Hawaiʻi's May-to-September dry season turned out to be the third wettest in 30 years, in line with NOAA forecasts tied to a strong El Niño. Forecasters now expect the opposite for the coming wet season, with low rainfall and high fire risk.
Summary written by Readthrough from the original article. The full story, with photos and any updates, is at Kauai Now.
Several parks and recreation facilities across Maui are closed as heavy rain continues, according to the county parks department, with a flood watch in effect through early Thursday. Closures include Waiehu Municipal Golf Course and its shop and restaurant, War Memorial Complex fields 1 through 5 and its tennis courts, and other sites.
The race for Hawaiʻi's 2nd Congressional District, covering rural Oʻahu and the neighbor islands, pits two-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda against Republican state Sen. Brenton Awa. Awa, the Senate minority leader representing the North Shore, is Hawaiʻi's highest-ranking Republican and has become a bridge to national Republicans.
The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation received a $40.1 million federal grant for the Port of Kahului on Maui. The state says the money will speed up a cargo yard expansion to support the rebuilding of Lahaina and the region's economy.
A new UHERO analysis finds Hawaiʻi has a more even distribution of income than the nation overall. But the study by Peter Fuleky and Vanessa Pepino also found the gap between upper-middle and lower-middle earners is wider than some traditional inequality measures suggest.
