Happy weekend, Hawaii! Spectrum News Hawaii is excited to launch a new weekly series, where we recap the top stories you may have missed throughout the week.
[Note: The stories below have been truncated, so please click on the links to read them in their entirety.]
This week’s big stories
1. Kilauea's 15th episode ends after some lava fountains reaching 1,000 feet high
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported the volcano began its 15th episode on Tuesday at 12:04 p.m., continuing the ongoing eruption. By Wednesday, lava fountains reached heights of 1,000 feet and higher. But later in the day, at 7:10 p.m., the eruption ended when fountaining stopped.
The current eruption, which began on Dec. 23, 2024, has already produced 14 episodes of lava fountaining, each separated by brief pauses in activity. These spectacular bursts of lava originate from two vents within the Halemaʻumaʻu crater: the north vent and the south vent.
On Wednesday at 10 a.m., the vents started to fountain. By 10:45 a.m., the tallest fountains from the south vent were 700 feet high with north vent fountains less than half as high. Later fountaining reached heights over 1,000 feet.
Fountain heights were higher in episode 15 than in previous episodes, continuing the pattern of fountain growth over time, according to the HVO.
2. AG coalition files motion to unfreeze FEMA funding
State attorney general Anne Lopez and a coalition of 22 other attorneys general filed a motion this week to compel the Trump administration to unfreeze Federal Emergency Management Agency funding necessary for the continued operation of a program that connects Maui wildfire survivors with disaster case managers.
The motion asserts that the funding disruption has negatively impacted the Hawaii Department of Human Services’ Disaster Case Management Program, which is funded by FEMA. According to the AG’s office, the program could be forced to discontinue service as early as April 4 if withheld funds are not released.
DCMP provides for wildfire survivors to receive assistance from specially trained disaster case managers to assess and address unmet disaster-related needs and create individualized disaster-recovery plans.
DCMP currently has 1,729 active cases, representing 4,431 individuals.
3. City reminds vehicle owners to renew their registrations on time
Of the more than 880,000 registered vehicles in the City and County of Honolulu, 39,452 of them have expired registrations. The city’s Division of Motor Vehicles reports that 71% of those expired registrations have remained un-renewed for at least five years.
DMV reminds vehicle owners to pay attention to their tags’ expiration date and renew them on time.
Courtesy renewal notices sent out to registered owners by DMV 45 days before a registration expires include four ways to renew a vehicle registration and provides a way to determine the cost of a registration renewal online.
“It’s important for vehicle owners to know that driving with an overdue registration is illegal and could result in a penalty,” said Kim Hashiro, director of the city’s Department of Customer Services, which administers DMV services in the City and County of Honolulu.
4. Itsuki Takemoto realizes 2-way destiny in Hawaii baseball win over UC Davis
It was, as Itsuki Takemoto put it, “pretty good.”
The sophomore from Japan was succinct to sum up a night like few others at Les Murakami Stadium as he put on a two-way clinic to guide the Hawaii baseball team to a 7-2 win over UC Davis on Saturday night.
“We won. That’s good,” Takemoto said, smiling and shrugging.
A sellout crowd of 3,157 (season-high 4,589 tickets issued) turned out for the rare Saturday Big West series opener and Takemoto did not disappoint in his second week in a row at the head of the rotation. UH (15-5, 4-3 Big West) took its third straight league game coming off a big series win over then-No. 15 UC Santa Barbara last weekend.
Click on the link above to read more about the game and see more photos.
5. Police charge Maui doctor who allegedly tried to kill his wife while hiking near the Pali
A Maui doctor who is accused of trying to kill his wife while hiking near the Nuuanu Pali Lookout was charged with attempted murder in the second degree and bail was set at $5 million, according to the Honolulu Police Department.
The Honolulu Police Department arrested Gerhardt Konig on Monday after an 8-hour search. HPD posted on X (formerly Twitter) that officers located the 46-year-old Maui resident near the Pali Highway Monday evening and apprehended him after a brief foot pursuit.
Police said the 46-year-old man was hiking with his wife on Monday morning when he allegedly tried to push her off the trail and struck her multiple times in the head with a rock. Along with the wife's statement, police said two witnesses called 911 and assisted in the investigation.
The 36-year-old wife, who was not identified, was transported to a hospital in serious condition around 10:30 a.m. Monday after she suffered head and facial injuries and said she was assaulted with closed fists and an object, according to the Honolulu Emergency Services Department.
Related: Maui doctor tried to use syringes on his wife while assaulting her on hiking trail, police say
6. Hawaii men's basketball attendance dwindles as program stands at crossroads
As the University of Hawaii athletics administration considers the direction of its men’s basketball program, one marker — general fan interest, quantified by attendance figures — has been tough to miss.
In that, UH has cause for pause.
Using tickets issued and turnstile figures as readily available metrics to cross-check with historic trends, it's apparent that the last three seasons have generated some of the least turnout for the Rainbow Warriors in non-COVID-19-impacted years since they moved from the Blaisdell Arena into the 10,300-seat Stan Sheriff Center in 1994.
UH averaged 5,140 tickets issued for its games in 2022-23, 4,796 in 2023-24 and 4,919 in the recently completed 2024-25 season. Prior to that stretch (and before the pandemic caused fans to be completely and then partially excluded for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons) the lowest at the Sheriff was 5,527 in 2018-19.
"I think it's important to understand that attendance is influenced by a variety of factors across all sports,” acting UH athletic director Lois Manin told Spectrum News in a statement when asked for comment about the UH basketball attendance trend. “For men’s basketball in particular, changes in conference scheduling has affected non-conference opportunities. There are more competing events and less available weekends. That said, we are working on ways to improve men’s basketball attendance in this changing landscape.”
