West Hawai‘i News

Take a look at these planned lane closures for the upcoming week. The schedule can change at any time without notice, and remember that all projects are weather permitting.

The early closure at 5:30 p.m. today is because of a staffing shortage with the transfer station’s contractor. The facility is scheduled to reopen for regular hours Saturday.

The Big Island is once again teeming with events, activities, shows and more for any and everyone to enjoy. Check out what’s happening in this week’s top 10!

Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen will join 37 other golfers on the 18-hole Jack Nicklaus-designed course at Four Seasons Resort Hualālai in Ka‘ūpūlehu to open the 2025 PGA TOUR Champions season.

Hawai’i Island police have secured nearly $160,000 in federal grants that will be used to conduct more community outreach, purchase new equipment, improve and enhance enforcement.

An agriculture inspector from the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture Plant Quarantine Branch in Kona retrieved the animal early Sunday morning and arranged for it to be transported to Honolulu. This was the second opossum in as many months to be captured in the islands.

31-year-old Jannefer Kaspar was last seen in the Orchidland subdivision of Kurtistown on Dec. 26, 2024.

With lawmakers convening Jan. 15 for their 2025 session, Kona Community Hospital administration will speak with lawmakers about securing $13.2 million to ensure patients are seen more quickly.

Behind us are the holidays and ahead is a whole new year, full of exciting experiences and opportunities to reinvent ourselves. Let’s make a resolution to try something new during 2025.

Local and international musicians and artists will be in Pahala and Kailua-Kona to teach young artists and connect with the culture of Hawaiʻi beginning Saturday.

Two minutes after midnight, Hawaiʻi Island police responded to a vehicle collision in South Kona that killed a pedestrian, marking the first traffic fatality of 2025.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation reported a 10% increase in traffic fatalities in 2024 with 51 from the City and County of Honolulu, 29 from Hawaiʻi Island, 14 from Maui County and 8 from Kauaʻi County.

There were 770,940 visitors to the Hawaiian Islands in November of this year, which is an increase of 5.3% compared to the same month in 2023.

Gov. Josh Green signed an executive order protecting primary caregivers cultivating cannabis for patients within the bounds of the law that exists as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Hawaiʻi County agency made the announcement after the last surf-related advisory for the Big Island’s western shores was canceled early Sunday morning.

As another year comes to a close, revelry and talk of auld lang syne will abound — reminiscing about times long past for old times’ sake. But no matter what you do to celebrate this New Year’s, be safe, be responsible and do it together.

Wally Lau, co-founder of the Hawaiʻi Island Fentanyl Task Force, said of Hawai’i County Mayor Kimo Alameda: “No matter where he’s at, he is a motivator and a do-er who can excite people.”

Fireworks sales began Thursday and end at midnight New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31. Permits are not required for novelties and paperless firecrackers.

The Hawai‘i Department of Health at about 1 p.m. Wednesday requested assistance from U.S. Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu watchstanders with a non-maritime emergency medical transport for a 44-year-old patient in Kona experiencing a severe abdominal condition.

Dannah Delos Santos was reported missing Dec. 17; however, she was last seen Dec. 12 at the Mo‘oheau Bus Terminal in downtown Hilo.