Hawaii Grown

Stemming The Tide

Offshore, from Honolulu Civil Beat & PRX, is a new immersive storytelling podcast about a Hawaii most tourists never see.

Offshore Podcast

The Kealoha Trial

Are We Doomed?! And other burning environmental questions

We explore two proposals that would make housing more affordable for farm owners and workers.

Two Ideas To Fast Track More Farmer Housing

When the invasive avocado pest was first spotted in Hawaii, farmers were worried. But collaboration provided a path forward, and can help combat other threats.

Lessons from Hawaii’s Successful Battle With The Avocado Lace Bug

About 70 percent of Hawaii's crops require pollination, so local food production can't expand without a healthy bee population.

Three Ideas To Combat Threats To Hawaii's Bees

A group of farmers, entrepreneurs and researchers came together during the pandemic to find a solution to reduce the price of imported feed and, hopefully, make Hawaii's meat and poultry industries more resilient.

What To Feed Animals During A Pandemic? Pigs And Chickens Are Pickier Than You Think

A billionaire’s investment in the state’s biggest slaughterhouses and a shift to more grass-fed operations could help ranchers keep their cattle in the islands after years of sending them to the mainland.

Hawaii Is Beefing Up Its Potential To Produce More Meat Locally

Healthy soil is not just good for Hawaii’s farmers, but it can also help the state combat climate change. In more ways than one.

The Surprising Way Soil Can Combat Climate Change

Axis deer were introduced to Hawaii more than 100 years ago and, ever since, they have become a plague on Hawaii's environment and food system. 

While many have spoken about eradicating the animals from the island, they have become part of the food system for hunters. Consciously or not, hunters have become part of the solution to the problem. 

Follow father-son duo Hunter and Fisher Betts as they hunt for deer on Maui.

How Bullets And Arrows Are Battling Climate Change

Seaweed, macroalgae, kelp - there are many different names for the plants of the ocean but in Hawaii, it’s known as limu. In this episode we explore how limu, in all its variety, is helping scientists monitor environmental changes in the ocean and on land.

What Seaweed Can Tell Us About Our Environment

A 911 caller from Lahaina asks if she is supposed to evacuate. The Maui dispatcher tells her if she feels unsafe, she should leave.

Photo: Dare County, N. Carolina

911 Call Audio: "Am I supposed to evacuate or something?"

Several 911 callers reported being stuck in standstill traffic. Dispatchers repeatedly told them to be patient. It was not clear whether dispatchers passed the information along to police.

Photo: Philadelphia, PA

911 Call Audio: "Be patient, OK?"

Maui's 911 dispatchers were unable to promise that help was on the way. Firefighters and police were stretched too thin.

Photo: Philadelphia, PA

911 call audio: "We are trying, sir."

The 911 call from Kuni's Restaurant where Sgt. Darren Cachola was caught on tape allegedly striking his girlfriend. 

Kuni's Restaurant 911 Call/Cachola Incident

Civil Beat columnist Denby Fawcett talks about her recent — and controversial — column about a tour of Honolulu's WWII-era red light district.

Pod Squad: Ep26 - Honolulu Chinatown's Brothel History

JoJo Peter is a disabled Micronesian in Hawaii. Those misunderstood labels have given him a powerful position to bring about positive change.

The Micronesians: ‘That’s JoJo — He’s Different’

Oahu physician Sheldon Riklon is an inspiration for Micronesians and an epiphany for others.

The Micronesians: Yes, You Can Be A Micronesian And A Doctor

A reporter discovers an unusual homeless camp in Waianae -- and learns a lot about herself in the process.

The Harbor: ‘What The Hell Have I Gotten Myself Into?’

In this podcast, former school teacher Beau Ewan tells a wry story about his struggle to make ends meet in Hawaii.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go: Beau Ewan

Offshore is a new podcast from Honolulu Civil Beat and PRX

Offshore

Offshore Podcast Coming Soon

Offshore, from Honolulu Civil Beat & PRX, tells true stories from Hawaii. Season 1, A Killing in Waikiki, tells the complex racial and identity connections between two prominent killings decades apart. The episodes go beyond the popular images of the islands to tell nuanced tales of nationhood.

OFFSHORE

Episode 1: The Death of Kollin Elderts

Reporter Jessica Terrell introduces the deadly events of Nov. 5, 2011 when federal agent Christopher Deedy shot and killed Kollin Elderts, a Native Hawaiian man, in a McDonald's. This story is tinged with historic suspicions around race, nationality and the presence of the U.S. government in Hawaii. It's similar to current racial tensions around law enforcement and people of color on the mainland. But the Deedy/Elderts case also carries echoes of a similar story going back to the eve of WWII.

Episode 2: Two Lives Collide

Hawaii is the only state where whites have always been in the minority. There is this idea that people in Hawaii are racist against white people, that they hate the federal government. So, with a huge diplomatic summit taking place in Honolulu, tensions were high the week that Christopher Deedy shot and killed Kollin Elderts. Blocks away from the McDonald’s where their fatal confrontation took place, tanks had taken over a local park and protesters were out on the streets. There was a reason Deedy and dozens of federal agents were in town. And there were a lot of people who wanted them out.

Episode 3: The White Minority

A reckless socialite with ties to America’s most powerful families. A young Native Hawaiian accused of a crime he didn’t commit. A ruling elite willing to protect whites at any cost. So begins the Massie Case, an 84-year-old murder case that says a lot about Hawaii society in the 1930s and today. And it’s one of the reasons that some Hawaiians were convinced — even before Special Agent Christopher Deedy’s trial began — that he would never be punished for Kollin Elderts’ death.

Episode 4: A Sinister Past

In even the most high profile criminal cases, there comes a point where the world moves on. But for the families of both the victims and the shooters, nothing is ever really normal again. Not even decades later.

Episode 8 - Never the Same

Hawaii has spent five years and hundreds of thousands of dollars prosecuting Special Agent Christopher Deedy for killing Kollin Elderts in 2011. Are we any closer to figuring out what justice means in this case? As season one of Offshore draws to a close, it’s time for some answers.

Episode 9: Answers

Is there something that Hawaii can teach the mainland? Something people of all races have learned from living together in such an isolated place? In the last episode of Season One, people from Hawaii tell personal stories about race relations and how to treat each other with aloha.

Episode 10: Embracing Differences

We're hard at work on season 3 of Offshore!  In the meantime here is our first "Offshore Postcard" - stand alone episodes that start in Hawaii and the Pacific rim but reflect issues the resonate far beyond our islands home.  In this episode reporter Paola Mardo dives into the history of America’s fascination with all things Tiki.

Offshore Postcard: The Tiki Bar

Hawaii’s false nuclear alarm scare sends Offshore reporters on a trip back in time to 1962, when Hawaii had a very different kind of brush with nuclear weapons. A time when nuclear power was not just feared, but celebrated.

Offshore Postcard: Nuclear Party

Hawaiian Paradise Park resident, Debbi Muncey, recorded this audio of a rooster farm next door to her home.

Rooster crowing audio - Puna, Big Island, Hawaii

In Hawaii, scientists have discovered a rare, rapid evolutionary change in the sound of the Pacific field cricket's long-distance call and courtship song. 

The first and second tracks display the cricket's newly evolved courtship song, which scientists liken to a cat's purr. Others compare the atonal noise to the clink of a typewriter. 

The third and fourth tracks are examples of the animal's newly evolved long-distance call.

The fifth and sixth tracks are recordings of the cricket's typical courtship song — a long, trilling chirp followed by a series of pulses.

The seventh and eighth tracks are examples of the cricket's typical long-term call.

Pacific field cricket (Courtship Typical)

Pacific field cricket (Calling Purring)

Pacific field cricket (Courtship Purring)

The largest police corruption trial in Hawaii is finally starting. Civil Beat editor Patti Epler and reporters Nick Grube and Yoohyun Jung discuss our coverage of the federal investigation that has taken five years and what to expect as the trial plays out over the next few weeks.

Covering the Kealoha Trial

Opening Statements

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is one of the most remote places on Earth. Now, it’s threatened by climate change, pollution and politics.

Our Journey To The Last Wild Place

How Did The Defense Do?

What Kind Of Sentences Could The Defendants Face?

How To Prove Conspiracy

After Faith Tanikawa’s first grandchild was born, she started seeing signs of imminent doom in every climate change headline. 

Civil Beat follows Tanikawa as she learns about the many ways people living in Hawaii can help turn the tide against climate change, and meet other islanders who all saw the same doom-and-gloom headlines and jumped into action in their own way.

What can I do if I’m freaking out about climate change?

Emily Silva teaches swimming, snorkeling and kayaking in Maui so she’s outside all day every day. While an effective sunscreen is vital to her health, her livelihood depends on the health of reefs around Maui.

She asked Civil Beat how she can tell if a sunscreen will hurt marine life or not, and we dug into the research, analyzed our own bad purchases and met some women leading the charge to educate Hawaii — and the world — about reef preservation.

How do I know if my sunscreen is safe for reefs?

It's pretty easy to find out where you should drop off your recyclables, but it's less clear what happens to them next. Civil Beat dives into the world of reuse to find out why we don’t have a recycling plant on-island.

Where do Hawaii’s recyclables go?

Oahu's waste-to-power facility has a hidden carbon cost, but is it better than shipping all our recyclables off-island? Civil Beat runs the numbers.

Recycle or Burn: What's The Carbon Impact of Honolulu's Trash?

Hawaii is known for its iconic surf spots, but the islands' favorite past time is facing a myriad of changes in the face of climate change.

How Will Surfing Be Affected By Climate Change?

Civil Beat answers listener-submitted questions about jellyfish invasions, carbon offset scams, Zika outbreaks and an inter-island ferry system.

Assessing Hawaii’s Zika Risk, Avoiding Carbon Offset Scams And More Listener Questions

The USS Arizona and USS Utah have leaked thousands of gallons of oil since the 1941 attack and there are no plans to stop the flow anytime soon. But the issue goes beyond just two battleships.

What's The Impact of Oil Leaking Into Pearl Harbor?

Civil Beat digs into Hawaii's recycling data and to explain what the numbers mean for Hawaii residents looking to be environmentally friendly with their waste.

Where in the World Do We Send Our Recycling?

Race relations in Hawaii are different than many other places in the country, but that doesn’t mean that racism hasn’t affected the health of communities of color

Is There Environmental Racism In Hawaii?

What Will It Take For Hawaii To Grow More Of Its Own Food?

The agriculture park program was set up with the agriculture economy, not local food, in mind. But one nonprofit is flipping that around.

This Kauai Nonprofit Has A Plan For Creating More Demand For Local Food

Honolulu Civil Beat is non-profit news organization dedicated to cultivating an informed body of citizens, all striving to make Hawaii a better place to live. We achieve this through investigative and watchdog journalism, in-depth enterprise reporting, analysis and commentary that gives readers a broad view on issues of importance to our community. Check us out at civilbeat.org

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