News from March 2022


Grab a cup and join Ka‘u Coffee Festival online events

You won’t get your morning caffeine from your computer, but the Ka’u Coffee Festival will bring coffee-themed events online this April.


'It is wrong to restrict freedoms.' Kahele responds to Texas governor’s call for citizens to report parents of transgender kids for abuse

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently called on “licensed professionals” and “members of the general public” to report the parents of transgender minors to state authorities if it appears the minors are receiving gender-affirming medical care, ruffling the feathers of a Hawaiian political leader.


'This new funding will go directly to our priorities.' Schatz secures millions in federal funding

Earmarks are back, and one of Hawaii’s elected representatives is taking advantage of them to make sure the state gets its piece of the funding pie.


Events coming up this week on the Big Island

On Wednesday, March 16, Halai Healing Place allows you to nurture your inner healer in its Introductory Level II Reiki Workshop.


Hawaii County COVID-19 cases averaged 18 per day over past week

New COVID-19 cases in Hawaii County were down 66% over the past two weeks, with the average number of daily cases over the past week reaching 18, according to data from the state’s Department of Health.


'We've worked hard to protect our community': Ige drops COVID-19 Hawaiian entry requirements

As the world watches the number of new cases of COVID-19 fall off, Hawaii has decided it will lift its strict COVID-19 entry requirements on March 26.


Vulcans lose to top-seeded Cougars in men's conference quarterfinals, 87-72

The Azusa Pacific Cougars, the top seed going in, knocked the UH Hilo men's basketball team from the PacWest Conference tournament, 87-72.


Art U outlasts Vulcans in PacWest quarterfinals

The UH Hilo women's basketball team fell to Academy of Art University, 59-54, in the Pacific West Conference quarterfinals at the Special Events Center.


Hawaii to drop mask mandate: 'Milestone many have been waiting for'

Hawaii, the last state to join the union, is now the last state to remove its face-covering rules with the COVID-19 pandemic seeming to be winding down.


Vulcans baseball rides 5-game win streak into Concordia

It took extra innings in one case, but the UH Hilo baseball team kept its winning streak alive with a second doubleheader sweep of the visiting Holy Names Hawks on Thursday.


Texas A&M, Hokkaido researchers detect how SARS-CoV-2 virus blocks body's immune response

Understanding the mechanism of how the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the virus responsible for COVID-19, evades the body's natural immune system is key to devising targeted therapies to stop the virus.


Emogene Pacheco

Emogene Pacheco - April 13, 1927 - February 21, 2022


Pedro D. Haspe

Pedro D. Haspe - November 13, 1923 - February 14, 2022


Misa Jade Kaneshiro

Misa Jade Kaneshiro - June 22, 1923 - February 1, 2022


Sharon Lynn Daluson

Sharon Lynn Daluson - May 13, 1943 - February 12, 2022


Loretta R. Tagavilla

Loretta R. Tagavilla - March 3, 2022


Vulcans sweep doubleheader against Hawks

It’s not unusual to win two games in different ways, and that’s what the University of Hawaii Hilo Vulcans did as the baseball team hosted and swept a twin bill against the Holy Names Hawks March 9, the school’s website reported.



Kahele and others: It's a 'moral obligation' to recognize same-sex marriages under Veteran Affairs' guiding statute

A trio of lawmakers are now pushing legislation that formally recognizes LGBTQ+ Americans and same-sex couples under Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) marriage law for spouses or surviving spouses of veterans.


Kahele demonstrates 'long-term commitment to our armed forces' by passing health care bill for toxic-exposed veterans

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill that would expand health care eligibility for veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other toxins during their service in Iraq and Afghanistan.