West Hawai‘i News

The $54.4 million Kaloko Heights development in Kailua-Kona on the west side of the Big Island will feature 99 family units, including 58 three-bedroom units, 41 two-bedroom units and one three-bedroom manager’s unit.

Big Island police report that 15-year-old Kamali‘i M.K. Lawelawe, who was previously reported as a runaway and had been missing since last summer, was located April 26 in good health.

The Big Island Chocolate Festival, hosted by the Kona Cacao Association, returns for its 10th annual installment April 28 and 29 at a new venue, Waikōloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa.

Kaiminani Drive is closed between Koikoi and Ala Kapua streets in Kona is closed on Tuesday afternoon due to a traffic crash.

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 West Hawaiʻi Filipino Chamber of Commerce was established on Dec. 9, 2022, providing a platform for local Filipino-owned businesses and professionals to collaborate and gain access to resources that will help them thrive.

The public is invited to attend the 11 a.m. ceremony to unveil the West Hawaiʻi Vietnam War Memorial on March 29, National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

The half-mile white coral sand Hāpuna Beach, the largest white sand beach on the Big Island features crystal-clear water and also offers bodysurfing and sunbathing opportunities along other beach-related activities such as picnicking.

The Hawai‘i Police Department reports that 59-year-old Jeffrey Clarkson was found in good health on March 16.

The 22nd annual Kauikeaouli Festival, which commemorates the monarch’s birthday, is planned for March 17-18 at the Outrigger Kona Resort and Spa at Keauhou Bay in West Hawaiʻi on the Big Island, complete with a free ʻaha mele (concert) and cultural activities.

Benjamin Tautges received his Doctor of Optometry from Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Optometry in Pomona, Calif.

Ilima Shim, a mother of two who lives in Kapolei, O‘ahu, and grew up in Hōnaunau on the Big Island’s west side, finished in the top six of season four of the CBS reality TV competition show “Tough As Nails.”

The Hawai‘i Police Department says 44-year old Ronald Kahihikolo of Ocean View was arrested just before 11 a.m. Saturday near the 39.5-mile marker on Highway 19 in Hāmākua, north of Hilo, after a five-day manhunt.

The plight of the Nākoa, a 94-foot luxury yacht that spent nearly two weeks grounded in Honolua Bay on Maui only to be freed from the rocky shoreline and then sink in about 800 feet of water, is not the only yacht plot to unfold in Hawai‘i waters during the past decade.

Other than a few sightings in the Captain Cook area on the Big Island’s west side and Hāmākua on the east side, no one else has seen or spoken to 42-year-old Landon Fairbanks of Kailua-Kona since about noon on Aug. 3, 2022.

The high wind warning is in effect until 6 a.m. Thursday, with a wind advisory for much of the rest of the island also in effect. The high surf warning will remain until 6 a.m. Thursday.

Former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary were in Kailua-Kona on the island’s west side and attended the blessing of the new Grace Parish Center on Thursday at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Parish. The new parish center shares its name with Grace Wilsey, who is an inspiration for the church’s congregation.

The Hawai’i County Council celebrated the Konawaena High School Wildcats on Wednesday before moving on to agenda items during its regular session meeting. The Wildcats won the Division I state high school football championship last November, bringing the school’s first-ever state football championship back to the Big Island.

Resolution 51-23 would authorize Hawai‘i County Finance Director Deanna Sako to negotiate a lease with the Hawai‘i State Public Library System for the development, construction and operation of a library in the South Kohala community of about 7,400 people.

The Wiliwili Festival on Feb. 11 is hosted by the Waikōloa Dry Forest Initiative and will feature informational booths, guided tours and self-guided hikes, food and beverages at the Waikōloa Dry Forest Preserve on the Big Island.