Good evening, Hawaii. Here are the main stories we've been following today:

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Today's Big Stories

1. Hawaii to receive $50M for water infrastructure upgrades

Hawaii will receive over $50 million from the Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water and clean water infrastructure upgrades. 

The funding, at least half of which will be made available in the form of grants or principal-forgiveness loans, comes as part of a $5.8 billion investment via the EPA’s Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, itself part of $50 billion in overall water infrastructure investment via the Biden administration’s Investing in America agenda.

EPA Pacific Southwest regional administrator Martha Guzman said the investment is based on the belief that “all people deserve the peace of mind that the water they drink, swim and bathe in, and use to feed their families is safe, readily available and clean.”

As the EPA noted in a release issued on Wednesday, many cities and towns across the United States have aging water infrastructure, including old, broken or lead pipes and wastewater treatment plants that need major upgrades.

2. Hawaii state and county officials seeking $1B from Legislature for Maui recovery

Hawaii state and county officials have requested about $1 billion from the Legislature to help cover Maui wildfire recovery expenses in the near term.

Gov. Josh Green's administration had budgeted $199 million for such expenses but are now expecting they may need $561 million under a “worst-case” scenario, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Wednesday.

The budget discussions come more than six months after the Aug. 8 wildfire killed 101 people, destroyed the historic town of Lahaina and rendered thousands of people homeless.

One major reason for the jump in expenses is the greater-than-expected costs for fire survivors deemed ineligible for federal assistance by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA pays 90% of the cost to house eligible survivors in hotels, and the state pays the remaining 10%. FEMA doesn't share costs for ineligible survivor households, of which there are 820.

People not eligible for FEMA assistance include undocumented immigrants, migrants from Compacts of Free Association states and some condominium owners.

The state has agreed to FEMA's ineligibility determination for only 29 households and is contesting the remainder.

At $1,000 day per household, 820 households are costing the state $820,000 a day, or $24.6 million a month.

Luis Salaveria, the director of the state Department of Budget and Finance, said actual expenses may be less because the state is challenging FEMA eligibility determinations.

3. At least 170 Hawaiian monk seals born at Papahānaumokuākea in 2023

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researchers documented 170 endangered Hawaiian monk seal pups born at the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in 2023.

Researchers conducted the count during a 28-day trip in August and September, according to a news release. 

During the trip, researchers also performed 27 seal interventions to improve their survival. This included moving 22 weaned Hawaiian monk seal pups from an area of Lalo (or French Frigate Shoals), where there was a risk of shark predation, to Tern Island.

Researchers also released five rehabilitated seals back into the wild at Lalo and Kuaihelani.

Every year, researchers conduct similar trips to tag and count monk seals. Researchers apply colored tags to the hind flippers of Hawaiian monk seals shortly after they wean from their mothers at a few weeks of age. 

Last year, researchers counted 180 new monk seal pups, but the smaller number may be because in 2023 there was a shortened field season. 

NOAA researchers estimated in 2022, the population size of Hawaiian monk seals was 1,605, rising above 1,600 for the first time in 20 years. 

Monk seal mother and pup on Hōlanikū (Kure Atoll). (Photo courtesy NOAA Fisheries/Sarah Glover - Permit #22677, PMNM-2023-001)
Monk seal mother and pup on Hōlanikū (Kure Atoll). (Photo courtesy NOAA Fisheries/Sarah Glover - Permit #22677, PMNM-2023-001)

4. 'Bash' win over UC Santa Barbara put spotlight on Hawaii women's basketball

In a broad sense, the game of women’s basketball is having a moment. Hawaii just had one of its own, too.

In front of the program’s largest home crowd in decades — more than 4,000 through the Stan Sheriff Center turnstiles — the Rainbow Wahine survived a challenge from UC Santa Barbara to win 68-64 Saturday night and remain atop the Big West standings.

The UH marketing department dubbed the night “Beeman’s Big Bash” for 12th-year coach Laura Beeman, and it lived up to the billing, with a packed lower bowl and a smattering of upper-level fans — an extremely rare sight for a stand-alone women's hoops game — lending a dramatic, weighty feel to the night.

Beeman said she was honored by the turnout and acknowledged afterward she absolutely felt the pressure to deliver in such a setting. She spent much of the game trying to keep it out of mind.

When her team survived for the win despite going the last five-plus minutes of the game without a field goal, Beeman took a microphone and thanked the fans for their time.

“The absolute moment where I let it hit me was after the victory, and just seeing the crowd,” Beeman said later. “That was just really special. This will definitely go down in my memory as a really cool night in my career here in Hawaii.”

Hawaii women's basketball coach Laura Beeman thanked fans for coming out to Saturday night's game against UC Santa Barbara at the Stan Sheriff Center. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)
Hawaii women's basketball coach Laura Beeman thanked fans for coming out to Saturday night's game against UC Santa Barbara at the Stan Sheriff Center. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

5. AT&T says service fully restored after early morning outage

AT&T said that it has fully restored wireless service to all of its customers after an outage on Thursday morning that disrupted phone service nationwide.

"We have restored wireless service to all our affected customers," AT&T said in a statement to Spectrum News. "We sincerely apologize to them. Keeping our customers connected remains our top priority, and we are taking steps to ensure our customers do not experience this again in the future."

Users of several major cellular carriers, including AT&TVerizon and T-Mobile, reported outages on Thursday morning, according to Downdetector, which tracks internet, communication and other service outages.

Per Downdetector, users began to report issues after 3:30 a.m. ET. Reports peaked at around 4:30-5:30 a.m. ET, depending on the carrier in question. The cause of the outage is not yet clear.

Areas reporting issues included New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston, Chicago and Atlanta. Some municipalities across the country also reported issues with contacting emergency services, including 911.

NOTE: Spectrum News is owned by parent company Charter Communications, which owns and operates Spectrum Mobile. 

Your Notes for Tomorrow

Friday, Feb. 23

  • Donald Trump delivers remarks at BCF Honors Gala
  • National Governors Association Winter Meeting
  • 5th anniversary of fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery
  • U.S. Supreme Court meets in private conference to discuss cases and vote on petitions for review
  • CPAC continues
  • U.N. Security Council briefing on Ukraine/ U.N. General Assembly discuss Ukraine

In Case You Missed It

Firefighters train with fire to prepare for more climate change-induced fires

U.S. Forest Service experts came to Hawaii last week to provide “ignition training” to 24 federal, state and county firefighters.

The training helps Hawaii wildland firefighters prepare for more frequent and ferocious fires that will come with climate change, according to a Department of Land and Natural Resources news release. 

The planned fire was conducted on former agricultural lands in south Kauai, which are covered in invasive grasses. Across Hawaii, invasive grasses cover 25% of lands and fuel fires, including the Lahaina wildfire.