Community

The Mac-A-Thon is an essential fundraiser that helps support various community initiatives, including promoting Hawaiian culture and traditions, marine resource protection, and youth mentoring.

Today, after a 183-day stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, two rounds of pneumonia, 10 blood transfusions and surgeries on her heart and eyes, Kalley-Mae Yee of Hilo is a vibrant 4-year-old girl.

Project No Ke Ola Pono O Nā Keiki held a recent “Field Day” event at Hōnaunau Elementary, a small school in West Hawaiʻi, for students in kindergarten to fifth grade.

When Yachiyo Hamada and Jeanette Rhamsey were born in March 1922, Warren Harding was president, Wallace Farrington was governor of the Territory of Hawai‘i and Babe Ruth had already signed a three-year contract with the New York Yankees at $52,000 a year. Later that month, the U.S. Navy’s first aircraft carrier, USS Langley, was commissioned and the first airplane landed at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The nearly 50-year-old Kona Community Hospital — built in 1974 — runs the risk of closure every day due to outdated utilities and is lobbying the State Legislature for funding to deal with the problems.

Selflessness, dedication and hard work. Those qualities and others are why the Aloha Exchange Club of East Hawaiʻi selected Hawaiʻi Police Department Puna Patrol Officer Michael Sailer as its Officer of the Year for 2022 and Hawai‘i Fire Department Capt. Jon Wayne Boteilho as its Firefighter of the Year for 2022. The two men were honored during a ceremony March 25 in Hilo.

Exactly 77 years ago, on April Foolʻs Day 1946, Hilo and the surrounding coast was hit by the most devastating tsunami in Hawaiʻi’s modern history. The death toll: 159.

The memorial was made a possible by a group of Vietnam veterans who formed the nonprofit West Hawai‘i Vietnam Veterans War Memorial Association. The group raised $75,000 in 17 months to construct the 6-foot-tall by 7-foot-long memorial, crafted in basalt rock.

Kona Community Hospital has achieved the highly prestigious international Baby-Friendly designation for adhering to the highest standards of care for breastfeeding mothers and their babies.

The Community Wildfire Defense Grants for the Big Island will be used to update four Community Wildfire Protection Plans that are seven to eight years old.

The new memorial was made a reality by a group of Vietnam veterans who formed the nonprofit West Hawai‘i Vietnam Veterans War Memorial Association, which raised $75,000 in 17 months to construct the 6-foot-tall by 7-foot-long memorial, crafted in basalt rock.

The Hele-On’s new ADA-compliant site features a trip planner, real-time bus tracking, weather updates and accessible schedules.

The project will consist of the removal and replacement of pavement, updating road signage, and placement of new road striping and markings.

The image of the late kumu hula Edith Kanakaʻole is printed on the backside of the 25-cent piece as part of a 2023 commemorative series for the American Women Quarters Program by the U.S. Mint.

Graduation season is nearly here with ceremonies scheduled in May.

The Big Island Now Poll #4 asks: For a Big Island dinner party, what Hawaiian favorite food is a must on the menu?

A total of 1,121 whales were observed across the state by volunteers for the Great Whale Count on March 25.

The West Hawaiʻi County Band is performing its concerts at a new location, Honu’s On The Beach at the King Kamehameha Hotel.

With 1,317 people voting, 60 percent of voters — nearly 800 votes — said there were too many tourists, with residents and the environment negatively impacted.

The Law Enforcement Torch Run is aimed at raising awareness for people with intellectual disabilities. The Hawai‘i Police Department is sponsoring two runs this year: April 23 in Kailua-Kona and April 29 in Hilo.