{"id":769723,"date":"2026-05-03T04:58:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T04:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/769723\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T04:58:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T04:58:42","slug":"news-briefs-for-may-1-appliance-replacement-festival-winners-and-more-big-island-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/769723\/","title":{"rendered":"News briefs for May 1: Appliance replacement, festival winners and more : Big Island Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\"\"<\/a>Courtesy Photo<\/p>\n

Reduced price, energy-efficient appliances available for residents impacted by kona lows<\/p>\n

Hawai\u02bbi Energy<\/a><\/strong>, the state\u2019s energy conservation program, is launching an Appliance Replacement Program to help residents impacted by the recent kona low storms replace damaged household appliances with new energy-efficient models.<\/p>\n

The program, offered in partnership with PHAD Home Appliance<\/a><\/strong>, provides eligible households with access to Energy Star certified refrigerators, freezers, washers and dryers at a significantly reduced cost.<\/p>\n

Eligible residents can purchase appliances for a co-pay of $250 per unit, with a larger refrigerator model available for $450. There is no minimum purchase requirement, though households are limited to one of each appliance type.<\/p>\n

Applicants must be residential customers of Hawaiian Electric in Hawai\u02bbi Energy\u2019s service areas, including O\u02bbahu, Maui County and Hawai\u02bbi Island, and demonstrate a need for appliance replacement because of storm-related impacts. More information is available at the Hawai\u2018i Energy website<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

* * * * * * * * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>U.S. Rep. Ed Case (File Courtesy Image)<\/p>\n

Case opposes fiscal year 2026-27 agriculture\/rural development funding measure<\/p>\n

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/b>ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/b><\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Ed Case, a Hawai\u2018i Democrat, voted against the majority of his colleagues in the U.S. House Appropriations Committee on the fiscal year 2026-27 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies funding measure<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The $204 billion bill \u2014 most of which is mandatory spending through national farm support and other programs \u2014 covers most of the federal government\u2019s efforts for U.S. agriculture and rural development through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and related agencies for the the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cI opposed this bill because it slashes funds for the [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP] program, which has already seen more than 6,700 people in Hawai\u2018i lose critical food assistance following enactment of the president\u2019s budget reconciliation bill, which I opposed last year,\u201d said Case in a release. \u201cThe FY 2027 funding bill also decimates the Commodity Supplemental Food Program and fails to fund the McGovernDole international emergency food assistance program.\u201d<\/p>\n

* * * * * * * * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Courtesy Photo<\/p>\n

Big Island Chocolate Festival names 2026 winners<\/p>\n

Three Hawai\u2018i college culinary teams were awarded scholarships sponsored by King\u2019s Hawaiian during the 2026 Big Island Chocolate Festival. People\u02bbs Choice Awards, Best Cacao Bean and Best Bean to Bar winners also were announced.<\/p>\n

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/b><\/p>\n

A total of 22 college students participated in the annual college culinary competition during the 3-day 13th annual festival presented by Kona Cacao Association.<\/p>\n

Taking first place with a $2,500 scholarship was Hawkins Ko and Chase Ignacio of Kapi\u02bbolani Community College, followed by Rhiannah Ulit and Ralf Bartolome of Leeward Community College with a second place $1,500 award and Eden Chung and Daniel Tada of Kapi\u02bbolani Community College with a third place $1,000 award.<\/p>\n

People\u2019s Choice Award winners were Fairmont Orchid for Best Savory, OUTRIGGER Kona Resort and Spa for Best Sweet and Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection for Best Decorated Booth. Best Cacao Bean was won by Martin Mazzanti of Ocean Grace Farms in Kala\u02bboa-Kona. Best Bean to Bar winners were Four Seasons Resort chefs Bruce Trouyet and Maria de los Milagros Miceli, who won first place. Ken and Connie Melrose of Primavera Farm in Kealakekua earned second, while executive pastry chef Daniel Sampson of Fairmont Orchid won third.<\/p>\n

* * * * * * * * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Courtesy Photo: Maui Now<\/p>\n

State film commissioner retires after 25 years<\/p>\n

Hawai\u2018i State Film Commissioner Donne Dawson retired, effective Thursday, April 30, from the Hawai\u2018i Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism after 25 years of managing the Hawai\u2018i Film Office and the state\u2019s film program.<\/p>\n

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/b><\/p>\n

State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism Director James Kunane Tokioka said Dawson played a key role throughout her tenure in strengthening Hawai\u2018i\u2019s reputation as a premier filming destination and supporting the growth of the local film workforce. She leaves behind a valuable foundation that will continue to benefit the industry.<\/p>\n

The department\u2019s Creative Industries Division leadership, Tax Credit Unit and Hawai\u2018i Film Office staff, effective Friday, May 1, will provide continuation of all services with no interruptions. Recruitment of a new Hawai\u02bbi Film Industry Development manager will begin shortly.<\/p>\n

* * * * * * * * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Courtesy Photo: Hawai\u02bbi Department of the Attorney General<\/p>\n

Hawai\u2018i Attorney General warns public of person impersonating state official<\/p>\n

Hawai\u2018i Department of the Attorney General alerts the public about a person falsely claiming to be the state\u2019s chief technology officer at national conferences and on online platforms.<\/p>\n

The department was notified that Iqbal Khowaja presented himself as \u201cCTO of the state of Hawai\u2018i\u201d at the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas and made similar claims in prior conference appearances and on social media profiles.<\/p>\n

Khowaja is not affiliated with the state and is not authorized to represent any state agency. Appropriate action is being taken to notify event organizers of the impersonator.<\/p>\n

Anyone who thinks they were targeted by this impersonator is encouraged to report the incident to local law enforcement or Hawai\u2018i Department of the Attorney General at HawaiiAG@hawaii.gov<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Courtesy Photo Reduced price, energy-efficient appliances available for residents impacted by kona lows Hawai\u02bbi Energy, the state\u2019s energy…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":769724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[315610,315611,315612,14887,14888,315613,746,315614,315615,48176,315616,315260,315617,315618,315619,159,315620,315621,67,132,68,315622],"class_list":{"0":"post-769723","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-2026-winners-named","9":"tag-appliance-replacement-program","10":"tag-big-island-chocolate-festival","11":"tag-big-island-news","12":"tag-big-island-now","13":"tag-donne-dawson","14":"tag-environment","15":"tag-hawaii-department-of-the-attorney-general","16":"tag-hawaii-energy","17":"tag-hawaii-news","18":"tag-iqbal-khowaja","19":"tag-may-1","20":"tag-news-briefs","21":"tag-opposes-2026-27-agriculture-rural-development-funding-measure","22":"tag-residents-impacted-by-recent-kona-lows","23":"tag-science","24":"tag-state-film-commissioner-retires","25":"tag-u-s-rep-ed-case","26":"tag-united-states","27":"tag-unitedstates","28":"tag-us","29":"tag-warns-public-about-person-impersonating-state-official"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=769723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/769724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=769723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=769723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=769723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}