Hawaii County taxpayers are expected to save tens of millions of dollars on downsized plans for sewer treatment systems in Naalehu and Pahala.

Amid a growing corruption scandal, North Kona Councilman Holeka Inaba believes the county’s use of affordable housing credits deserves a deeper look, and he’s sponsored a resolution asking the county auditor to do just that.

Coronavirus pandemic protocols, a bribery scandal and debate over a bill to make fundraisers illegal during the legislative session all combined this year to keep Big Island lawmakers from holding the Honolulu fundraisers that historically added big boosts to their reelection campaigns.

A group of owners of homes surrounding a North Kona rock-crushing operation now have standing in a future contested case hearing over whether the work being done there exceeds what was allowed by a permit application that was subsequently withdrawn by the applicant.

A new contraceptive to control feral pig populations is raising the hackles of hunters and cultural practitioners, who’re demanding the product HogStop be banned in the islands until more is known about it.

A skeptical council Finance Committee on Tuesday advanced a no-bid $10 a year lease for a homeless shelter in Kona’s Old Industrial Area after officials with the county Housing Office and the nonprofit holding the contract assured council members they would provide more details about the program at the final reading of the measure Aug. 3.

The county Housing Office and representatives of an island nonprofit are being asked to justify programs at a Kailua-Kona homeless shelter after several West Hawaii council members balked at extending a lease arrangement for up to five more years.

A former employee of the county Office of Housing and Community Development is set to enter a plea Monday in federal court on charges he took almost $2 million in bribes and kickbacks to influence affordable housing projects in West Hawaii.

The Planning Department is recommending the county approve a five-year extension for a rezoning and special management area permit for a 65-lot single-family home development on 11 acres in Kapalaalaea, North Kona, that expired in February 2019.

Sunscreens containing any active ingredient other than titanium dioxide and zinc oxide will be banned from sale on Hawaii Island starting Dec. 1, under a bill Mayor Mitch Roth let become law Friday without his signature.

Hawaii County hasn’t had a chief election officer since longtime Elections Division Administrator Pat Nakamoto retired Dec. 31.

A proposed charter amendment creating a Building Department will not appear on the November ballot, after the County Council last week killed the measure.

A County Council majority Wednesday overturned Mayor Mitch Roth’s veto of a bill governing the allowable uses of money from the affordable housing fund, after a debate between the council and administration about whether adding more uses to the list limits or broadens the program.

The county housing agency is awash with money, and the County Council wants to know how it’s being spent.

Improvements at Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden top the list of awards to nonprofits the administration is recommending for the use of property tax funds earmarked for the county Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Commission.

Hawaii County continues to enforce its prohibition against short-term vacation rentals in the state agricultural district despite a Kona judge’s ruling that the state doesn’t disallow that use as the county has claimed.

Water customers should expect a double whammy on their bills starting Friday, when planned consumption and standby charge increases coincide with an increase in the fluctuating power purchase charge.

There’s good news for North Kona residents worrying about the area’s drinking water supply — water restrictions could be eased as early as the end of this week.