Brenda Carreira, the longest-serving Mass Transit administrator in more than a decade, is no longer at the helm of the troubled agency.

The Big Island is booming and home builders throughout the island are struggling to keep up with the demand.

Bolstered by rising property values, an increase in grants and more money left over than anticipated, Mayor Mitch Roth on Wednesday released a $609.1 million no-new-taxes budget, a 3.9% increase over this year.

A bare majority of County Council members remained unwilling Tuesday to take the unprecedented step of removing a sitting planning commissioner, and instead by a 5-4 vote deferred Mayor Mitch Roth’s request until August.

A kinder, gentler Mark Van Pernis made his appearance at April’s meeting of the Leeward Planning Commission, but he still had plenty of questions for applicants seeking to create or modify their developments.

Taxpayers in North Kona’s District 8 shoulder more of the property tax burden than County Council Districts 1-6 combined, as West Hawaii’s property values and concomitant taxes continue to grow with the area’s popularity.

A bill that cleared the Legislature on Tuesday would allow the state to extend leases on state lands by 40 years, a measure applauded by developers such as those for Prince Kuhio Plaza, but that would apparently not apply to federal leases such as held by the U.S. Army at Pohakuloa Training Area.

When Lt. Col. Kevin Cronin takes over as garrison commander of Pohakuloa Training Area in June, his tenure will include overseeing an environmental impact statement and negotiations for the Army to retain its lease of nearly 23,000 acres of state land in the saddle between Maunakea and Mauna Loa.

The Big Island’s vacation rental industry took a hit during the coronavirus pandemic, leaving county government unsure how it would pay for the extra staffers hired to process permits in the department.

The Hawaii County Council has chosen as its next county auditor an admitted introvert who owns property on the Big Island over a retiree with 30 years of experience.

An hour and a half of impassioned testimony extolling the importance of saving West Hawaii shoreline and preserving Hawaiian culture ended Tuesday with the County Council Finance Committee unanimously forwarding four prospective land purchases to the council for a final vote.

Hawaii County is preparing three major road resurfacing projects to meet the “shovel-ready” requirement of the American Jobs Plan.

Kona Councilwoman Rebecca Villegas is trying to get the ball rolling on purchases from the $18.4 million sitting in the county’s dedicated open space fund and she’s sponsored four resolutions to be considered Tuesday by the council Finance Committee.

About 65% of the county’s $590.8 million operating budget goes for salary and wages, a figure that could increase as government negotiators undertake what Human Resources Director William Brilhante calls “the perfect storm” of collective bargaining, with contracts for all 10 of the county’s bargaining units ending June 30.

The county’s finances are in a “precarious” position and the administration and County Council need to put aside “petty politics” and work together, Mayor Mitch Roth said Tuesday in his first budget presentation before the council’s Finance Committee.

It’s not a violation of the ethics code for a County Council member to serve as a reference for someone seeking a county job and then voting on that person’s confirmation, the Board of Ethics ruled Monday on a 3-1 vote.

It’s a week only number-crunchers truly love.

The County Council on Wednesday rejected a Mayor Mitch Roth appointee to the Leeward Planning Commission in what the mayor called “retaliation” over his attempt to have a commission member removed in an unrelated action.

Mark Van Pernis was called rude, crusty, insulting, confrontational and condescending, among other adjectives, during a grueling three-hour Tuesday evening session of a County Council panel that ended with a recommendation to not immediately remove him from the powerful Leeward Planning Commission.

As the county grapples with a pandemic economy, closure of the Hilo landfill and loss of overseas markets for recyclables, there are more general priorities than specific recommendations in a 395-page 10-year solid waste plan slated for consideration by the County Council.