Gov. David Ige didn’t budge Friday afternoon after U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) called for him to declare a state of emergency in response to Hawaii Island’s ongoing dengue fever outbreak.

On Tuesday morning, Paul O’Leary was making good time on one of his regular swims at Kehena Beach when he suddenly felt like he had caught his right foot on something under the water.

It wasn’t until the 54-year-old got out of the water that he learned he had become another statistic in an unusually grisly year for shark attacks in Hawaii.

As the June 27 lava flow continues its advance on populated areas in lower Puna, one question consistently pops up during community discussions on the subject: Is there anything we can do to stop or redirect nature’s fury?

It’s a question that must be approached from a wide variety of angles, experts say, and Civil Defense officials maintain that after taking all factors into account, diversion is not included in their response plan for the current threat.

Big Island forestry and invasive species experts have been warning for years that albizia trees are a major threat to residents’ safety and property.

Now, after seeing the devastation wrought by falling trees in the wake of Tropical Storm Iselle, they say they have irrefutable proof.

If the old adage “Practice makes perfect” holds true, then the union of the first same-sex couple to tie the knot Monday in Hilo is likely to be perfect indeed. The intimate wedding ceremony they observed in front of the State Office Building on Aupuni Street around 9:45 a.m. was a small one, but being the couple’s third time around, they didn’t feel the need to make a big affair out of it, said Linda “Souza” Kamalamalama de Souza.

On a geologic scale, the last three decades have been barely a blip on the radar against a backdrop of millions of years of earth- shattering, world-building events.

But in terms of the science of volcanology, the last three decades have supplied a veritable treasure trove of opportunities to further mankind’s understanding of the forces that help shape our planet.

The zip line tower collapse that claimed the life of construction worker Ted Callaway on Sept. 21 was “immediate and catastrophic,” according to a report by an independent engineering firm. And, it appears it may have been preventable.

The Oct. 10 report prepared by Hawaii Engineering Group Inc. was provided to the Tribune-Herald on Monday through an open records request. It was one of many documents included in the now-closed Hawaii Police Department investigation into the fatal accident.

One man was killed and a second was fighting for his life after a 30-foot zip line tower in Paukaa collapsed Wednesday.

Police did not give the names of the victims Wednesday afternoon, saying that family members had not yet been notified. They identified the man who was killed as a 36-year-old resident of Maui. The injured man, who was in critical condition at Hilo Medical Center, is a 35-year-old from Ohio.

Computer modeling by researchers at the University of Hawaii projects that debris from Japan’s tsunami will reach the Big Island in three to five years. 

The 9.0-magnitude earthquake March 11 triggered a massive wall of water that surged over coastal towns near Sendai, Japan. Homes, vehicles and even people were washed out to sea.