Hawaii

US military’s attempt to retain strategic land for training runs into Native Hawaiian opposition

Published

5 months ago

July 4, 2025

US military’s attempt to retain strategic land for training runs into Native Hawaiian opposition

HONOLULU (AP) — A high-altitude plateau on the Big Island is the only place in Hawaii where thousands of ground forces can practice firing live munitions. It’s also a place many Native Hawaiians consider the spiritual heart of the island.

The U.S. military wants to keep training at this spot, called Pohakuloa, so it’s ready to quickly send troops to Asia and the Pacific. Its importance to the U.S. is only growing as China becomes more assertive, particularly regarding Taiwan.

But the Army’s lease for state lands beneath a key part of the training range expires in 2029. Native Hawaiians upset with the U.S. military’s history of damaging Hawaiian lands with target practice and fuel leaks want the Army out.

“They have bombed and contaminated not just our land but our waters,” said Healani Sonoda-Pale, a community organizer with the Hawaiian sovereignty group Ka Lahui Hawaii. “When does this end?”

A problematic history

The military controls about 5% of Hawaii’s land, including bases for all branches. It has programs and staff to protect endangered and threatened species, prevent fires, and plant native plants.

But past incidents have made many Native Hawaiians skeptical.

The Navy turned the island of Kahoolawe, off Maui, into a bombing range after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. The Navy returned it in 1994 after years of protests. But subsequent cleanup efforts have been incomplete. Live grenades and bombs remain scattered across a quarter of the island.

Memories are still fresh from when the Navy spilled jet fuel into Pearl Harbor’s drinking water from a network of underground fuel storage tanks and pipes in 2021. The leak prompted 6,000 people to seek medical care for rashes, nausea and other ailments and contaminated a Honolulu aquifer. The disaster occurred after admirals spent years dismissing community calls to move the tanks. On Tuesday, Honolulu’s water utility sued the Navy seeking to recoup an estimated $1.2 billion that it has had to spend because of the spill.

Also on Oahu, environmental advocates say Army live-fire training in Makua Valley sparked wildfires and destroyed native forestland and sacred cultural sites. A legal settlement stopped such training in 2004.

The cultural significance of Pohakuloa

Pohakuloa consists of rocky plains, hills and brush about 6,200 feet (1,900 meters) above sea level between the Big Island’s tallest volcanoes, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. It hosts endangered species including the Hawaiian catchfly shrub.

Early Hawaiians ventured across the plateau to reach a Mauna Kea quarry that produced high-quality basalt for stone tools and to travel between coastal towns.

In 2022, Army staff discovered ancient wooden “kii,” or figures, in a lava tube, an underground passageway created by molten rock. Consultants said the figures are from human burials, and state preservationists say they’re among Hawaii’s most significant archaeological finds.

Pohakuloa Training Area spans more than 200 square miles (518 square kilometers). The section in question is only 17% of that total, but it’s critically located in between two larger federal parcels. Troops fire munitions from the state-owned parcel onto federal lands.

The land’s importance for training and deterrence

Other live-fire training areas in Hawaii are too small to accommodate battalions and brigades.

Commanders say it would take too long to send troops, trucks and helicopters to the U.S. mainland for drills.

“What we anticipate in a future fight is that we will not have the time to recover that equipment and to position ourselves back into the region,” said Maj. Gen. James Bartholomees, U.S. Army Pacific chief of staff.

Pohakuloa training, he said, allows troops to “move from Hawaii into the Indo-Pacific, into key terrain, to be prepared to meet our adversaries, or more importantly, to deter them.”

The Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force exercise there, as do allied and partner militaries. The Hawaii National Guard accounts for one-quarter of Pohakuloa’s training. County fire and police departments use it too.

Negotiations to exchange land

The Army prepared an environmental impact statement, including public feedback, that analyzed how the military’s continued use of the land would affect plants, animals and cultural heritage.

On May 9, the state land board rejected it after hearing hours of often emotional testimony in opposition. Among other issues, the board cited inadequate inventory of unexploded ordnance and insufficient inventory of ancient burials and associated artifacts.

The Army is considering whether to appeal. It could also negotiate a land exchange with the state instead.

Such talks can’t begin until the Army finalizes its environmental study with a decision about its plans. The defense secretary’s office then must sign off on acquiring land.

Alice Roberts, U.S. Army Pacific’s program manager for training land retention, said the service has had some informal conversations, including trying to understand the state’s swap criteria.

Buying the land would be a “a big hurdle,” for the Army, she said, because two-thirds of the state House and Senate would need to approve such a transaction.

U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, a Democrat, said the Army must double down on being good stewards and make up for the military’s past mistakes.

Tokuda wants the military to help increase Hawaii’s housing supply, given that service members occupy 14% of Oahu’s housing stock and that high housing costs are driving residents out. She said it could bolster Hawaii’s water and sewer infrastructure.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green suggested in an interview with Hawaii News Now that the military could take the land through eminent domain, but Tokuda said she hasn’t heard anyone in the military or President Donald Trump’s administration mention that.

A call for a cleanup

Kaialiʻi Kahele, the chairperson of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which advocates for Native Hawaiians, wants to see what federal lands the Army would offer. He wants to know whether it would be willing to reduce the impact of its training, and what sort of clean up and community benefits it would provide.

“We have to get to a point where you do training and then you clean up your mess,” said Kahele, a former congressman who served more than 20 years in the Hawaii Air National Guard and is now in the Air Force Reserve.

“That should be the model of training that respects aina, respects this place and its culture and its people,” he said, using the Hawaiian word for land.

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Honolulu Marathon kicks off with a rainy start

Published

11 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

Honolulu Marathon kicks off with a rainy start

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The JAL Honolulu Marathon kicks off at Ala Moana Boulevard.

Hawaii News Now celebrates the 53nd anniversary of the Honolulu Marathon with a special edition of Sunrise.

We’ll be tracking runners throughout the entire course, sharing heartfelt stories from competitors, and going behind the scenes to spotlight dedicated volunteers — from malasada makers to medical crews — who help make this massive event possible.

Join us for live coverage throughout the 26.2-mile course on Sunday, Dec. 14, starting at 6 a.m. only on Hawaii News Now.

Click here to track a runner.

Tsegay Weldibanos from Eritrea came in first place in the elite men’s division with a time of 2:13:41.

He beat out last year’s winner by less than a minute.

Tsegay Weldibanos from Eritrea came in first place in the elite men’s division with a time of 2:13:41.

And in the women’s elite division, Calli Hauger-Thackery, from Great Britain, came in first place with a time of 2:30:44.

She also beat out last year’s winner by a tight margin.

Calli Hauger-Thackery, from Great Britain, came in first place in the elite women’s division with a time of 2:30:44.

For the second year in a row, Kota Hokinoue came in first place for the marathon’s men’s wheelchair division.

The course goes through downtown Honolulu, past Iolani Palace and the Christmas lights, through Waikiki and climbs up and around Diamond Head, before heading out through Kahala and out to Hawaii Kai. Turning back after Hawaii Kai toward Kahala and Honolulu, the course passes Diamond Head again on the ocean side before finishing in Kapiolani Park.

We have live team coverage of the 2025 Honolulu Marathon with reporters throughout the course.

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Hawaii

Celebrations across Hawaii to take place in honor of Sakada Day

Published

23 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

Celebrations across Hawaii to take place in honor of Sakada Day

HILO (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii Island will commemorate the arrival of the first 15 Filipinos to Hawaii back in 1906.

A free Sakada Day Celebration in Hilo will take place on Dec. 20, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to honor the contributions of the Filipino plantation workers who sparked a wave of migration.

“Filipinos are actually a large group here in Hawaii, lot of times things like this are actually tend to be a little neglected,” said Iris Viacrusis, co-chair of the Sakada Day Celebration.

This year’s event will feature a lei presentation at 9 a.m. at the statue at Keaau Community Center, followed by lunch, entertainment and a presentation to three descendants of sakadas: Sandra Claveria, Lorraine Rodero Inouye and Angel Pilago.

Two exhibits will also be displayed for guests to learn more about the sakadas — one will feature stories of the sakadas’ legacy and the other will showcase cultural items and clothing from Viacrusis’ collection.

Dec. 20 was proclaimed Sakada Day under Gov. David Ige in 2015.

Event organizers are preparing for next year’s 120th anniversary of the sakadas in Hawaii.

Sakada Day Celebration(UH Hilo)

Meantime, on Oahu, a free Sakada Day Celebration is taking place today, Dec. 13, at Hawaii Plantation Village in Waipahu from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Philippine Celebrations Coordinating Committee of Hawaii, the University of Hawaii at Manoa Center for Philippine Studies and Filipino Curriculum Project organize the annual gathering, which honors the resilience, contributions, and cultural legacy of sakadas, migrant plantation workers whose hard work, courage, and spirit continue to shape the Filipino American experience today.

High school students will take part in stage performances, visual presentations, education booths and a fashion show.

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Hawaii Foodbank Kauai gets help – The Garden Island

Published

1 day ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Hawaii Foodbank Kauai gets help – The Garden Island

The Hawaii Foodbank Kauai received two major grants of $25,000 each on Thursday: one from Kauai HMS Host and The Journey for Good Foundation by Alvota, and one from DraftKings and FanDuel.

A team from the Kauai HMS Host and The Journey for Good Foundation by Alvota visited the Puhi facility to present a check for $25,000 in support of the work being done by the Hawaii Foodbank Kauai crew.

“The opportunity to partner with The Journey for Good Foundation by Alvota was truly a gift given to us by our local HMS Host team,” Hawaii Foodbank Kauai Assistant Director Tisha Remigio said in an email. “When this amazing group came to volunteer last month, they got to see the true, on-the-ground operations of our food bank and what it really means to keep our families fed here on Kauai.”

“We learned that the funds for The Journey for Good Foundation come from such a simple, grassroots idea — those change bins at the airport checkout stands where customers can drop their loose change,” Remigio continued. “It’s incredible how that money, which seems so small, creates such a massive impact, such as the grant award. Our local HMS Host is such a wonderful group of people, and we are so fortunate for their ongoing support, not only with this monetary grant, but with the essential grocery rescue work we do with them on a weekly basis. We truly hope this inspires others to adopt a small and simple, yet everlasting, impact idea like this to help those in need on Kauai.”

The Hawaii Foodbank Kauai also announced, in a Thursday press release, the receipt of a $25,000 donation from DraftKings and FanDuel to directly support the purchase of an additional food delivery vehicle for the Hawaii Foodbank Kauai’s mobile food pantry program.

“DraftKings is committed to strengthening communities,” said Sabrina Macias, Senior Vice President of Global Communications and CSR at DraftKings. “We’re proud to support Hawaii Foodbank Kauai in expanding access to fresh, reliable food resources, and helping families across the island receive the nourishment they need.”

The DraftKings and FanDuel grant will also sponsor the Hawaii Foodbank Kauai’s upcoming Nourish Gala that will be held on Dec. 19 at the Royal Sonesta Kauai Resort, starting at 5 p.m.

Proceeds from the gala fundraiser will help nourish families in need across the island. Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available by visiting the website at www.kauai.hawaiifoodbank.org, or by calling 808-482-2088.

“FanDuel is honored to support Hawaii Foodbank Kauai as part of our commitment to uplifting communities,” said Keita Young, vice president of community impact at FanDuel. “Food banks are essential pillars of local resilience, and we are proud to contribute to ensuring families across Kauai have consistent access to the food and resources they need.”

The new vehicle will expand the Hawaii Foodbank Kauai’s ability to deliver food, including fresh produce and shelf-stable goods across the island.

“We are deeply grateful for this meaningful gift from DraftKings and FanDuel,” said Hawaii Foodbank Kauai Director Wes Perreira. “With many households on Kauai facing rising food costs, partnerships like this with DraftKings and FanDuel help ensure that none of our friends, neighbors or ohana go hungry.”

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