Kevin Dayton

3 days ago | civilbeat.org | Kevin Dayton

In addition to the TMT, proposed federal funding cuts threaten the world-class Keck and Gemini observatories, the solar telescope on Maui and UH’s Institute for Astronomy. Deep budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration would deal a major blow to several important observatories in Hawaiʻi, beyond pulling support for a future Thirty Meter Telescope, threatening the state’s status as a world-class hub for ground-based astronomy research and education.

1 week ago | civilbeat.org | Kevin Dayton

The National Science Foundation, which was supposed to provide much of the funding for TMT, opts to fund the Giant Magellan Telescope instead. The controversial Thirty Meter Telescope planned for the summit area of Mauna Kea has lost the critically important support of the National Science Foundation, which plans to direct major funding to the Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile instead of TMT.

1 week ago | civilbeat.org | Kevin Dayton

Hawaiʻi has some of the most restrictive firearms laws in the nation, but senators balked in the 11th hour at a ban on semiautomatic rifles and large-capacity magazines. Hawaiʻi lawmakers have passed an array of bills over the years to tighten the state’s firearms laws, considered among the strictest in the nation. In 1992, they banned sales of semiautomatic “assault pistols” such as the civilian version of the MAC-10.

1 week ago | civilbeat.org | Kevin Dayton

Ward’s seat has been vacant since the longtime East Honolulu lawmaker retired on March 31 due to illness. Gov. Josh Green on Wednesday appointed marketing and advertising executive Joe Gedeon to succeed longtime Republican Rep. Gene Ward to represent House District 18, which includes Portlock, Hawai‘i Kai and Kalama Valley. That House seat has been vacant since Ward retired on March 31. He died on April 4 at age 82.

1 week ago | newsfromthestates.com | Kevin Dayton

Two more prisoners at Hālawa Correctional Facility died in the past two months in what are believed to be the fourth and fifth suicides there since last summer, making the state’s largest prison a disturbing anomaly nationally that experts blame on longstanding operational flaws. The most recent, on April 12 and May 17, were reported weeks before two outside experts are scheduled to arrive in Hawaiʻi to scrutinize the mental health services provided in the state’s correctional facilities.