From The Garden Island:

Darla Cox has lived on Kauai for 10 years and in that time she has seen the traffic on Kuhio Highway between Kapaa and Lihue go from “a little bit better to worse.”

“It’s horrible — it’s really horrible, actually, especially going toward Kapaa town,” Cox said as she and her granddaughter shopped at the Farmer’s Market at Coconut MarketPlace.

The Wailua Homesteads resident says she travels the stretch of Kuhio Highway between Kapaa and Lihue almost daily and usually allocates at least 30 minutes to drive from her home to Costco or pick up her granddaughter from school near Kealia Beach.

Those same drives, she said, used to take about 20 minutes each way when she first moved to Kauai.

Cox, like many Kauai residents and tourists, is among the thousands of motorists who have — what some would say — a love-hate relationship with the island’s main thoroughfare, which serves as a lifeline for the Eastside of the island. Read the full story. 

And here’s the latest in other neighbor isle gov’t and politics:

Wong gets plea deal in investment scam

Consultant hired for Lihue bypass study

Kona athlete running across U.S. for Sandy relief

Kauai committee passes Complete Streets ordinance

Molokai veterans center: fight to finish

9,000 acres at Haleakala funded for watershed protection

Ellison plans to build huge tennis academy on Lanai

Police commission denies Kawa evictee’s claim

Pan-STARRS 2 expected to be operating in July

UH Hilo dorm to open amid funding probe

Meeting on Mala ramp plans set for Tuesday

Kapaa parade courtesy Official U.S. Navy Imagery.

—Chad Blair