Articles by Jennifer Sinco Kelleher

Associated Press

What’s Tying Up $4B Settlement for Hawaii Wildfire Victims

Hawaii’s Supreme Court heard arguments last week over insurance issues that are tying up a potential $4 billion settlement over Maui’s catastrophic 2023 wildfire, the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. The massive inferno decimated the historic …

Hawaii Wildfire Victims Spared From Testifying After Deal Over $4B Settlement

Lawyers representing victims of a deadly Hawaii wildfire reached a last-minute deal averting a trial that was scheduled to begin Wednesday over how to split a $4 billion settlement. The agreement means victims and survivors will not have to testify, …

Deadly Accident Has Hawaii Officials Asking to End Amateur Fireworks Shows

In recent years, occasions large and small — parties, Super Bowls, mixed martial arts fights, even Thanksgiving — have provided a reason for residents across Hawaii to set off illegal fireworks. The increasingly sophisticated displays, loved by some and loathed …

NTSB: Turbulence Hit Hawaiian Air Flight Due to Decision to Fly Over Storm Cell

A Hawaiian Airlines flight crew’s decision to fly over a hazardous storm cell instead of deviating around it was the probable cause for hitting severe turbulence that injured passengers and crewmembers in 2022, the National Transportation Safety Board said in …

Hawaii High Court Agrees to Weigh in on Issues Holding up $4B Wildfire Settlement

Hawaii’s Supreme Court will consider questions about issues that threaten to thwart a $4 billion settlement in last year’s devastating Maui wildfires. A Maui judge last month agreed to ask the state high court questions about how insurance companies can …

Toxic Debris from Hawaii Wildfire Could Fill 5 Football Fields 5 Stories Deep

Hinano Rodrigues remembers being 4 or 5 years old, carrying a bucket across a highway to the ocean in the Maui community where he still lives. At dawn, he would accompany his grandmother to a reef at low tide, where …

Judge to Ask Hawaii Supreme Court About Barriers to $4B Wildfire Settlement

The Hawaii Supreme Court will be asked to weigh in on an issue that threatens to thwart a $4 billion settlement in last year’s devastating Maui wildfires. Judge Peter Cahill on Maui agreed to ask the state high court questions …

Tropical Storm Hone Sweeps Past Hawaii; Rain Amounts Ease Wildfire Fears

Hone passed south of Hawaii and weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm on Sunday, dumping so much rain that the National Weather Service called off its red flag warnings that strong winds could lead to wildfires on the …

Judge Bars Insurers From Going After Defendants Who Agreed to $4B Maui Wildfire Settlement

A Maui judge’s ruling resolves a critical roadblock to finalizing a $4 billion wildfire settlement: Insurance companies who have paid out more than $2 billion in claims can seek reimbursement only from the settlement amount defendants, who victims blame for …

‘We’re Going to Survive and It’s Going to Come Back’: A Year After Maui Wildfire, Survivors Press on

They have combed the ashes for mementos, worried about where they would sleep, questioned their faith and tried to find a way to grieve amid the great, unsettling devastation. Residents have faced a year of challenges, practical and emotional, since …