A Hawaii County program offering to purchase Puna residents’ lava-damaged properties should finally wrap up this year.

The Voluntary Housing Buyout Program launched in 2021 to offer residents whose properties were damaged, destroyed or isolated by the 2018 Kilauea eruption. After four years since it launched — and seven years following eruption — the program is winding down, with more than 750 applicants having completed or are still undertaking the buyout process.

County Recovery spokeswoman Jen Myers confirmed the program should have completed most of its buyouts by the end of 2025, although this depends on the remaining properties moving through the process efficiently, and with applicants responding in a timely manner.

The program accepted applicants in three phases. The first, highest-priority phase was for owners of primary residences impacted by the eruption. There were 311 applicants for that phase.

As of February, only three phase one applications remained open, with the rest having been bought out.

Phase two applicants were those with secondary homes impacted by the eruption, with about 200 applicants, while phase three was for owners of vacant land, about 300 of whom applied.

As of February, there were 41 phase two and 282 phase three applications still open.

Myers said via email that the program has had to contend with “the complexities of title issues, probate situations, and unique property cases” which have slowed the process down. Previously, the program was expected to close its last buyouts by the end of 2024.

The program had an initial budget of $83.8 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As the program went on and the number of applicants grew, the maximum payout for phase three applicants was reduced from $230,000 to $22,000.

Myers said via email she estimates the program should be able to serve all eligible phase three applicants with some amount of federal funds.

Meanwhile, the future of the bought-out properties remains uncertain.

“At this stage, the focus remains on completing buyouts,” Myers said via email. “Any plans about how we will manage the properties after we have finished the program will need to align with federal guidelines, community needs, and long-term resilience goals.

“Keeping these properties vacant and unprogrammed will be a consideration.”

Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.

HILO (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii Island police are offering a cash reward for any information that could help lead to the arrest and capture of a man wanted in connection to an officer involved shooting.

According to police the suspect, Christopher Lucrisia, 39, is still considered to be armed and dangerous and should not be approached.

As of 1:16 p.m., Hawaii police, federal partners with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the state departments of Law and Land and Natural Resources, and the U.S. Marshalls Service still actively looking for Lucrisia, officials said.

On Saturday, police said that a reward of up to $21,000 are now being offered for information that leads to the capture and arrest of Lucrisia.

The FBI has matched the U.S. Marshall’s offering of $10,000, officials said.

U.S. Marshalls Service, in cooperation with the Hawaii Police Department, is offering up to $10,000 for the capture and arrest of Lucrisia, police said.

Officials said it is in addition to the reward of up to $1,000 offered by Hawaii Island CrimeStoppers.

Anyone with information and wishes to remain anonymous can make an anonymous tip through CrimeStoppers at (808) 961-8300.

Hawaii police have partnered with Hawaii Fusion Center and set up a web portal for people to submit photos or videos.

Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

No. 19 Penn State men’s volleyball (5-12, 2-2 EIVA) was swept by No. 3 Hawaii (18-1) in its second game of the Outrigger Volleyball Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Saturday morning.

After being swept in its first game of the tournament, the Nittany Lions were dominated in the first set, but played a very competitive second set. However, they could not capitalize on their opportunities to win the set, and this led to a dominating third set victory for the Rainbow Warriors. With Penn State losing its 12th game of the season, it now has more losses than in the last two seasons combined.

How It Happened

Penn State won the first point of the first set on a kill by Michael Schwob before Hawaii got on the board with a kill of its own. This kill gave the Rainbow Warriors momentum as they went on to win five consecutive points to take an early 6-1 lead. This forced Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik in hopes of cooling off Hawaii’s momentum.

Out of the timeout, the Rainbow Warriors extended their run to seven before Will Kuhns’s kill on the next point ended it. Both teams exchanged points before Kurt Nusterer’s attack error decreased the deficit for the Nittany Lions to four. However, Hawaii continued to seize its momentum and went on a 5-0 run to take extend its lead to nine and forced Penn State to take another timeout.

Both teams traded blows for the next four points after the timeout. A media timeout occurred right after as Hawaii held a 15-6 lead. After Hawaii’s Louis Sakanoko recorded a service error out of the timeout, the Nittany Lions could not stop the bleeding as the Rainbow Warriors won four consecutive points to increase their lead to double-digits.

After Penn State won back-to-back points, Hawaii returned the favor to take a 21-9 lead. Both teams went back and forth for the next four points before the Nittany Lions won consecutive points to trim their deficit to 10. On the next point, Kuhns committed a service error to give the Rainbow Warriors set point and they converted on their first opportunity as Justin Todd, Tread Rosenthal, and Sakanoko recorded a block assist to win the first set 25-13.

The second set got underway with Rosenthal recording a service ace for the Rainbow Warriors before Matthew Luoma’s kill got the Nittany Lions on the board. Both teams traded blows for the next four points as the deadlock stayed intact.

Hawaii recorded back-to-back kills to take a two-point lead. After Kainoa Wade recorded a service error on the next point, the Rainbow Warriors continued to dominate this match as they went on a 3-0 run to extend their lead to four.

Both teams went back and forth for the next four points before Penn State won back-to-back points to decrease its deficit to two. This back-and-forth affair continued for the next four points as Hawaii’s lead stayed intact. However, the Nittany Lions refused to go away and responded with a 4-0 run to take their first lead of the set. They increased their lead to two by winning two of the next three points before a media timeout occurred.

After the media timeout, both teams exchanged kills for the next 10 points as Penn State’s lead stayed intact. However, the Rainbow Warriors responded by winning consecutive points to tie the set at 20. This deadlock was short-lived as the Nittany Lions regained the lead right away by recording back-to-back kills which forced Hawaii to take a timeout.

Out of the timeout, both teams exchanged points before the Rainbow Warriors won back-to-back points to tie the set at 23. This forced Pavlik to take a timeout as the set started to slip away for the Nittany Lions. Hawaii recorded a critical block assist out of the timeout to give it set point and led to Penn State to take another timeout.

Adrien Roure recorded a huge kill for the Rainbow Warriors after the timeout to win the second set 25-23.

Both teams traded blows for the first four points of the third set before Kuhns’s kill gave Penn State its first lead of the set. After Ofeck Hazan’s kill tied the set at three, the Nittany Lions won consecutive points to take a two-point lead.

However, the Rainbow Warriors showed their resilience and went on a 3-0 run to regain the lead. After Luoma’s kill tied the set at six, Hawaii continued to seize its momentum and won back-to-back points to take an 8-6 lead. This continued to be a trend as the Rainbow Warriors won three of the next four points to extend their lead to four. This forced Penn State to take a timeout.

The Nittany Lions could not stop the bleeding as Hawaii won four consecutive points after the timeout. This allowed it to increase its lead to eight and led to a media timeout as things started to get ugly for it.

Out of the media timeout, the Rainbow Warriors extended its run to seven before an attack error by Hazan ended this run. Both teams exchanged the next four points before another kill by Roure gave Hawaii a 21-10 lead and forced Pavlik to take a timeout.

Out of the timeout, both teams traded blows for the next four points before a kill by Rosenthal gave the Rainbow Warriors match point. Hawaii was able to capitalize on this opportunity as Kuhns recorded an attack error that allowed it to finish off the third set 25-12.

Takeaways

• The Nittany Lions will rue not converting on their chances to win the second set. After being two points away from winning the set, they were not able to win another point after as they allowed the Rainbow Warriors to go on a 4-0 to finish off the second set. This was a huge crusher for Penn State as Hawaii went on to dominate the third set right after.
• Hitting percentage continues to be a huge struggle for Penn State as it had a hitting percentage of .049 compared to Hawaii’s .397. Also, Penn State had 11 more attack errors and 14 less kills than Hawaii.
• Hawaii’s duo of Adrien Roure and Louis Sakanoko were the catalysts in this sweep as they combined for 24 of the team’s 39 kills. They were very efficient as well as they only committed three errors on 39 total attacks.

What’s Next?

Penn State will look to avoid going winless in the Outrigger Volleyball Invitational when it faces No. 12 Ball State at 10 p.m. on Saturday, March 15, in its final game of the tournament.