A federal lawsuit claiming police brutality and failure to accommodate under the Americans with Disabilities Act appears headed for settlement by the County Council.

The land slated for a university village around Hawaii Community College — Palamanui has changed hands, but development of the massive project isn’t expected to change much under new ownership.

A “boiled down” request for an audit of county affordable housing credits got the nod Tuesday from the County Council Finance Committee after concerns were raised earlier this month about possibly impeding a federal criminal investigation.

Property taxes should take a slightly smaller bite from older property owners and those with lower-valued homes starting this time next year, thanks to a bill unanimously passed Wednesday by the County Council.

Constitutional questions around suspension of electronic media coverage and what constitutes a civil disturbance had a County Council panel on Tuesday postpone a sweeping emergency management bill so it could be clarified.

With just three months before they’re required by the county charter to present a report to the County Council and mayor, some members of the Cost of Government Commission reported Thursday they’re having a hard time drumming up interest from some county departments and boards and commissions.

A bill proposed by North Kona Councilman Holeka Inaba aims to address a common complaint among West Hawaii residents that developers’ rezoning applications, once approved, get numerous time extensions without regard to how conditions and infrastructure may have changed in the intervening five, 10 or even 25 years.

With an estimated 90% of votes counted, Naalehu cattle rancher Michelle Galimba appears to have come out on top of a four-way County Council District 6 race, rounding up 54.27% of the votes, enough to win the race outright against contenders Colehour Bondera, Shane Palacat-Nelson and Henry “Bo” Cho III.

A steady stream of voters came to the West Hawaii Civic Center, where a few voting options were provided to people for Saturday’s primary election.

Eight more old buses will soon be on their way to the Big Island, with the County Council set to accept the donation of used buses from the City and County of Honolulu.

A bill is in the works to strengthen and align local emergency powers more closely to those of the state during declared emergencies.

Hawaii County has hired a consultant to troubleshoot its building permit process in hopes of streamlining a critical government function analysts have called the most cumbersome in the nation.

With about a week left to vote on national, state and local races, a little more than 11% of the 112,630 Hawaii Island ballots mailed out have already been returned, and 19% of the 739,000 mailed ballots statewide, according to election officials.

After being provided the data they requested, County Council members Wednesday were feeling a little more friendly toward the Friendly Place homeless shelter and approved extending its $10-a-year no-bid lease for up to four more years.

With Chairwoman Maile David term-limited, the nonpartisan County Council District 6 seat is up for grabs, and four candidates have set their sights on filling it.

The County Council agrees the county needs to take a closer look at how it dispenses credits for building affordable housing, but members of the Finance Committee who were present Tuesday were unsure the timing was right to undertake a wide-ranging audit.

County Council District 9 became an open seat this year when Kohala Councilman Tim Richards vacated after his third term in order to run for an empty Senate seat, and three candidates are vying for the position.

There are two candidates on the ballot for the vacant District 4 state Senate seat, but they’re not running against each other. At least, not yet.

There’s a new House district in town, and four candidates have lined up to compete for it.