Kauai News

The Hawai‘i Nurses Association, which represents the Wilcox nurses, began negotiations with Wilcox Medical Center on May 6. Their contract expired on Aug. 31.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported the earthquake was part of the ongoing swarm of deep seismicity that has been happening beneath the area of the Kaʻū community since 2019. It had no apparent impact on either Kīlauea of Mauna Loa volcanoes.

Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency officials also noted in their announcement that a test of the live audio broadcast segment of the Emergency Alert System will accompany the sounding test of the sirens at roughly the same time, in cooperation with the Hawai‘i broadcast industry.

The Kaua‘i Historical Society is celebrating “Mu‘umu‘u Month” with a slate of events beginning on Jan. 3.

There are eyes watching and waiting for those awe-inspiring moments with more nefarious reasons in mind. “Thieves are looking for the right moment to steal your stuff,” said Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park in a recent Facebook post.

President Joe Biden has also appointed Jan. 9, 2025, as a National Day of Mourning.

Georgia native and Democrat was the first president to reach the age of 100 years old, the longest-lived president in the nation’s history and actually the first president to be born in a hospital. He died Sunday peacefully at his home in Plains, Ga., surrounded by his family.

“The class is not your typical classroom experience; it’s a transformative journey for high school students to explore their role as change-makers in the fight against climate change,” said Kaua‘i County Office of Economic Development Director Nalani Brun.

As we close out 2024, here are the stories that were top of mind of Kauaʻi Now readers this past year.

The local food nonprofit Mālama Kaua‘i prepared and distributed 200 pounds of locally grown kabocha squash to four public schools.

If fountaining continues, it is possible heights will increase as more gas-rich lava erupts. However, it is not possible to estimate how high fountains could get or how long fountaining will last.

The advisory was suppoed to last through 6 p.m., but surf has fallen just below advisory levels and is expected to decline even more through the night.

The low level eruptive activity has gone on for more than a day, after the eruption resumed Thursday evening. Eruptions in the summit region typically last about a week to more than a year. This eruption began during the early morning of Dec. 23.

Fountaining was happening Friday night in bursts of up to 30 to 45 feet high from the two most northern vents within the Big Island volcano’s summit caldera inside Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

A Holiday Lane Closure Restriction remains in place through Jan. 5.

Dreamland Skateparks, a family-owned business, has constructed public and private facilities throughout the world and now will build two on Kauaʻi.

This is the Big Island volcano’s third eruption this year, and all three happened in different parts of the mountain — the Southwest Rift Zone, East Rift Zone and now the summit caldera. The last time eruptions happened in all of these areas in the same year was 50 years ago!

Taro officially becomes the state plant, the definition of ‘beer’ gets expanded and more. Take a look at those laws and others that will go on the books Jan. 1 as the Hawai‘i Legislature gears up for its 2025 session, which starts Jan. 15.

Rescuers responded to a report of two distressed kayakers at ‘Anini Beach shortly before 6:10 p.m. Personnel with the Hanalei Fire Station and the Ocean Safety Bureau North Roving Ski Patrol responded to the incident.

A high surf warning remains in effect through 6 a.m. Saturday for north and west shorelines of the island, with waves of 30 to 40 feet forecast today, falling to 18 to 25 feet by tomorrow morning. Kaua‘i Ocean Safety Bureau officials are observing large swells on northern beaches.