DAVID IGE

The spectacle of incandescent lava spewing from Hawaii's Mauna Loa has drawn thousands of visitors and is turning into a tourism boon for a Big Island town near the world’s largest volcano.

People in Hawaii are asking if anything can be done to stop or divert the flow of lava as molten rock from Mauna Loa volcano inches toward a highway on the Big Island.

The world’s largest volcano is oozing rivers of glowing lava and drawing thousands of awestruck viewers who jammed a Hawaii highway that could soon be covered by the flow.

Crisis response is one way to sum up Hawaii Gov. David Ige's eight years in office.

The last bits of ash and greenhouse gases from Hawaii’s only remaining coal-fired power plant slipped into the environment this week when the state’s dirtiest source of electricity burned its final pieces of fuel.

U.S. governors and other state officials responded to Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier this year with public calls to divest state pension, university and other funds from Russian assets.

For over 50 years, telescopes have dominated the summit of Mauna Kea, a place sacred to Native Hawaiians and one of the best places in the world to study the night sky.

Lt. Gov. Josh Green is the Democratic Party’s candidate to be Hawaii’s next governor.

When the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that established a right to abortion, it sparked legal changes and court challenges in states nationwide.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down a New York gun law could mean big changes thousands of miles away in Hawaii, which has strict restrictions on carrying firearms.

Hawaii lawmakers have passed legislation that would hike the state’s minimum wage to $18 an hour by 2028, potentially the highest in the nation.

Hawaii will lift the nation's last statewide indoor mask mandate by March 26.

The Navy is scrambling to contain a major crisis in Hawaii after jet fuel leaked from an 80-year-old Hawaii tank farm.

The U.S. Navy is contesting orders from Hawaii to suspend use of fuel tanks at a complex above a drinking water aquifer until certain conditions are met.

Flash flood warnings have been canceled for Hawaii, but the threat of heavy rain is persisting as a slow-moving storm system lingers over parts of the state.

A strong storm packing high winds and extremely heavy rain across Hawaii has flooded roads and downed power lines and tree branches.

The U.S. Navy is suspending use of World War II-era fuel storage complex above a Hawaii aquifer that supplies nearly 20% of Honolulu’s drinking water.

U.S. governors are taking a seat at the table as international leaders gather in Scotland at a critical moment for global efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions and slow the planet's temperature rise.

Some Native Hawaiians are objecting to President Joe Biden’s choice for U.S. attorney in the 50th state, saying Clare Connors treated dozens of elders like criminals when her office prosecuted them for blocking a road while protesting the construction of a telescope in Hawaii.

New Zealand is buying an extra 500,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine from Denmark as it tries to keep its coronavirus vaccination program running at full speed, the government said.

Health care workers in Hawaii say a lack of government action is worsening an already crippling surge of coronavirus cases in the islands, and without effective policy changes the state’s limited hospitals could face a grim crisis.

Israel’s prime minister’s office has urged former premier Benjamin Netanyahu to return dozens of expensive gifts he received while serving in the nation’s top job.

A public service announcement campaign reminds Hawaiians that when Hawaii was a kingdom, its rulers pushed people to get vaccinated against smallpox in the 1850s.

South Korea has reported 2,155 new coronavirus cases, nearly matching a record daily increase set earlier this month amid an alarming spread of infections.

Poland has sent one million COVID-19 vaccines to Sydney where the delta variant continues to spread, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday.

First lady Jill Biden visited a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Waipahu, Hawaii, on Sunday to encourage unvaccinated Hawaiians to get their shots as the delta variant surges through much of the U_S_ Biden in remarks at the pop-clinic at Waipahu High School said the virus has become “more contagious than ever” and urged the unvaccinated to “help us move past this virus once and for all.”.

South Korea has reported another new 1,455 cases of the coronavirus, its 11th straight day over 1,000, as officials push to tighten pandemic restrictions nationwide.

About one-third of the states have used federal coronavirus relief aid to provide extra pay to workers who were considered essential during the coronavirus pandemic.

Oregon and Washington have lifted most of their COVID-19 restrictions to become two of the last states to broadly ease virus orders put in place in the very first days of the pandemic.

The head of the World Health Organization lamented the lack of COVID-19 vaccines being immediately donated by rich countries to the developing world, saying that the global community is failing and that the mistakes of the AIDS pandemic are being repeated.

With COVID-19 cases declining and vaccinations increasing, governors across the U.S. are wrestling with decisions about when to declare an end to the emergency declarations they have issued and reissued throughout the pandemic.

Hawaii's governor is extending for two more months an eviction moratorium that he implemented during the coronavirus pandemic, but says he doesn’t expect to keep it longer than that.

Sri Lanka has received one million doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccines amid the island nation’s recent surge in infections and COVID-19 vaccine shortage.

A review of Hawaii Gov. David Ige’s emails shows the state epidemiologist spent key weeks in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic resisting suggestions and requests that she boost contact tracing to control the spread of COVID-19.

The Nevada school district for Las Vegas and the rest of Clark County says fully vaccinated students and staff are no longer required to wear masks in most situations.

Gov. Gavin Newsom says nearly half of Californians eligible for vaccination have received at least one shot against the coronavirus.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging all schools in the state to reopen, saying there are no health barriers to getting children back into classrooms and ending distance learning.

When quarantine rules were put in place early in the pandemic, arrivals plummeted and the state's tourism-dependent economy tanked. In October, state officials launched a pre-travel testing program that allowed visitors to sidestep quarantine rules. With a few exceptions, people in Hawaii are still required to wear masks while in public. “I think we’re all going to have to be prepared for a potential surge in tourism,” said Hawaii state Rep. Scott Saiki, a Democrat. “These banners provide a tool to help Honolulu Police officers do their jobs in gaining compliance with COVID-19 rules,” Sakahara said.

This image provided by Honolulu Civil Beat shows a dead axis deer in a field on the island of Molokai in Hawaii on Jan. 15, 2021. Now, the proliferation of the non-native deer and drought on Molokai have brought the problem into focus. ... It’s had an impact on the wildlife.”AdIn India, axis deer are kept in check by tigers and leopards. ”Our agricultural sector has sustained substantial pasture and crop damage from axis deer in search of food,” he said. In addition to causing to environmental damage, the starving deer population has become a public nuisance.

FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2021, file photo, Sri Lankan nursing staff administer COVID-19 vaccines to front-line health workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Reynolds issued the earlier restrictions in November when hospitals were struggling to care for a surge of coronavirus patients. Officials say it could help up to four COVID-19 patients. ___LISBON, Portugal — Portugal has set a new daily record for COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care with 904 patients on Friday. AdThe Austrian government offered to take in five COVID-19 patients and five non-COVID patients to relieve Portuguese hospitals.

Early and aggressive local measures coupled with a strictly enforced statewide travel quarantine kept Kauai's 72,000 residents mostly healthy — the island had only 61 known coronavirus cases from March through September. Kauai officials have decided the cost of vacationing in paradise, for now, is too high. Kauai officials say the single-test scheme did not do enough to protect the people who live there. Visitor numbers have since increased with the testing program, but only to about a third of pre-pandemic levels. Travel “introduces a continuous stream of new infections,” said Dr. Janet Berreman, Kauai's officer for the state health department.

But the pandemic-induced tax drop-off is hitting Democratic and Republican states alike. Yet it's not just Democratic states asking for help amid plunging tax revenue, rising joblessness and a stuttering economy. “There is no more room for partisan positioning and political gamesmanship.”Alaska, Florida and Texas are among other Republican-led states where tax revenue has taken a hit. That group includes Alaska, North Dakota and Wyoming, all led by Republican governors and legislatures. The state’s economy has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has depressed demand for oil and led to a steep drop in tourism.

If approved, shots could begin within days for health care workers and people in nursing homes. Shots would then begin for health care workers and nursing home residents. ___CANBERRA, Australia — Australian researchers say they have abandoned development of a potential coronavirus vaccine because it produced false positive results on HIV tests. A health ministry statement says the government will first vaccinate health care workers, particularly those who deal with COVID-19 cases. ___HONOLULU — Hawaii expects to receive 80,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine in December for health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities.

HONOLULU – A couple were arrested at a Hawaii airport after traveling from the U.S. mainland despite knowing they were infected with COVID-19, authorities said. The couple took a COVID-19 test in Seattle after returning from abroad, police said, then received their positive results while flying between Seattle and San Francisco. “Officials notified the couple of positive test results and directed them to isolate.”But the two, who had a layover in San Francisco, decided to continue on to Hawaii over the weekend. “They knowingly boarded a flight aware of their positive COVID-19 test results, placing the passengers of the flight in danger of death,” Kauai police said. Effective Wednesday, all travelers to Kauai must spend 14 days in quarantine regardless of whether they obtain a negative COVID-19 test.

The economic package also includes $20 million in rental assistance and $15 million in utility payment assistance for those with low income. But he has not implemented a statewide mask mandate as coronavirus cases continue to surge across the state. ___PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon has reported a record number of coronavirus cases Friday, with hospitalizations at their highest since the pandemic began. The U.S. is now averaging more than 1,300 COVID-19 deaths per day — the highest since the calamitous spring in New York City. ___BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota has surpassed 70,000 confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Wednesday that his client, who is charged with illegally entering a Hawaii public park that was closed because of the coronavirus, will plead not guilty. The rural park offers a view of the famed Mokolii island, also known as Chinaman’s Hat for its cone shape. Adams told a police officer who cited him that he was visiting Hawaii to work with Gov. Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell had closed them at the time to try to prevent crowding that could spread the virus. It’s important that we all do the right things right now, even if we don’t feel we are personally at risk.”

We can’t take another hit.”___MIAMI - Florida has reported a slight uptick in daily confirmed COVID-19 cases, adding 3,449 to its total caseload on Friday. There were 3,861 new coronavirus cases reported in Wisconsin on Friday, breaking the previous record set just a day earlier of 3,747. The report, released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looks at coronavirus-associated deaths reported between May 1 and August 31. The deaths reported Friday include 10 women and eight men, all in their 60s or older. With 222 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, Spain’s total has reached 33,775.

A new pre-travel testing program will allow visitors who test negative for COVID-19 to come to Hawaii and avoid two weeks of mandatory quarantine goes into effect Thursday. “I need time to relax, unwind.”The new testing program is an effort to stem the devastating downturn the pandemic has had on Hawaii’s tourism-based economy. But gaps in the pre-travel testing program coupled with increasing cases of COVID-19 across the U.S. have raised questions about whether Hawaii is ready to safely welcome back vacationers. The $75 million program is being funded by federal CARES Act money and is aimed at stimulating the local economy. “This second test upon arrival to Hawaii island will provide an extra layer of protection for our community,” Kim said in a statement Monday.

Coronavirus weary residents and struggling business owners in Hawaii will be watching closely as tourists begin to return to the islands on Thursday without having to self-quarantine upon arrival. The new testing program is an effort to stem the devastating downturn the pandemic has had on Hawaii’s tourism-based economy. But gaps in the pre-travel testing program coupled with increasing cases of COVID-19 across the U.S. have raised questions about whether Hawaii is ready to safely welcome back vacationers. David Ige on Wednesday to talk about a new restaurant debit card that will give some unemployed Hawaii residents a $500 to spend at local restaurants over the next 60 days. “This second test upon arrival to Hawaii island will provide an extra layer of protection for our community," said Big Island Mayor Harry Kim in a statement Monday.

After a summer marked by a surge of coronavirus cases in Hawaii, officials plan to reboot the tourism based economy later this month despite concerns about the state's pre-travel testing program. But others view the pre-travel testing plan as the best way to add a layer of protection while kickstarting the economy. As part of the plan, Hawaii is partnering with several U.S. mainland pharmacies and airlines for testing. He has also proposed implementing a voluntary surveillance testing program that would screen a percentage of arriving passengers who are in high-risk groups. “In a perfect world, we wouldn’t reopen until we had a vaccine," said John DeFries, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2020 file photo Surgeon General Jerome Adams, appears before a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington. Adams was cited for being in a closed Hawaii park in August while in the islands helping with surge testing amid a spike in coronavirus cases, according to a criminal complaint filed in court. (Michael Reynolds/Pool via AP,File)HONOLULU – The U.S. surgeon general was cited for being in a closed Hawaii park in August while in the islands helping with surge testing amid a spike in coronavirus cases, according to a criminal complaint filed in court. “We do not have a comment at this time,” said Kate Migliaccio-Grabill, a spokeswoman for the Office of the Surgeon General said. David Ige's office said he wasn't immediately aware the Surgeon General was cited while he was here.

— Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to 860,000, a historically high figure that reflects economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak. Thirteen of the newly confirmed cases reported Friday were in the northern province of Shaanxi, whose capital Xi’an is a major industrial center. China has gone more than a month without reporting any cases of locally transmitted coronavirus cases within its borders. As of Thursday, Georgia is close to 301,000 confirmed virus cases, with 6,474 deaths from COVID-19. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new Utah coronavirus cases has increased about 54%.

David Ige said Wednesday that starting Oct. 15, travelers arriving from out of state may bypass a 14-day quarantine requirement if they test negative for COVID-19. Travelers will have to take the test within 72 hours before their flight arrives in the islands. Earlier this year Ige planned to start a pre-travel testing program on Aug. 1 only to have to postpone it as COVID-19 cases spiked on the U.S. mainland and in Hawaii. Hawaii leaders are hopeful that pre-travel testing will encourage people to return to a Hawaii in a way that keeps residents safe. “I want to emphasize that this pre-travel testing will allow us to add a greater element of safety for travel into our state,” Ige said at a news conference.

(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)NEW DELHI India has reported more than 67,000 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, raising the countrys number of reported infections to 3.2 million with 1.5 million reported infections coming this month alone. New reported infections dropped to around 61,000 on Monday and Tuesday, but picked up again in the past 24 hours. ___BEIJING China has suspended a flight from Abu Dhabi to Shanghai for a week after passengers on board tested positive for coronavirus. Oahu has seen a surge in daily positive cases. ___MELBOURNE, Australia Australias hard-hit Victoria state on Wednesday recorded one of its deadliest days of the pandemic despite new COVID-19 infections continuing to trend down.

The state has had few new COVID-19 cases in the past month. Arizona health officials reported 1,406 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 79 coronavirus-related deaths. ___MEXICO CITY Mexico has posted 6,717 newly confirmed coronavirus cases, increasing the countrys accumulated total to 469,407. The state health department says the virus hasnt stopped there were 1,265 newly diagnosed cases Friday. More than 128,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Louisiana, which has 4.6 million residents.

First-grade teacher Shannon Allen prepares a classroom at Aikahi Elementary School in Kailua, Hawaii, Tuesday, July 28, 2020. As a result, most schools in Hawaii will institute the hybrid approach being adopted in many parts of the country, with students alternating between attending in-person classes and online instruction. Some schools will have full face-to-face instruction for younger grade levels, but only a handful of schools will offer a full-time, in-person return. Schools in the only statewide public school system in the nation were scheduled to reopen on Aug. 4, but the teachers union led an effort to delay that. The union, Hawaii State Teachers Association, doesnt think the district has done sufficient planning for various scenarios, including what happens if someone gets sick or how to pivot to totally remote learning.

A worker puts reinforcements on boarded storefront windows in the Waikiki neighborhood of Honolulu, Saturday, July 25, 2020, as Hurricane Douglas approaches. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)HONOLULU Hawaii prepared for the onslaught of Hurricane Douglas on Sunday, with predictions of high winds, rain and storm surge. Douglas weakened Saturday to a Category 1 hurricane as it approached Hawaii, but officials warned people should not be lulled into complacency. We know that it is weakening as it approaches, but it still will have significant impact on each island, Hawaii Gov. President Donald Trump issued an emergency declaration for Hawaii because of the hurricane, directing federal assistance to supplement state and local response efforts.

Trump's persistent salesmanship about the prowess of testing in the United States is colliding with a far different reality for those affected by the explosion in coronavirus cases. We have the best testing in the world, the president insisted Tuesday. 'Whoever is responsible for testing shortfalls, the result is working against Trump's own goals to move beyond the virus and get the economy moving. In Pennsylvanias Allegheny County, which encompasses Pittsburgh and 1.2 million residents, health officials are trying to triage the demand for tests. This week U.S. health officials announced they would begin shipping rapid testing machines and kits to nursing homes in COVID-19 hot spots.

Trump's persistent salesmanship about the prowess of testing in the United States is colliding with a far different reality for those affected by the explosion in coronavirus cases. We have the best testing in the world, the president insisted Tuesday. 'Whoever is responsible for testing shortfalls, the result is working against Trump's own goals to move beyond the virus and get the economy moving. In Pennsylvanias Allegheny County, which encompasses Pittsburgh and 1.2 million residents, health officials are trying to triage the demand for tests. This week U.S. health officials announced they would begin shipping rapid testing machines and kits to nursing homes in COVID-19 hot spots.

(AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy, File)Indias number of coronavirus cases jumped by another 28,000 on Tuesday and are fast approaching 1 million. The 28,498 cases reported in the past 24 hours took the national total to 906,752. Eight of Indias 28 states, including the worst-hit Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and New Delhi, account for nearly 90% of cases. ___HERES WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK: The legions of small businesses that employee most of the world's workers are struggling; whether they survive will have reverberations in whole communities New York Gov. The rebels have acknowledged just four virus cases, leaving aid workers, local health officials and doctors to warn the outbreak was far worse than authorities would admit.

The city of Melbourne in Victoria recorded 270 new coronavirus infections overnight, with more than 4,000 cases now active across the state. India, which has the third-most cases, was rapidly nearing 1 million cases with a jump of more than 28,000 reported Tuesday. The ebb and flow of the pandemic has governments scrambling to quash fresh outbreaks while attempting to salvage economies from the devastation of long shutdowns and travel restrictions. Hawaiis governor pushed back by another month plans to waive a 14-day quarantine requirement for out-of-state travelers who test negative for COVID-19. He cited rising numbers of local cases, uncontrolled outbreaks in several U.S. mainland states and a shortage of testing supplies.

(AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)JOHANNESBURG South Africa has announced another record daily number of confirmed coronavirus cases with 9,064, as Africas most developed country shows signs of strain in coping with the pandemic. The African continent overall has more than 433,000 confirmed virus cases. Gavin Newsom is warning local elected officials that they risk losing state funding if they dont enforce health orders as the coronavirus pandemic worsens. The tribe reported 64 new confirmed coronavirus cases Friday and two more deaths. The holiday beach closures began Friday from Los Angeles County northward through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

India records the highest spike of more than 15,000 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, with Mumbai and New Delhi as the worst-hit cities in the country. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)NEW DELHI India has registered another record daily high in new virus cases as New Delhi emerged as its worst-hit city. Steve Sisolak says the state will begin mandating the use of face-coverings in public places in an effort to stem a rise in coronavirus cases four weeks after casinos, restaurants and other businesses started reopening. Nevada has reported more than 14,300 coronavirus cases and 494 deaths from COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic. Of the new cases reported Thursday, 13 were in Beijing and one in the neighboring province of Hebei.

In this June 7, 2020, photo provided by Norm Tabije, Angela Keen uses her home computer in Honolulu to do work for her Facebook group, Hawaii Quarantine Kapu Breakers. The group, using the Hawaiian word for laws or rules, focuses on tracking down people who violate Hawaii's 14-day quarantine on travelers arriving to the state. During the coronavirus pandemic, shes putting her skills to use finding tourists who defy Hawaii's mandatory two-week quarantine on arriving travelers. She said group members are told not to approach potential violators and not to profile people because they look like outsiders. Its been a challenge tracking down handfuls of quarantine violators.

Janet Mills thought she was doing the tourism industry a favor by providing an alternative to the 14-day quarantine. Visitors can skip the quarantine altogether if they can show theyve tested negative for the virus within 72 hours before arrival. Travelers to Alaska who are tested upon arrival are allowed to avoid further quarantine if they test negative. In Vermont, visitors can cut short the two-week quarantine if they get a test after a week that comes back negative. Visitors can avoid a quarantine by being tested before they arrive, or they can reduce the quarantines duration by being tested after arrival.

The coronavirus pandemic has taken out large sections of Hawaii's tourism-based economy, including the Chang family's turtle and dolphin snorkel tour business and their regular music gig in Waikiki. Roland Changs sister NJ compared the wreckage to the way the fire goddess lays waste when a volcano erupts and lava flows across the land. Their tour business may even have to close. I think there are a lot more questions than answers, Roland Chang said. Roland Chang said he supports these moves, given they are so important to protect the elderly who are more vulnerable to the disease.