HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – For Waikiki regular Ken Burig, the years-long closure of the bathroom at his favorite spot, feet away from iconic Prince Kuhio statue, has been especially troublesome.

“It’s very disappointing, cause it’s been like that for a long time and it’s very inconvenient for myself because I’m handicapped,” Burig, who gets around using an electric chair, said.

For the past four years, the city has blamed the bathroom’s closure on vandals who flushed clothes down the toilets, as well as mechanical and electric issues with a pump, requiring more than $40,000 for repairs.

The two nearest public restrooms are about a quarter mile away in both directions along Kalakaua Ave, an estimate five minute walk to reach either.

Visitor Ayah Muhsen agreed with Burig that the lack of a loo in the heavily-visited stretch of beach is “very inconvenient.”

Nicole Ancheta, another beach regular, added, “Dozens of people have put in complaints over the past year, since last August, September, not just me.”

Ancheta is adamant about getting the restroom reopened, reaching out to the city herself.

“Still waiting, they don’t have answers. I went to the board meeting in February. I get a note in February that it’ll be open in March, and it’s still closed, and still no answers. I emailed them last week,” Ancheta said.

A city spokesperson sent HNN the following response it provided to Ancheta:

“The maintenance contractor (Alakai) for the ʻŌhua Avenue comfort station at Kūhiō Beach Park is scheduled to work on the bathrooms this Friday, February 27, 2026 and we hope to have the bathrooms reopened soon. We further hope that these repairs last, and the bathroom can be utilized by you, your ‘ohana, and the public for longer than just a few days.

I know you are familiar with the problematic history of this particular bathroom building, but I did want to provide some context so we can all be on the same page. This bathroom is below ground,, so it requires its own tank, grinder, and two pumps to direct the sewage to the municipal lines. The extended closures have indeed been numerous, lengthy, and can certainly give the impression of continuous closure; making this facility one of our most challenging bathrooms we oversee. That’s primarily because the closures have resulted from vandalism of people flushing clothing down the toilets or mechanical/electric issues with the bathroom’s pump. Repairs to the pump and electric issues have experienced delays because the parts are under warranty, and we have been working to have them replaced or repaired under that warranty, saving taxpayer dollars.

We are determining our next course of action with this problematic facility, as we have already spent over $40,000 in repairs to this one bathroom coming on four years. Realistically,Head side a larger Capital Improvement Project will likely be needed if these current repairs don’t last.

Fortunately, there are public bathroom facilities within decent proximity to this one; near HPD’s Waikīkī Substation (0.3 miles away) and on the Diamond Head side of Kapahulu Avenue (0.2 miles away) just past the beach volleyball courts. I understand it can be difficult to walk that distance when you have kids or kupuna to take into account, but there are other nearby options.”

The spokesperson also pointed out that because there is no public parking for the stretch of beach, some walking is involved to get there as well.

One of the closest parking areas is on Kapahulu Ave, which is near a public comfort station.

We are still waiting for updates from the city.

However, another city spokesperson explained that the city is also a victim of the vandalism to the facility, not just those who need to use it.

Money and resources meant for normal maintenance that are not budgeted for improvements, the official added, get derailed to fix damages, impacting repairs in other places.

But two months ago, Hilton Grand Vacations donated $1 million to improve the area, which the Waikiki Business Improvement District hopes will help deter vandals.

“We really believe if things look nice, if you clean up dead grass, if you get rid of graffiti, if you repair that broken window, then crime will reduce, and things will get better,”

You can report vandalism to city facilities here.

Forecast for Big Island Windward and Southeast

Forecast for Big Island Leeward

Surf along north and west facing shores will remain small tonight before a small bump is possible on Wednesday. An upward trend is then expected during the second half of the week as another northwest swell arrives as early as Wednesday night. This swell originates from a storm-force low that tracked into the Bering Sea this past weekend, as confirmed by scatterometry. Therefore, this swell appears more likely to materialize. Looking further ahead, a storm-force low east of Japan will send a moderate, longer-period northwest swell toward the islands for Friday and Saturday, with surf heights potentially approaching advisory levels along exposed north and west facing shores.

Surf along south-facing shores will remain small through much of the week, with mainly background south to southwest swell expected. Another south-southwest pulse may arrive by this weekend from recent activity within our swell window east of New Zealand, providing a small increase in surf.

Surf along east-facing shores will remain relatively small and choppy through midweek, with a slight rise possible Thursday and Friday as trades strengthen.

NORTH EAST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Semi choppy with ESE winds 5-10mph in the morning increasing to 10-15mph in the afternoon.

NORTH WEST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Clean in the morning with ESE winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions for the afternoon with the winds shifting W 5-10mph.

WEST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Light sideshore texture in the morning with NNW winds 5-10mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions for the afternoon with the winds shifting to the WNW.

SOUTH EAST

am        pm  

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Sideshore texture/chop with NE winds 10-15mph.

Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov and SwellInfo.com

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (KHON) — A strange glow in the night sky over Hawaiʻi Island is raising eyebrows – and questions – after a Kona resident captured unusual green lights on camera over the weekend.

Jake Asuncion says he was filming sunset near Keahole Point when he unknowingly recorded the phenomenon. It wasn’t until he got home and reviewed the footage that he noticed a faint green glow appear in the sky.

“I got home, I was going to post it, and then towards the end of the video I saw the green come out—I said, what was that?” Asuncion said. He said he enhanced the color to show the movement.

Curious, he returned the following night—and saw it again.

“I wanted to go back the next night and see if I could capture the same thing—and it came out even more the second night,” he said.

He said the glow appeared roughly 15 to 20 minutes after sunset, looking northwest toward Maui. While faint to the naked eye, the green hue was more visible through his phone camera.

The sightings have caught the attention of local astronomers, including Nick Bradley with Stargazers of Hawaiʻi, who says the color resembles aurora, but likely isn’t.

“It looked very interesting. The green color looks like aurora, but honestly, we don’t really get that in Hawaiʻi,” Bradley explained.

Data from the weekend shows no significant geomagnetic storm activity that would produce aurora visible in the islands. The KP index—a measure used to track aurora strength—was only between 3 and 4. By comparison, a rare aurora visible in Hawaiʻi in 2024 required a KP index of 8.

Bradley says other common explanations don’t seem to match what was captured either.

“Satellites look like small pinpoint lights moving across the sky, we see them every night. This doesn’t look like that,” he said.

He also ruled out meteor showers, lasers, and the well-known “green flash” that sometimes occurs at sunset, noting the lights appeared well after the sun had already set and higher in the sky.

The Army said there were no lasers being used or any training in that area.

The Hawaii Department of Transportation said Kona airport used to have a laser bird hazing gun, but it was red and would not come close in scale to what is shown in the photos. Standard airport rotating beacons also would not have the scale as shown in the photos.

Keck Observatories suggest it could be STEVE or ‘strong thermal emissions velocity enhancement,’ which is similar to aurora but seen further south than aurora. But not as much is known about STEVE and it’s typically seen with aurora present.

Astronomers note that smartphone cameras can enhance colors in low-light conditions, meaning the green glow may appear brighter on video than in real life.

Still, the exact cause remains unknown — and experts are asking the public to keep an eye out and capture the moment if they can.

“I would love more eyes on it — more data, the better,” Bradley said.

As for Asuncion, he plans to keep watching the skies.

“I just appreciate the beauty of nature and whatever comes,” he said.