More than a year after the Honolulu City Council created a program to reduce the city’s backlog of building permit applications, the city’s permitting department director said she’s close to starting the program.

In the four years since Hawaiʻi made it a felony to manufacture or possess unserialized parts used to create firearms, the number of ghost guns that police are recovering has increased dramatically.

The Honolulu Police Department bought a robot dog at the height of the pandemic with $150,000 in federal COVID aid, but it hasn't been used for years. John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois explain.

The Mayor’s proposed budget for 2026 has been released. It’s a massive $3.93 billion operating budget plus $1.2 billion in capital improvements.

The mayor said his fifth budget proposal is the best so far in executing his agenda: “We don’t spend money we don’t have.”

If we could get this project right, it could be a model for Hawaiʻi actually doing big things successfully again.

The larger of two floating docks at the Ala Wai Harbor boat ramp in Honolulu is listing, and the decking has come apart. Some boaters still use the platform, even thought the gangways are blocked off. Photographed Feb. 28, 2025. (David Croxford/Civil Beat/2025)

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A flashback to Feb. 22, 2011 — Saturday marks 14 years since the rail project broke ground in a field in Kapolei. Back then, the people in charge said it would cost about $5 billion. It’s now more than $10 billion and more than a mile shorter with six years to go before it’s done.

The rise of artificial intelligence is expected to significantly disrupt more than 33% of workers in urban Honolulu.

Honolulu's weather is transitioning to drier conditions with the arrival of gentle trade winds and a forecast of increased rainfall in some areas.

Honolulu’s Managing Director Mike Formby and 11 others will continue in their roles as the city’s top appointed officials.