Hawaii

Hawaiian Electric’s expanded safety strategy aims to reduce wildfire risk

Published

10 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Hawaiian Electric’s expanded safety strategy aims to reduce wildfire risk

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaiian Electric unveiled a $450 million plan Monday to reduce the risk of wildfires over the next three years.

The wildfire safety strategy includes technical and infrastructure upgrades such as installing sparkless fuses, changing 213 substation relays, installing 53 weather stations in wildfire-prone areas, and managing vegetation and placing heavy-duty insulation on power lines in the highest-risk areas.

“Our 2025-2027 expanded wildfire safety strategy builds upon our past work and that of many others. It is not just a technical roadmap, it is our shared and steadfast commitment to a safer, more resilient Hawaii,” said Shelee Kimura, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric.

HECO also said they want to add more AI-assisted video cameras in high- and medium-wildfire risk areas.

HECO has already replaced more than 2,000 wooden poles and improved 23 miles of overhead lines, and will begin moving two miles of overhead lines in Lahaina underground.

The utility wants to also create a so-called “watch office” to track wildfire conditions.

“Having this kind of watch office that’s really focused on having the information at the right time, that can make a big difference when you’re talking about hazardous conditions and severe weather,” said HECO Spokesperson Darrin Pai.

HECO confirms Oahu’s west side is one of its fine prone areas and will be among the places it focuses on.

That includes fire mitigation such as removing brush and vegetation from HECO infrastructure.

“I am grateful this is being done,” said Tiana Wilbur with the Waianae Neighborhood Board.

Two years ago, Wilbur took HNN crews to an area in Makaha Valley that residents warned could be the next “Lahaina”.

She’s hoping HECO’s actions might also send a message to private land owners.

“There was a fire last year. It was very concerning because we took you guys to that area and then there was a fire. SO there is still brush in that area,” said Wilbur.

HECO’s safety plan was first created in 2019, but was updated in 2023 in response to the August Maui wildfires.

It says some of its funding comes from existing programs, including a federal grant.

The utility added that it is continuing to refine the program and the long-term cost and scope of work are subject to change.

The Public Utilities Commission is now reviewing the plan.

Source link

Click to comment

Hawaii

Public input sought for Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to splash down in Hawaii waters

Published

2 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Public input sought for Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to splash down in Hawaii waters

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Elon Musk wants to splashdown his SpaceX rockets in a much larger area in Hawaii waters and Hawaii residents are encouraged to weigh in.

The space exploration company is asking the FAA for a landing zone about 20 times larger than its current zone.

The proposal also seeks to increase the number of landings from 5 to 25 a year.

The new area would include waters used by fishermen and humpback whales. It’ll also encompass significant areas like Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

A FAA biological opinion from 2022 found the previous landing area would not cause harm to marine mammals or critical habitats.

Currently, the FAA is not conducting an environmental impact statement but public feedback could trigger a review.

The deadline to submit input is this Friday.

Click here to submit input.

Source link

Hawaii

Hawaii hotels could help LA wildfire survivors, governor says

Published

17 hours ago

January 13, 2025

Press Room

Hawaii hotels could help LA wildfire survivors, governor says

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Gov. Josh Green says he’s working on plans to offer relief for Los Angeles wildfires survivors and first responders.

He shared those details with Hawaii News Now Sunrise Monday morning.

Green told Sunrise he spoke to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his chief of staff about two different avenues of support.

The first is to offer hotel package deals to survivors who lost their homes in the fires.

Green said impacted residents would be able to rent hotel rooms for up to 90 days to help alleviate the housing shortage California faces in the aftermath of the fires.

“The goal would be to make sure that as they begin to remove the debris and look for housing, that there will be less pressure on their housing market like we saw,” Green said, referring to the housing crisis that arose following the Lahaina wildfire in 2023.

The governor says Hawaii has around 25,000 hotel rooms statewide. He says thousands of those rooms are empty and could be used to house displaced fire survivors.

Funding for this plan would be covered by insurance or by a rental assistance through FEMA, the governor said.

“Remember, people are going to get insurance, just like we did in Maui, or they get this rental assistance from the FEMA guys, the federal government,” he said. “They will get some kind of median market value against rentals in California so we wouldn’t be putting up our money we just be making available our vacancies.”

Green said he reached out to four other governors for assistance.

“It’ll be four states and we would find a price point that met their needs, we fill in our you know empty units which frankly would actually be good the state of Hawaii, and we would avoid having them come and take our long-term rentals, which is always a concern,” Green said.

The governor also touched on a plan to support California first responders.

Green said he’s working on an “Aloha for LA” program that would offer free flights and reduced hotel rates in Hawaii for first responders to decompress and seek respite once the fires are over.

The governor said he’s speaking with Hawaiian and Alaska airlines about the idea.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority confirms they have been in talks with the governor but so far, it’s just a possibility.

Source link

Hawaii

AwardsWatch – 2024 Hawaii Film Critics Society (HFCS) Winners

Published

1 day ago

January 13, 2025

Press Room

AwardsWatch – 2024 Hawaii Film Critics Society (HFCS) Winners

The Hawaii Film Critics Society has selected its best in film for 2024. The Brutalist wins Best Picture, Best Actor (Adrien Brody), Best Cinematography and Best Original Score.

Nosferatu nabbed Best Director for Robert Eggers, as well asBest Sound and Best Horror Film. Other multiple winners included The Substance (Best Actress, Demi Moore, Best Make-Up, Best Sci-Fi Film), Wicked (Best Art Direction, Costume Design, Visual Effects) and Emilia Pérez (Best Editing, Best Song, Best Foreign Language Film).

In the supporting acting categories the winners were Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain, which also won Original Screenplay) and Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown).

Here is the complete list of winners.

Best Picture: The Brutalist

Best Director: Robert Eggers, Nosferatu

Best Actor: Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Best Actress: Demi Moore, The Substance
Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Best Supporting Actress: Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown

Best Original Screenplay: Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain
Best Adapted Screenplay: Peter Straughan, Conclave

Best Animated Film: The Wild Robot
Best Documentary: Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Best Foreign Language Film: Emilia Pérez

Best Cinematography: Lol Crawley, The Brutalist
Best Editing: Juliette Welfling, Emilia Pérez
Best Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Wicked
Best Costume Design: Paul Tazewell, Wicked
Best Make-Up: The Substance
Best Original Score: Daniel Blumberg, The Brutalist
Best Song: “El Mal” from Emilia Pérez
Best Sound: Nosferatu
Best Visual Effects: Wicked
Best Stunt Work: The Fall Guy

Best Vocal/Motion Capture Performance: Kevin Durand, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Best New Filmmaker: Rachel Morrison, The Fire Inside

Best First Film: The Fire Inside
Best Overlooked Film: Hit Man

Best Comic Book Movie: Deadpool & Wolverine
Best Horror Film: Nosferatu
Best Sci-Fi Film: The Substance

Best Hawaiian Film: The Queen’s Flowers (dir. Ciara Lacy)

Worst Film of 2024: Madame Web

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.