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.
Three convicted sex offenders were arrested on Hawaii Island last week for allegedly failing to comply with sex offender registry requirements.
Multiple law-enforcement agencies conducted checks in Kona on registered sex offenders who had been identified as potentially out of compliance with the state’s Sex Offender Registry laws, according the Department of the Attorney General.
As a result of the three-day operation, several individuals were brought back into compliance, and three West Hawaii men were arrested for allegedly failing to comply with the requirements.
The three men who were arrested are Joseph Debus, 56, of Kailua-Kona, Garth Coleman, 53, of Holualoa and Alexsandr Skelcey, 34, of Kailua-Kona.
Debus was convicted of second-degree sex assault in Hawaii in 1993 and sentenced to five years probation with a year in jail. Coleman was sentenced to 20 years in prison for first-degree assault in 2000 after a jury trial in Hawaii. And Skelcey was convicted in Michigan in 2012 of assault with intent to commit sex assault.
“Sex offender registration requirements exist to protect our communities and ensure law enforcement knows where convicted offenders are living,” Tom Alipio, chief of the AG department’s Investigations Division, said in a press release. “Compliance operations like this send a clear message that we will actively monitor the registry, investigate violations and work closely with our law enforcement partners to hold offenders accountable when they fail to meet their legal obligations.”
HPD Chief Reed Mahuna said, “Operations like this allow us to verify that offenders are maintaining strict compliance with registration laws and those who aren’t will be addressed immediately. We will continue to leverage these multi-agency partnerships to keep our island communities safe,”
Members of the public can look up publicly available offender information and subscribe to notifications at sexoffenders.ehawaii.gov/coveredoffender/.
Anyone with information regarding a registered sex offender who may be violating registration requirements is encouraged to contact the Department of the Attorney General’s Investigation Division at (808) 586-1240 or their local law enforcement.
A brush in North Kona, near the Ulu Wini Apartments, has closed a portion of Hina Lani Street, between Route 190 and Ane Keokalole Highway.
According to Hawai‘i Island police, the road is expected to be closed for the next three hours and motorists are advised to avoid the area.
Hawai‘i Fire Assistant Chief Chris Carvalho confirmed at least two engines, two brush trucks, Chopper 2 and a medic vehicle responded to the blaze that started in some bushes.
No evacuations or injuries have been reported at this time.
At 11:09 a.m., an AlertWest camera, installed by Hawaiian Electric in wildfire-prone areas, showed smoke billowing above the Keahuolu Courthouse. As of 12:06 p.m., that smoke appears to have dissipated.
This is a developing story. More information will be provided as it becomes available.
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