Hawaii

Dangerous Hawaii river lures visitors to their deaths

Published

1 year ago

December 7, 2024

Dangerous Hawaii river lures visitors to their deaths

One of the deadliest places on the island of Hawaii is also a state park. The Wailuku River State Park in Hilo includes the state’s second longest river, where visitors and locals take in the natural beauty at two lookouts: the 80-foot-tall Rainbow Falls and an area about 1.5 miles farther upstream known as “Boiling Pots,” where there are more waterfalls and pools.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors per year frequent the picturesque area to see the different falls, while locals will sometimes spend afternoons there picnicking. But Wailuku, which translates to “waters of destruction,” refers to how dangerous this river can be. Warning signs discourage locals and visitors from stepping beyond the trail and railings; however, some people choose to ignore them.

Over the past 29 years, 27 people have died in these waters. In November 2017, a San Diego couple died after being swept away by a current above Rainbow Falls. In March 2022, the body of a Hilo man was found floating at the bottom of the falls.

The last fatality occurred at Boiling Pots in September when witnesses saw a Florida man “enter the water and immediately be pulled under the rapids,” according to a Hawaii News Now report. The Hawaii Fire Department recovered his body about 30 feet underwater.

Despite its name, Boiling Pots is not hot. It’s in reference to its large terraced pools created by the erosion of old lava flows. On calm days, it looks like individual pots of water, but when the water is turbulent, the water appears to be boiling.

Even on calm days, swimmers have drowned. Strong currents, coupled with the underwater geology of tunnels, ridges and shelves, can trap them and make it impossible to resurface.

“We are quite used to the helicopters and other emergency personnel spending hours and days searching for people and often for bodies at Boiling Pots,” Hawaii County Councilmember Jennifer Kagiwada, who lives in the neighborhood, told SFGATE in an email.

She recently proposed that new signs be installed, which would list the dates of when people have died in this section of the Wailuku River, as a way of discouraging visitors from bypassing the other warning signs already there.

“Since about half the deaths in this part of the river were visitors and half locals, it is important that everyone becomes aware of the dangers here. Some very strong swimmers have died, along with visitors with fewer water skills,” she said.

This strategy has worked on hiking trails, such as at Olomana Trail on Oahu, where six hikers fell to their deaths within a 13-year time span. Since its sign was posted two years ago, there have been zero fatalities on the windward trail. On Kauai, the Kalalau Trail also has handmade signs counting deaths, which instruct visitors to pause and assess the waters before deciding whether or not to cross the stream.

Although an additional sign may help, Hawaii Fire Department Chief Kazuo Todd told Hawaii News Now that it can’t be placed at every point of the river, so sharing information about the dangers is important. “Educating friends, family, relatives that are visiting, or even just people getting off of various ships that are coming to port as part of the tour operations,” he said.

Kagiwada, who held a community meeting about the new sign proposal in November, said she is in contact with the Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural Resources, which manages the state park, and is providing feedback from constituents.

The state department told SFGATE that community input is being considered. “After any revision process, the sign may take up to three weeks (or more) to receive depending on materials in stock, and the installation date and location is to be determined,” the department said.

Editor’s note: SFGATE recognizes the importance of diacritical marks in the Hawaiian language. We are unable to use them due to the limitations of our publishing platform.

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Hawaii

Preserving native habitat, cultural legacy of Maunawili Valley

Published

2 hours ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Preserving native habitat, cultural legacy of Maunawili Valley

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A group of nonprofits are asking the public to help support efforts to return Maunawili Valley to community care.

Dean Wilhelm, co-executive director of Ho’okuaaina, Reyna Ramolete Hayashi, aloha aina project manager at Trust for Public Land, and Kaleo Wong, executive director of Kauluakalana, joined HNN’s Sunrise to talk about more than a decade of work by Hui Maunawili–Kawainui, a coalition of nonprofits and generational ohana to purchase and protect more than 1,000 acres on windward Oahu to benefit the community.

“Our Hoihoi Maunawili fundraising campaign is four nonprofits working together to raise $500,000 for the future stewardship of the land. The nonprofit partners are Kauluakalana, Ho’okua’aina, Hawaii Land Trust, and Trust for Public Land,” Hayashi said.

Nonprofit leaders say Hoihoi Maunawili is working with the current landowner, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, to transfer stewardship of the land.

“These lands include the most fertile growing soil in all Hawaii, important cultural sites, and freshwater streams and springs that will be forever protected. Capital funds have been secured to purchase the land,” Hayashi said.

“This land has sustained generations. By returning it to the community and restoring it for shared use and cultural renewal, we will safeguard resources for future generations and increase our community’s resilience,” Wilhelm said.

“Until the 1960s, this land was very productive. It was the ‘Breadbasket of Oahu.’ Alii specifically would ask for kalo grown on these lands. This effort seeks to return it to its former abundance, ultimately improving local food security and water security through community-led agriculture that strengthens Hawaii food systems and creates green jobs for a sustainable local economy.”

“Buying and protecting the land is only the beginning,” Wong said. “In this season of giving, we are asking the community to join us in this movement to restore water, food, culture and community in Maunawili.”

To donate and learn more, visit hoihoimaunawili.org. The public can also support by volunteering or joining a talk story.

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Hawaii

Rising premiums, reduced subsidies may push Hawaii residents off ACA plans

Published

14 hours ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Rising premiums, reduced subsidies may push Hawaii residents off ACA plans

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Gov. Josh Green predicted Friday that thousands of Hawaii residents may give up their health insurance after Congress did not extend subsidies for Affordable Care Act policies.

Green pledged millions in local taxpayer funds to help them maintain coverage.

Hawaii’s 24,000 Affordable Care Act customers faced uncertainty in December as they had to reenroll without knowing whether extra subsidies would be extended.

Now that the subsidies are ending, customers must find more money or reduce their coverage.

Premium increases force difficult choices

Insurance agent and radio host Martha Khlopin works with about 300 people who depend on ACA premium subsidies.

“People, I think, will be making the decision, taking that risk and just praying they don’t get sick,” Khlopin said. “So I pray that too. Don’t get sick in 2026, because your premiums and co-pays might be a lot.”

As an example, Khlopin cited a 50-year-old man who makes $40,000. He was paying about $170 a month this year for a plan with good coverage. His new plan will cost about $500 a month starting in January.

“It’s a pretty big increase for him,” Khlopin said. “So what he decided to do was just use his savings to cover the premiums because he really needs to keep the very generous platinum plan that he has right now.”

Coverage downgrades expected

Khlopin said others are downgrading their coverage, choosing lower premiums but much higher out-of-pocket costs and deductibles.

“So it’s a lower premium, but you have higher cost because you have to meet a deductible,” Khlopin said, noting that could lead some people to avoid care.

“So if I do need a particular procedure that’s expensive, I might decide not to get that done, which ultimately can cause more problems down the road,” Khlopin said.

Green predicted an even more dire scenario with thousands choosing to go without coverage.

“That’s really bad, because it’s not just the lack of insurance for them. It’s also $150 million of uncompensated care to rural facilities to our community health centers,” Green said.

State tax credit proposal

Green proposed that the state make up the lost subsidies with a state tax credit for about 8,000 ACA customers.

“The analysis we did is that to do the enhanced subsidy that Congress walked away from for now would cost $16.5 million,” Green said.

“That would definitely be a very, very wonderful gift to people to know that there is some relief coming to lower those health insurance premiums,” Khlopin said.

What remains unclear is how quickly that aid could reach policyholders and what will happen to those who decided not to renew when the deadline for open enrollment ended Monday.

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Hawaii

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines expands Hawaii flights from Las Vegas

Published

1 day ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines expands Hawaii flights from Las Vegas

Southwest Airlines is adding more routes from Sin City to the Aloha State.

The airline, which is headquartered at Dallas Love Field, will fly from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas to Hilo International Airport starting Aug. 6, 2026. The service will operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, pairing with existing service between Las Vegas and Honolulu.

“When I took office, I pledged to strengthen ties with the ‘Ninth Island’ — Las Vegas, where many Hawaiʻi-born residents live,“ Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda said in a statement. ”Southwest’s renewed service shows its dedication. Quicker flights across the Pacific means more convenience for our local families and another chance to support our hometown airline.”

Hawaiian Airlines is Hilo’s dominant carrier, offering more than 105,000 available seats this month, according to Cirium Diio Mi data. Southwest was second, offering more than 54,000 available seats.

“We heard you, Hilo,” Adam Decaire, Southwest’s senior vice president of network planning and network operations control, said in a statement.

“Las Vegas is important to you, and you’re important to us..”

This month, Southwest offered 146 flights between Las Vegas and Honolulu, totaling more than 25,000 available seats, according to data from Diio by Cirium. Southwest first began flights from the western U.S. to Hawaii in 2019. The airline currently flies to the Hawaiian islands from Las Vegas and Phoenix, and from California cities Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland, Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego.

Southwest does not operate direct flights to Hawaii from Dallas.

The Hawaii route expansion comes at a time when Southwest is weighing the possibility of building a more than 12,000-square-foot lounge at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, according to documents previously viewed by The Dallas Morning News.