Hawai'i State News

Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Opill—a daily hormonal contraceptive pill—for over-the-counter sale without a prescription, making it the first over-the-counter birth control pill available without a prescription in the United States.

$140,043.85 was awarded to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum for its project titled “Interpreting America’s WWII Aviation Battlefield” in Honolulu.

Ulupono Initiative released a white paper with results of sustainable transportation surveys.

Drivers from across the islands are invited to compete for $1,000 by downloading the Visual Drive app and practicing safe driving on Hawai‘i’s roadways.

“Earl Anzai was a dedicated public servant as both Attorney General and Budget Director for the State of Hawaiʻi,” said former Attorney General Mark Bennett.

The Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency has produced 15 episodes, which will be released throughout the summer.

The landmark report used qualitative research methods to seek guidance from people who use drugs on ways to increase the use of curative hepatitis C treatment.

The grants will support projects that directly contribute to coral restoration progression in the U.S. Pacific Islands by providing the means for capacity building and/or restoration implementation.

With ongoing staffing shortages for school bus drivers, the state will partner with counties for the second year in a row to provide transportation for students attending Hawai‘i public schools.

The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation worked with Florida officials to clear any misconceptions about Hawai‘i’s limited-purpose driver licenses

Margaret Sanchez was appointed interim chancellor on Jan. 3, 2023 after the previous chancellor, Joseph Daisy, retired in December 2022.

Hawaiʻi’s reimbursement rate for school meals and other federal child nutrition programs has been increased to 30% above the continental U.S. rates, which is projected to bring an additional $8 million a year to Hawaiʻi to support healthy meals for children.

The Hawaiian Islands Cetacean and Ecosystem Assessment Survey is the only comprehensive study of its kind in the islands and takes place from July through December 2023.

The Royal Standard of Queen Lili’uokalani, Hawai‘i’s last reigning monarch, was returned July 24, 2023 to her Washington Place home and placed on public view for the first time in 130 years, since it was illegally seized in 1893.

The Garden Island Boogie Board Classic was founded in 2018 by professional bodyboarders Jeff Hubbard and Chris Burkart, who wanted to establish a premier bodyboard competition on Kaua‘i.

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, the flagship campus of the University’s 10-campus system, led the extramural award amounts this year with $342.7 million.

When herbivores — our reef’s lawnmowers — such as uhu (parrotfishes), nenue (chubs), kala, kole, manini, other surgeonfishes and sea urchins are in low abundance, coral reefs are overgrown with seaweeds and begin to suffocate and die.

In June 2020, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the state breached its trust duty to Native Hawaiian beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust program by not awarding homestead lots in a timely manner.

In his new role as vice provost of student success, Steven D. Fenster will collaborate with the University’s center for academic success, student life, library and learning commons teams.

The U.S. House-passed National Defense Authorization Act authorizes more than $1.5 billion in military construction projects in Hawai‘i, including $5.4 million to begin construction of a new air traffic control tower at Wheeler Army Airfield.