It’s a stunning statement: Suicide is the leading cause of injury-related death in Hawaiʻi. Health officials report that an average of 190 people take their own lives each year. The reasons stem from depression, significant life changes and the trauma of abuse. Nearly a thousand other individuals survive a suicide attempt.

Climate Change: Is Hawaiʻi Prepared? Intense rain events inflicting extensive damage and record flooding; active hurricane seasons that keep residents on edge; coastal erosion imperiling highways and homes; extreme droughts that hurt agriculture and fuel dangerous wildfires – these are natural events that experts say are linked to climate change.

Should Hawaiʻi Increase Regulations on Vaping? More State lawmakers are viewing electronic cigarettes as a threat to public health, especially among youth and young adults.

In the midst of Hawaiʻi’s beauty, there is a dark side, hidden from plain view. It is a world in which children (legally defined as individuals under age 18) are trafficked for sex. Hawaiʻi was the last state in country to pass an anti-sex trafficking law.

Sex trafficking, a multi-million dollar international industry that uses the internet and the street trade to exploit women, is real in Hawaiʻi. A study indicates that a disproportionate number of victims are Native Hawaiian women.

Whatʻs the next step for the Stairs? The future of The Haʻikū Stairs has been fiercely debated for years.

TOP STORY   “Breaking Gender Norms” Students from McKinley High School on O‘ahu introduce us to their school’s quarterback, who happens to be a female. On August 19, 2017, McKinley sophomore Alexandria Buchanan became the first female varsity quarterback to start a game in Hawaiʻi.

Hawaiʻi health officials are sounding the alarm about what they see as a dangerous trend among local teenagers: Vaping – using Electronic Cigarettes. Studies show that 42% of high school students and 27% of middle school students statewide have tried e-cigarettes. The percentages are higher in Kauaʻi, Maui and Hawaiʻi counties.

Plans to prevent massive flooding in Waikīkī have been in the works for years, as worries mount over the threat of a major storm causing the Ala Wai Canal to overflow. Drawn up by the U.S.

TOP STORY:   Students from H.P. Baldwin High School on Maui introduce us to a Filipino immigrant who legally changed her name to Madame Donut.