Kauai News

“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.

Project team members will share mobility hub findings and recommendations for investing in and building a multimodal transportation center that makes it easier to get around for people who live and work in and visit the east side of the island.

Polynesian Voyaging Society prepares to mark 5 decades of legendary iconic traditional double-hulled voyaging canoe reviving the Hawaiian culture, advocating for the environment and renewing a connection to the Earth and ocean.

Benefits of receiving a National Heritage Area designation include economic development opportunities, environmental restoration, quality of life improvement and more. The bicameral legislation passed the U.S. House on Dec. 4 and the U.S. Senate on Dec. 16 before being sent to the president’s desk.

Kauaʻi police report that a 2008 Toyota sedan was traveling north at about 6:50 p.m. Wednesday on Kūhiō Highway when it struck the 44-year-old man while he was crossing the highway with his bicycle at the intersection with Kawaihau Road.

Kaua‘i police identified the 25-year-old as Anastasi Brown of Līhu‘e. She died Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, after succumbing to her injuries.

“Inflation of the summit following the shutdown indicates that a resumption in activity is possible in the coming days, but not certain,” said Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in its daily Kīlauea update just after 9:30 a.m. today.

“This is a dream come true for us. We didn’t think that we’d ever have a house to come home to and to be able to come home for Christmas is the best gift we could’ve received.” — Department of Hawaiian Home Lands beneficiary Destiny Smith