’s Amadeus platform, which has been degraded since the 2023 Sabre-to-Amadeus migration went sideways, infuriating its customers. The cutover is supposed to resolve years of booking infrastructure problems. But we’re keeping in mind that system migrations at this scale have historically created turbulence before they stabilize, so patience may still be required.
Branding stays, for now.
The visual identity remains intact on April 22. Pualani stays on the tail, uniforms stay recognizable, and the onboard experience does not change that day. Alaska has acknowledged that Hawaiian branding carries value in Hawaii, but Alaska has not committed to how much of it stays or how long. Everything past the paint is already Alaska.
The oneworld alliance arrives on the same day.
April 22 is also the day Hawaiian becomes a full member of the oneworld alliance. International lounge access improves, elite status recognition lines up across partner airlines, and earning and redeeming miles across oneworld carriers becomes far easier. Hawaiian did not have that before and had limited partners on its own. Under Alaska, it does have, for the first time, a robust partner network.
Atmos status is part of the oneworld structure wherein Silver aligns with oneworld Ruby, Gold with oneworld Sapphire, and Platinum and Titanium with oneworld Emerald. For travelers who qualify, that means priority services and lounge access when flying internationally. Alliance benefits may work best outside of Hawaii for now, as many of you have noted.
What Alaska has promised next for Hawaii.
Alaska has announced a $600 million investment covering airport renovations at five Hawaii airports, a full A330 cabin refit starting in 2028, and a new flagship lounge at Honolulu in late 2027. All twenty-four A330s are set to receive a new business class in a 1-2-1 layout with privacy doors and direct aisle access, replacing the dated 2-2-2 configuration.
The same design team behind the 787 soft product is said to be handling the A330, and the refit was quoted as rolling out across the entire fleet over roughly 12 months starting in January 2028. A true premium economy cabin comes with it, separate from Extra Comfort, and extra legroom. Extra Comfort rebrands to Alaska Premium Class on April 22 as an Alaska alignment, but the new premium economy class does not arrive until sometime in 2028.
The Honolulu lounge will expand to roughly five times the current Plumeria Lounge footprint at the Terminal 1 Mauka Concourse entrance. Beat of Hawaii has covered that new Honolulu Atmos Lounge separately. None of these upgrades changes anything significant if you are flying Hawaiian anytime soon.
What happens to the A321neo, A330, and the 717 interisland fleet long term under Alaska is a separate question. Beat of Hawaii has been covering that.
But Hawaiian had been running out of runway long before Alaska arrived, and the acquisition is the reason there is still a Pualani tail flying to Hawaii at all. What Alaska does with the paint, the brand, and the Hawaii routes from here is the part we’ll continue watching.
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Hawaii
‘Really gross’: Windward Oahu school infested with millipedes
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – For weeks, students at Kalaheo High School in Kailua say thousands of critters have been crawling about campus.
Videos posted on social media showed throngs of millipedes along the school’s outdoor areas and in its gymnasium.
“It’s really gross, there’s just like millipedes all over the walls and it’s just gross, they’re crawling everywhere, and like I’m walking and I have to walk over them,” senior Cate Carmack said.
Carmack’s classmate, Lex Fuentes, added, “They’re just like all around our school. like on the ceiling, walls, floor, they’re just everywhere.”
Fuentes and Carmack both did not really mind the millipedes, but they said the swarms were somewhat distracting.
“I was sitting in AP psych, just doing my thing. I see it on my jacket, flick it off, and I go about my day,” Fuentes said.
Junior Harper Reynolds shared that some were seen on the roof and walls.
“When I’m walking around, or like going from class to class, there’s just like millipedes on the roof and on the walls. It’s kind of weird, it’s kind of gross, it’s like, why is that even there?” Reynolds said.
The pests are likely there because of the recent rain, according to Jimmy Fitzgerald of Kilauea Pest Control, which sprayed infested areas of the school on Tuesday.
“Kalaeho’s been very impressively proactive handling this over the years because every spring, that’s very common, the boom in insects, the rain is coming, it’s pushing them outside of their natural habitat,” Fitzgerald said.
This year, the insect’s natural habitat, the hillside behind the school, is much more saturated from the Kona low storms. Fitzgerald said the wetter conditions this year could explain why there are more millipedes at the school than usual.
“Naturally, the millipedes would be going up the trees, and hiding in the trees for a day and then coming down, but it’s been so wet in those back areas, they’ve been coming into the human spaces instead,” Fitzgerald explained.
Fitzgerald also pointed out the pests are harmless, and so is the insecticide they use to get rid of them, as the product is safer and less toxic than household bleach.
“Everything we do is people and pet-friendly, so it’s meant to impact something that’s this small, millipedes are about this small,” Fitzgerald said.
Kilauea Pest Control used a long-lasting product expected to push out the pests over the two to three weeks.
The company will reevaluate in 30 days whether the school will need a follow-up treatment.
“It needs to be gone,” Carmack said.
The Hawaii State Department of Education reported “the problem has dramatically decreased” since Tuesday’s treatment and “school custodians are continuing to monitor the campus and will respond to any new reports.”
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
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