KEALAKEKUA — Standing in front of their peers and a panel of community members, Jade Onaka, Van Petrovic and Naia Balancio faced a crowd that could have intimidated a Ph.D candidate defending their dissertation.

KAILUA-KONA — Fireworks have lit up the sky for years to celebrate Kealakehe High School’s graduating seniors, but changes made more than a year ago to the county’s fire code are putting an end to the festive tradition.

KOHALA COAST— At Pacific Islander Heritage Day, the demonstrations on display were as much about the future as they were about the traditions being shared Saturday.

KAILUA-KONA — The public and educators are invited to weigh in on draft standards for the state’s social studies coursework before the Department of Education seeks to implement them in the classroom.

HOOKENA — It’s never too early for students to discover their passions.

KAILUA-KONA — Several residents who spoke out on a draft environmental impact statement connected to a master plan at Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park said many of the document’s elements don’t pass muster.

KAILUA-KONA — More than two weeks after a deadline to submit bids for a surf school pilot program at Kahaluu Bay, local surf schools said they haven’t heard anything from either the county or the nonprofit picked to manage the program.

KAILUA-KONA — More than $9 million in fruit and nut exports from Hawaii could be affected by tariffs announced by China earlier this month.

KAILUA-KONA — For those without private transportation, a trip from Hilo to Kailua-Kona means more than three hours on a bus as it travels through Laupahoehoe and Honokaa then down through Waimea.

KAILUA-KONA — With more than 300 people in Hawaii County who are either blind or have low vision, a group of local volunteers is making sure residents know that vision impairment doesn’t mean an impaired lifestyle.

KAILUA-KONA — During her senior year at Kealakehe High School, Turfa Zaman came to the Big Island Teen Health Camp already knowing she wanted to be a nurse.

KAILUA-KONA — Area boaters are invited to take part in an effort to clean up the waters off Kona when Big Island Wave Riders Against Drugs presents “Scoop It: Marine Debris.”

KAILUA-KONA — As an aspiring cinematographer and photographer, 14-year-old Trystne Nozaki said her favorite part of making a film is when she’s behind the camera.

KAILUA BAY— When he was 8 years old, Kawika Kanuha Crivello found his family staring at a television, looking at a vision of the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hokulea underwater after the vessel capsized in the seas off Molokai.

KAILUA-KONA — “Jo, The Medicine Runner,” an upcoming film set in 1920s Kona, finds its inspiration in the region’s past as the story of a young half-white, half-Japanese man in the region’s coffeelands.

KAILUA-KONA — A 25-year-old man was hospitalized with injuries to his hand and leg Saturday morning after a shark attack in the waters near Kukio Beach, said the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

KAILUA-KONA — For the dozens who came to observe the Stations of the Cross at St. Michael the Archangel Church, it was an important reminder of living their faith.