Hawaii Tribune-Herald

When the last major home insurer announced last year that it would be leaving the Hawaii market by August of this year, homeowners in Lava Zones 1 and 2 discovered that their only other option for coverage, through the state-operated Hawaii Property Insurance Association, would cost several times their current rates.

It’s likely to be a slow spring for Big Island home sales as the market struggles to recover from 2023. According to multiple listing service data, 477 homes have been sold on the island this year as of the end of March, a 10% increase from the first three months of 2023.

Rory Inouye, a math teacher at Waiakea High School, has won a $25,000 national Milken Educator Award. Milken Educator Awards Founder Lowell Milken – alongside Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke and state Superintendent of Education Keith Hayashi – surprised Inouye this morning with the announcement in front of cheering students, proud colleagues, local dignitaries and news media.

“It’s very humbling.” That’s how Tracie Lopes, who shares kumu hula duties of Ka La ‘Onohi Mai O Ha‘eha‘e with her husband, Keawe Lopes, described her feelings early Sunday morning — shortly after learning their Oahu halau had just won back-to-back Merrie Monarch Festival group hula competitions.

The 61st Annual Merrie Monarch Festival shifted into high gear Wednesday night with the Ho‘ike, an exhibition of hula and folk dance from around the Pacific Rim at the Edith Kanaka‘ole Multi-Purpose Stadium in Hilo. As they have every year since 1997, Halau O Kekuhi was the first troupe to perform.

The Big Island will be abuzz Tuesday about a proposal to allow bees to be kept on residential and other properties. County Council Bill 144 would revamp how the county regulates apiaries and beehives, removing a swarm of prohibitions that beekeepers have long felt were needlessly constricting.

What has the Easter Bunny and eggs have to do with Easter? The return of Jesus after the crucifixion has little to do with bunnies and eggs. However, the concept of rebirth and resurrection was based on the pagan holiday of Eostra that celebrated new life and fertility. Early Christians connected the two events and thus we celebrate with joy rather than sorrow. The date palm is associated with the Easter holy week because the leaves of that palm were used to wave as Jesus rode into Jerusalem. In many Catholic countries, the leaves are now woven to create intricate art forms used during holy week.

The Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo has been named the top cultural festival in the United States by the readers of USA Today. A panel of travel experts assembled a list of 20 nominees nationwide. Readers voted for the top 10, and the Merrie Monarch prevailed, finishing No. 1 in the readers’ poll.

Cute faces mask a sad story as animal shelters in Hawaii County continue to take in dozens of mixed-breed puppies every month. In January, the staff at the Hawaii Island Humane Society’s Keaau shelter came to work to find a mother dog, Atta, in a shopping cart outside the shelter with seven puppies that were about one-week old.

Lawmakers and Hawaii residents alike appear to be vibing with a proposal to make the shaka the official state gesture of Hawaii. Senate Bill 3312 and its companion House Bill 2736 would establish the shaka as the first “state gesture” of the United States, in part as an effort to claim the familiar — and merchandisable — symbol for Hawaii before others get there first.