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Hawaii lawmakers are considering a new fee to help HECO’s fire-fighting plan but there was strong testimony against it.

With legislative efforts dead this session, Native Hawaiian leaders remain encouraged by what they’re hearing from elected officials and seeing on the ground.

The county needs to ensure it is spending its own money wisely while asking for hundreds of millions of dollars in outside funding to rebuild Lahaina.

The commercial debris cleanup in Lahaina began seven months after the Aug. 8 fires. Survivors worked through challenges in accessing aid and housing. Officials navigated issues with the temporary and permanent landfills for all the fire debris. Mayor Bissen delivered an emotional State of the County address. The state continued hammering out its budget while the mayor proposed his spending plan for the county.

A monthslong sampling effort turned up elevated levels of copper and zinc but no sign of PCBs or arsenic.

For Sarah and Alfie Pecson, the best insurance turned out to be the relationships built long before disaster struck.

The county manager said the “visioning process” for the new department was put on hold when response and recovery efforts for the Aug. 8 fires took priority.

Representatives from fire organizations statewide are at a conference this week in Reno about minimizing and managing wildfire threats.

Senators also gave preliminary approval to a $19 billion supplemental budget bill to pay for state government operations for the coming year.

The governor says sufficient housing has been secured for fire survivors but his administration still plans to crack down on illegal rentals.