FEMA plans to stop reimbursing the state for emergency housing in hotels after May 10 but the governor expects several hundred likely will be staying there through at least July 1.

Shoreline setbacks or a retreat from the water so far aren’t getting much traction under state and county planning efforts.

The council is mulling proposed tax increases to raise 10% more revenue from property taxes next year.

The lenders’ policies and an obscure thicket of state and federal regulation and law determine which homeowners will get interest on their sizable insurance payouts.

Although Hawaii has been picking up the tab since FEMA stopped reimbursing for food on Feb. 10, the state says saving money was not the reason for the cuts.

Maui County officials have said it will be at least several more months before they have a plan finalized.

An official estimate of how many people have left Maui since the destructive wildfire may not be available until next year. But it’s a lot, by most accounts.

The developer of the 89-unit project is the first to obtain building permits in the burn zone. Now the county and state are being asked to pick up the cost of what insurance didn’t cover.

Last month FEMA moved the Dadez family into a house with questionable water quality. Now the family is settled back into the government-sponsored condo they thought they had left for good.

The extra month of the feds picking up the tab will save the state a significant amount of money as lawmakers figure out next year’s budget.