By Stefan Verbano Inside garden hoses, along the walls of rain catchment tanks, between the folds of lettuce leaves, the slugs and snails slither. Although they look just like their harmless mainland cousins, these Hawaiian gastropods harbor a strange and…

By Stefan Verbano Every other day, the big four-engine seaplanes would roar over Johnson Lum’s grandfather’s home on the main Fiji island of Viti Levu. The Sunderland Flying Boats were on rescue and reconnaissance missions over vast, isolated stretches of…

By Stefan Verbano “One wave will change your life.” This is the motto of big wave surfer Mikey “Redd” O’Shaughnessy, who throughout his 29 years of life in Hawai‘i has seen those words play out in the best and worst…

By Stefan Verbano Students at Mālamalama Waldorf School in Kea‘au will ring in the Makahiki season a little differently this year. Gone will be the crowds of spectators, the buffet tables groaning under the weight of steaming pots of taro…

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Editor’s Note: Our local agriculture feature story was originally planned to cover the production of Hawai‘i’s legal cannabis crop. However, due to circumstances beyond our control, we were unable to pursue it. Instead, here is an overview and history of…

By Stefan Verbano Every footstep crunches on the way to the summit. A strange, brittle ash coats the land, heaped in golden hills in some places; in others cut away by rivulets of erosion from three years of tropical rainstorms.…

By Stefan Verbano Long ago — before the chirp of coqui frogs, before the buzz of mosquitoes, before the scuttle of mongooses—Hawai‘i Islandʻs mountain forests rang out with a different sound. Shrill and piercing, these shrieks rose above the understory…

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Combinations are possible to be adopted to different applications like boring, facing, outer diameter turning, chamfering. Couplings are available as VDI, ISO-PSC, DIN, KM and HSK shank.

By Stefan Verbano Kornelius Schorle deals in postcards from the past. Peering through his camera lens, working with the care and patience of a master craftsman, he has preserved forever—in saturated colors—beloved Hawai‘i Island places that will never be seen…

By Stefan Verbano There is a fierce urgency in Gary Rosenbergʻs eyes. Itʻs the look of a time traveler who, after witnessing some future calamity, is sent back to warn an incredulous public to change their ways, often with great…

By Stefan Verbano Since the dawn of agriculture, honeybee keepers have braved the swarm in search of that coveted golden nectar. The sound of an open hive is intimidating—a buzzing roar which connects with some ancient, instinctual human sense that…

By Stefan Verbano “The quality of your water is a direct link to the quality of your health.” This is scribbled on a chalkboard hanging in the window of Todd and Archer’s shop in Pāhoa. It’s their business motto, and…

By Stefan Verbano A side of the perched lava channel fed by Fissure Eight collapses, sending a river of pāhoehoe barreling northeast through Leilani Estates toward Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV). By the evening of May 29, 2018, the breakout flow…

By Stefan Verbano Through a break in the shrubbery beside Highway 130, the lava field reveals itself for the first time. After a long, gradual bend in the road heading downhill from the turn to ‘Opihikao, strawberry guava-laden jungle falls…

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By Stefan Verbano Big Polynesian hands hoisted the massive tile “puzzlepiece” mural upright at last, and Rika Blue took a step back to admire her creation for the first time in its rightful place. This moment was the vindication of…

By Stefan Verbano The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Soiled plastic foam takeout containers fly out of a dumpster and whip through the streets on gusts from the tail end of a tropical storm. Some get caught in trees, on fences,…

Stefan is a writer, musician, world traveler and farmer living in the jungles outside Kapoho in East Hawaii Island. He holds a B.A. from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication in news editorial and magazine journalism, and is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Zambia (2012–14). When not picking his banjo or juicing sugarcane, Stefan is learning to surf, tending to his fruit trees, hiking out to newly forged lava beaches, riding his motorcycle, or doing research for a Ke Ola Magazine article! He is from the San Juan Islands in northwest Washington, and has worked for the magazine since 2018 when he got his start covering the 2018 Lower Puna Eruption.

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By Stefan Verbano Hawai‘i’s islands were once tropical paradises for birds. Ten million years ago, the winged founders of Hawai‘i’s endemic bird populations touched down on a partially formed, mid-Pacific island chain markedly different than any humans have since “discovered.”…

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By Stefan Verbano David Reppun walks barefoot along the mounded rows of taro. He stops at a full-grown hedge of the broad-leafed Polynesian staple, announces its variety name, and leans into the mass of green, selecting a stem and bending…

By Stefan Verbano Hanau ka ‘Uku-ko‘ako‘a, hanau kana, he ‘Ako‘ako‘a, puka “Born was the coral polyp, born was the coral, came forth” —Kumulipo, Hawaiian Chant of Creation, line 15 Surrounding the islands, inhabiting a narrow column of warm water—with destructive…

By Stefan Verbano Bruce Miller and Ed Clapp headed to the crater overlook that fateful December night to stargaze and celebrate the solstice. A cold, wet mist hung in the mountain air, surrounding them. They approached the volcano’s rim as…

By Stefan Verbano “So, what’s one way we can tell the age of a volcano?” Punawai Rice asks the audience of fourth graders seated before him. No hands shoot up. “Well think about this: how can we tell one volcano…

Combinations are possible to be adopted to different applications like boring, facing, outer diameter turning, chamfering. Couplings are available as VDI, ISO-PSC, DIN, KM and HSK shank.

By Stefan Verbano Eve the sheep lived an action-packed life before coming to the sanctuary. She spent her early years frolicking through green pastures of her lower Puna homestead, until her peaceful existence was shattered in 2018 by the massive…