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A flock of birds flew over Kona nurse Jenny Decker’s liveaboard sailboat as she pulled out of Honokōhau Small Boat Harbor Wednesday morning to begin her long-awaited journey to circumnavigate the globe.

This weekʻs Top 20 things to do on the Big Island are dominated by Fourth of July celebrations, including a 5K run/walk, rodeo, rubber duckie race and, of course, fireworks. Find our comprehensive listing HERE.

Honolulu couple Avery Garrard and Keina Drageset were arrested on June 23, each on a charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of Fentanyl, resulting in the deaths of Steven Berengue, 53 of Kailua-Kona, and Joseph Iseke, 44, of Kailua, O‘ahu.

Construction of the new U.S. Geological Survey research facility on the Big Island, which will house the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, is expected to be completed by late 2025.

The top three spellers from each of the preliminary competitions will be eligible to compete in the Kiwanis Kupuna Spelling Bee Finals Competition on July 29, 2023, at 1 p.m. at Lanakila Multipurpose Center, Honolulu.

Since 2010, HTA has provided nearly $13.3 million to support 370 programs that preserve Hawai‘i’s natural resources and more than $12.5 million to support nearly 360 community organizations and programs that focus on perpetuating Hawaiian culture.

The Department acknowledged the community’s efforts to reduce their water usage while the conservation notice was in effect.

Karen Tan, president and CEO of Child and Family Service is stepping down after 18 years with the organization to move to Texas to support her family. Her last day is Aug. 31.

Topics will be centered around Hawaiian bird conservation and learning about solutions supporting critically endangered birds in Hawai’i.

Mokulele Airlines will suspend its daily flights between Hilo and Maui beginning Aug. 1, and add a new evening flight between Kona and Kahului.

Senate Armed Services Committee approval is the first step in the process to establish defense funding levels and set policies for the Department of Defense.

An international team of scientists, including staff astronomer Chien-Hsiu Lee at W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, has captured first time images of starlight from two massive galaxies hosting actively growing black holes from less than a billion years after the Big Bang.

Under the settlement, 7-Eleven Hawai‘i will pay a $145,000 penalty, conduct a self-audit of the 58 locations it operates in Hawai‘i, and work with the EPA to close all remaining large capacity cesspools.

A local ʻohana of ocean-lovers, scientists, fishers and watermen and women have formed Fish Pono–Save Our Reefs, an organization with the vision of bringing awareness to the importance of replenishing herbivore fish populations to foster healthy coral  reefs. 

Last week, two Special Olympics Hawaii athletes, Teresa “Tess” Moore and Virginia “Kalei” Lee, represented Hawaii as part of Special Olympics USA at the 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin, Germany.

A service animal is described as any dog specifically trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual or other disability.

For the past several years, with NASA support, astronomers at the UH Institute for Astronomy and industry partners have been maturing the new tech that will be used for a mission to identify and classify about 25 Earth-like exoplanets.

The legislation would also protect health care providers in pro-choice states, like Hawai‘i, from prosecution and lawsuits for serving individuals traveling from other states.

Eleven organizations co-signed a letter to Gov. Josh Green; mayors Kawakami, Blangiardi, Bissen and Roth; State Board of Education Superintendent Keith Hayashi; and University of Hawai‘i President David Lassner.

The occupancy for Big Island vacation rentals in May was 43.5%, which is down 14.2% from a year ago and 27.8% lower than May 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.