Started as a delivery guy. Now he owns the place. That's Mike Rompell, who turned a part-time delivery job into a lifelong career. And right now, Domino's Hawaii is hiring. Whether you're in school, between gigs, or just want something steady, you can make it work here. A place with flexible hours, solid tips, and real opportunities to grow. Apply now at jobs.domino's.com. And if you're hungry, mix and match a two-topping Parmesan stuffed crust pizza for just $11.99. And get the new slice sauce for free. Domino's. This podcast is sponsored by your local Hawaii Nissan dealers and HMAA. This is Hawaii News Now. First at four, the recent storms uncover a pest problem in East Honolulu. It's a serious concern. I mean, we have pets. How residents are trying to tackle a fire and infestation. A warning from the Attorney General's office after reports of a fraudulent state official at a national conference. I don't know anything about him other than he has posted himself on his advertisements as being a state employee. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testifies on Capitol Hill for the first time since the operation in Iran began. I'm Natalie Brand with what Pentagon officials are saying about the cost of the war. And another beautiful day across the island chain. A few showers over the eastern half of the state. An island-by-island look at your first alert weather forecast coming up. This is Hawaii News Now, First at Four. At First at Four, we're hearing more reports of pests popping up after the Konolo storms. Our A'ali'i Duklo takes us to East O'ahu, where invasive insects are spreading. After seeing more fire ants following the Konolos, residents here along Wailupist Stream are urging their neighbors throughout the valley to get their own properties tested and treated. Don't wait until you see the ants. Fire ants may be out of sight for Andrea Wagner after her yard was treated. But they're not out of mind, as she worries the critters could return. It's a serious concern. I mean, we have pets, and they are in danger because they can be blinded by little fire ants. And that, you know, I keep thinking of the little kids who like to go out and play. Wagner found the fire ants among her manicured plants lining her property at the beginning of this month. When it rained, the ants float on the water. So we figured there was a chance. We kind of knew it might happen. We had been warned by the ant lab that the stream was a source of spread in the valley. Those are very common pathways for little fire ants to spread downstream and downhill from an infestation. The ants coming downhill are likely from the three infestations mauka in the Aina Haina area. That's according to the Hawaii Ant Lab, which says because it's at capacity with current infestations, response efforts are limited. So we do need the public to be aware and to test their properties. The group adds people should test their homes about twice a year because of potential spread from the storms. Because it will take some time for those new ants to establish and grow their nest to where they can be detected fairly easily. Go ahead and test. It's very simple. This is how simple the process is. All you need are some chopsticks and some peanut butter. Add some peanut butter to the chopsticks. Place them about 5 to 10 yards away from each other around your home. Leave them there for an hour, then collect them, put them in a plastic bag and freeze them for 24 hours and then submit the sample. We have more information on that on our website. A'ali'i Duklo, Hawaii News Now. Thank you very much, A'ali. Now to Windward O'ahu, where Hawaii News Now has learned the FBI executed a search warrant in Mauna Willi today in an ongoing federal investigation. A heavy law enforcement presence was seen at a home near Aoloa and Luna Eye Streets around 6. Sources tell us authorities had a search warrant for firearms in connection with the narcotics case. We spoke to a woman who lives at the home. But I came out my thing and when I looked there was tactical force. And I was like, what the hell? Like it was in the movie. They said put your hands up. There was drones. The woman told us no one at the home was arrested. We're still awaiting details on the case from federal authorities. The state attorney general says a man is falsely claiming to be the state's chief technology officer at national conferences and on online platforms. Iqbal Khawaja allegedly presented himself as the CTO of the state of Hawaii at the Bitcoin 2026 conference currently underway in Las Vegas. He's also made similar claims in prior conference appearances. were told kawaja is not affiliated with the state of hawaii and is not authorized to represent any state agency you're going to get information or go to a presentation you want to take a second to see you know there are ways you know to go online and verify a person's credential to see and and confirm they are who they say they are before you buy or ask or invest or provide any personal information to anyone who believes they may have been targeted by the impersonator should report the incident to local law enforcement or to the Department of the Attorney General. A new text scam is threatening recipients driving privileges by claiming they have an outstanding traffic violation. It may say final enforcement notice and urges action through a QR code. Police say these messages are not legitimate. Government agencies do not send unsolicited text messages warning of immediate penalties or demanding payment through links or QR codes. HFD airlifted an injured hiker off the Ha Haione Valley Trail in Hawaii Kai today. Rescuers were called around 1140 this morning after the 72 year old woman injured her lower leg and couldn make it out Firefighters hiked in and secured her to be picked up by air one EMS says the woman went to a hospital in stable condition Excavated topsoil from the former flood debris site at Central Oahu Regional Park shows no contamination. All of the debris was fully cleared from the park on April 9th and the city excavated three to five inches of the surface soil. Now that it's free of contamination, the soil can be disposed. Next, the Department of Environmental Services will be taking 50 samples to test the exposed soil at the park. They're trying to figure out whether the surface soil right at the top is contaminated. If it is, so then they would send those samples off to the lab and there's a whole suite of things that have to be analyzed. There's metals and volatiles and all kinds of chemicals, including petroleum hydrocarbons. Once that soil is deemed clean, they can begin refilling the site and growing new grass. Turning our attention to weather now, let's give you a live look at Hanalei Bay on Kauai. Meteorologist Drew Davis has our first alert forecast and what's in store for the rest of the week. Drew. Aloha, Mark. Beautiful out there across the state today. We are seeing a little bit more rainfall over near Hawaii Island, kind of like what we saw yesterday. And beautiful out towards the reef runway. And there's Aloha Tower down there to the bottom left. It's around 81 degrees outside of the airport right now. East-northeasterly is around 13 miles per hour. We're still kind of in a wetter trade wind pattern. We've got more moisture moving in over the eastern half of the state. Let's take it island by island and show you what's going on. We've got a few sprinkles trying to make their way into town. This is over the last hour or so. You can even see some rainfall along the Kualau Mountain Range. A little bit drier over Molokai and Lanai. But the further east you go, you've got more rainfall out over near eastern Maui. And we've seen consistent rainfall over in Hilo and parts of Puna. Even some showers moving in towards Honoka'a. I'll give you a full island-by-island breakdown coming up and tell you what you can expect heading into the weekend. Let's check in with Jonathan. Well, first of all, happy birthday to you, Drew. Looking good at those lanes today. Our traffic for our going home time looks like this right now. It's not going to be all that bad. We have a couple of accidents to tell you about, though. H1 westbound at the Paloma off-ramp, partially blocking the lanes there due to an accident. As you make a little bit of a push towards the central part, a little bit red into the Pearl City area. area. Another accident to tell you about, though, this is an H-1 eastbound on-ramp from H-2, partially blocked due to an accident. Coming down to the Evo plane, a little bit crazy right there getting into Kapolei, but overall, drive times are kind of status quo, downtown to Mililani, 45, to Evo Beach, 52, and Nanakuli, 53 minutes. That's your first alert, traffic. On Nevada News Now, Mark, back to you. Thank you, Jonathan. Now to new details about the man accused of trying to assassinate President Trump last weekend. Prosecutors say before the White House correspondence dinner, Cole Allen took pictures of himself with a shoulder holster for a pistol, knives, ammunition, even pliers. Allen allegedly checked a website broadcasting the event live before bursting from a stairwell and breaching security. The Secret Service says one agent fired five times with none of the bullets hitting him. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced tough questions from lawmakers today two months into the war in Iran. Natalie Brand has the latest from Capitol Hill. I look forward to sharing the incredible successes of our military. Testifying for the first time since the war in Iran began, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth clashed with lawmakers who questioned the strategy of Operation Epic Fury. The president has got himself and America stuck in the quagmire of another war in the Middle East. Don't say I support the troops on one hand and then a two-month mission is a quagmire. That's a false equivalence. Who are you cheering for here? The hearing comes as the Trump administration requests an historic $1.5 trillion in defense spending for 2027. The president's budget request reflects the urgency of the moment. Military families have never been more appreciated than today, and our enemies of dictators now understand peace through strength. During the hearing, a senior Pentagon official testified the U.S. is spending around $25 billion on the war in Iran, mostly on munitions. Democratic lawmakers raised questions about why the U.S. launched the operation following U.S. strikes last year on key nuclear sites in Iran. You just said 60 days ago because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat. Now you're saying that it was completely obliterated. They had not given up their nuclear ambitions and they had a conventional shield of thousands of operations. Operation Midnight Hammer accomplished nothing of substance. It left us at exactly the same place we were before. So much so that we have to start a war. Their facilities were bombed and obliterated. Their ambitions continued. Diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and Iran remain stalled, with the president posting this image on his social media saying no more Mr. Nice Guy and urging the regime to make a deal. I'm Natalie Brandt, Hawaii News Now. The Federal Reserve Board just announced their latest decision on interest rates. I'm Gwynn Baumgartner with what this means for your wallet and inflation. Started as a delivery guy. Now he owns the place. That's Mike Rompell, who turned a part-time delivery job into a lifelong career. And right now Domino's Hawaii is hiring. Whether you're in school, between gigs, or just want something steady, you can make it work here. A place with flexible hours, solid tips, and real opportunities to grow. Apply now at jobs.domino's.com. And if you're hungry, mix and match a two-topping Parmesan stuffed crust pizza for just $11.99 and get the new slice sauce for free. Mmm, my nose. Job opportunities abound at today's Career Expo. Look at some of the industries seeking help. This is Hawaii News Now. Welcome back to the Hawaii Career Expo. Return to the Blaisdell Center today. There were 100 booths of employers from various industries looking to hire. I feel good about leaving here with the positivity of finding a great position. Right now I'm kind of at this age where I want to do something that's just totally fun and still being of service. Another career expo will be held at the Blaisdell on July 29th. The Federal Reserve has made its latest decision on interest rates as surging energy prices create uncertainty for inflation and the job market Gwen Baumgartner has more In what could be his final meeting as Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell said what many expected. The FOMC decided to leave our policy rate unchanged. The Fed is keeping its benchmark interest rate steady at a range of 3.5 to 3.75 percent. Policymakers point to concerns over persistent, stubborn inflation, which hit a two-year high in March. Bankrate economist Stephen Cates. Their credibility is in shambles right now. Can the Fed actually fight inflation? They're showing no indication that they're able to do so. Cates warns inflation may worsen as the war in Iran drives up gas and other costs. The economic outlook remains highly uncertain, and the conflict in the Middle East has added to this uncertainty. CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger says keeping rates unchanged helps savers but hurts borrowers. We're seeing credit card interest rate, if you're carrying a balance, averaging over 19 percent. We're seeing people going out and trying to buy a $50,000 new car and maybe they're paying 7, 8, 9 percent. If they've got shaky credit and they're trying to buy a used car to save money, those loans are coming in at 15, 16 percent. So borrowers continue to really be challenged. Powell is set to be replaced when his term ends on May 15th. President Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to step in, leading to questions about the Fed's future moves. He has said he leans towards lowering interest rates because he believes that AI will be a productivity enhancer. So we need to see whether or not that plays out. With global tensions adding more pressure for now, the Fed is taking a wait-and-see approach. Gwen Baumgartner, Hawaii News Now. Much more news ahead, but first look at the stories we're working on for the next half hour. It may take a little longer to receive your new car title or registration. What's behind the backlog at Oahu DMVs? The U.S. Supreme Court hands down a major ruling over voting rights. How the decision started as a delivery guy. Now he owns the place. That's Mike Rompell. who turned a part-time delivery job into a lifelong career. And right now, Domino's Hawaii is hiring. Whether you're in school, between gigs, or just want something steady, you can make it work here. A place with flexible hours, solid tips, and real opportunities to grow. Apply now at jobs.domino's.com. And if you're hungry, mix and match a two-topping Parmesan stuffed crust pizza for just $11.99 and get the new slice sauce for free. Domino's. ...could reshape election maps. Stay with us. Drew and Jonathan after the break. Well, it's such a beautiful day outside. Why don't we go around the city so I can kind of show you what's happening with traffic. Let's start in the Kaimuki area right here. The 10th Avenue exit looking not too bad. So looking good, like a good flow into the east. Let's get to one of the busier areas right here in the heart of the Aiea and Pearl City mix. Looking like this at H1 and Kaahumanu. Let's get on to the H2 if you want to head to the North Shore. Looking like this right here at the Kuuku Boulevard exit. as we head into the Ewa Plain. Let's get this camera working for you at the juncture of Farrington and Fort Weaver Road. You got a good flow happening there and all the way to the leeward coast, looking very nice in Nanakuli right now. And one last camera to show you right here. This is underneath at the airport. So if you're trying to make it to probably the Navy Exchange or Aolele Street, looking pretty nice from this vantage point. Drew Davis, over to you. Hey, thanks so much, Jonathan. Let's take a look at our first alert weather headlines. We've got breezy trades all the way throughout this weekend. It gets slightly weaker as we're going into Saturday and Sunday. Windward and Malka showers. Most of the rainfall is going to be falling in the morning and the overnight. Also seeing an advisory level swell that's going to be moving in as we're going into Friday. You can always find the latest on that on our first alert weather app. All you've got to do is scan that QR code in the bottom left of your screen. Our island-by-island forecast for you. Over on Kauai, we've got scattered showers, partly sunny conditions. A better chance for rainfall over in Lihue tomorrow. Moving down to Oahu, mostly sunny out there. Seeing east-northeasterlies between 10 to 15 miles per hour. A little bit cooler over the windward side of each island with some cloud cover out there. Isolated showers, mostly sunny over Maui. A little bit more sunshine in Kaunokakai, 81 in Kahului, 84 in Kihei. The further east we go, you'll notice we had some rainfall in Hana. And then over on the eastern side of Hawaii Island, we're going to continue to see some rainfall over in Hilo, parts of Puna down to Pahoa. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some showers and volcano all the way towards Mountain View and also in South Point out there. So again, I just take a look at the northern portions of Hawaii Island. You can see scattered showers, mostly cloudy, some gusts closer to 30 miles per hour and just passing showers, kind of the pattern going forward. We've got a disturbance off to the northeast of us, giving us a better chance for rainfall the further east you go across the island chain. And you can see that outside right now on our first alert radar and satellite. Not a ton of rainfall out there, but you can see a few sprinkles out over eastern Maui, not as much over on Oahu. and a few sprinkles over the eastern side of Hawaii Island as well. You can see rainfall in Puna getting closer to Volcano. Relatively dry right now over on Kauai. Really nice the next couple of days. I've got no concerns in my forecast. Saturday and Sunday we're seeing windward and maukou showers. A little bit more cloud cover Saturday into Sunday. Then seeing temperatures around 83 degrees. Sounds good, Drew. Well, Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla visited the 9-11 Memorial in New York today as part of a four-day state visit to the U.S. Peter Zampa has the story. A bouquet laid at the memorial to recognize the thousands of lives lost nearly 25 years ago, including 67 Britons. The royal couple meeting with politicians, victims' families, and first responders. From there, the royal couple split up, King Charles making his way uptown to Harlem to meet with kids, taking part in an urban farm project before attending a U.K.-U.S. trade and business event later in the day. Queen Camilla met with writers and poets at the New York Public Library. The two meeting back up in the evening for a cultural reception. This, the first time the royal couple has visited the city as king and queen. Now, the royal couple will end their trip in the D.C. area on Thursday. They begin that day at Arlington National Cemetery before going to Shenandoah National Park And then they leave the U Reporting in New York I Peter Zampa As the UH men's volleyball team prepares for the NCAA tournament, the fans are getting ready to. Started as a delivery guy. Now he owns the place. That's Mike Rompell, who turned a part-time delivery job into a lifelong career. And right now, Domino's Hawaii is hiring. Whether you're in school, between gigs, or just want something steady, you can make it work here. A place with flexible hours, solid tips, and real opportunities to grow. Apply now at jobs.dominoes.com. And if you're hungry, mix and match a two-topping Parmesan stuffed crust pizza for just $11.99. And get the new slice sauce for free. Dominos. Cheer them on. Coming up, find out more about one of the arena's now iconic chants. This is Hawaii News Now. The Rainbow Warriors volleyball team finalizing its prep ahead of this weekend's NCAA tournament. As the two say, they'll get a bye. Won't play until Saturday, and they'll face the winner of Southern California and Belmont Abbey. This is the first time UH is playing a postseason match at home. Head coach Charlie Wade thanks the selection committee for its work in creating the 12-team field. They did a nice job, and nice to see that it's a 12-team bracket. It kind of spread out and I'm absolutely thrilled that we were awarded a host site. I think everyone wants to kill each other in the NCAA, so it's going to be exciting to see everyone at the highest level. And we practice for that every single day of our life to play big games like that and show that we're one of the best, if it's not the best team in the country. UH will play Saturday afternoon at 4. Tickets are still available, but going fast. And with Hawaii hosting, fans will make sure there is a true home court advantage. Kyle Chinen caught up with a longtime supporter who helps rally his fellow diehard fans on game day. The Rainbow Warriors volleyball team is one of the hottest tickets in town. With one of the largest and loudest home crowds in the country. Thanks in part to Rob St. Ange, who started an arena-wide chant. After a UH block at the net, St. Onge stands up and counts down as the whole arena says in unison. I think it's most incredible when we have a sold-out game and there's literally 9 or 10,000 fans participating together to show the support for our team. That's just amazing. It's now become a full-on movement and expected at UH matches, but it wasn't an instant hit. It took what seemed like forever for it to happen, but when it did start to happen, it snowballed very quickly. Hey, could I look over there when I do the one, two, three so he could participate? And once they started, then I think maybe the students who were across from them caught on, and then it just caught on like wildfire. It's a chant that echoes through the arena, a sound that the team itself can't ignore. We definitely hear it all. We can hear every single cheer that they give us. So it means a lot and it definitely helps us in big matches and especially tough matches like we've had over the last few weeks. And we've seen them do this, you know, to get us riled up just to make some noise. And we see it on the Jumbotron, make noise. So we know they love it and we're here for them. Even though St. Ange doesn't go to road games, the tradition has become a permanent fixture in the UH fandom. Time out, Long Beach State. At home watching the games in Irvine and then after a great block here in the background and see people holding at the sign. So, yes, it's definitely a source of pride in this. And it's wonderful that it is just spreading. So it means a lot, especially away games. You know, everyone gets fans at home, but not many people get as many fans as us away. This weekend, the Bows are set to make history, hosting NCAA matches for the third time and first since 2004. But this will be the first time Hoy will be playing. That's pretty sick. I know all the fans are going to be excited. And hopefully it's a sellout, but even if it's not, I know it's going to be loud, so it's going to be cool. And you can guarantee that St. Ange will be there, ready for every block of the night. We're in Lower JJ. Keep an eye out for us and watch for the signs. Kyle Chenin. Hawaii News Now Sports. I tell you, these matches, just the atmosphere that's created is magical. Yeah, it's awesome. All we can say is go, Boaz. We're all very excited. All right, here's another look at our surf and shoreline forecast, Mark. North and west-facing shores are on the rise as we're going into Thursday. An advisory level swell is expected to arrive for north and west-facing shores going into Friday. And let's take a look at our seven-day forecast again because it's going to be pretty nice out there. We're still seeing breezy conditions throughout Thursday and Friday. Trades between 10 to 20 miles per hour, sometimes gusting a little bit higher than that. And also still seeing some showers into this weekend. Likely seeing a better chance for rainfall. Right now in the models, I'm seeing that over eastern Hawaii Island, eastern Maui. The further east you are across the state, the better chance of rain you'll have out there. But overall, really nice weather continuing in the next couple of days. A few windward showers into the weekend. Thanks so much, Drew. An update on the search for the crew of a capsized vessel near Saipan following a powerful typhoon. Two minutes on Hawaii News now at 4.30 on KHNL and K5. This podcast is sponsored by your local Hawaii Nissan dealers and HMAA. We're passionate about your health. Started as a delivery guy. Now he owns the place. That's Mike Rompell, who turned a part-time delivery job into a lifelong career. And right now, Domino's Hawaii is hiring. Whether you're in school, between gigs, or just want something steady, you can make it work here. A place with flexible hours, solid tips, and real opportunities to grow. Apply now at jobs.dominoes.com. And if you're hungry, mix and match a two-topping Parmesan stuffed crust pizza for just $11.99. And get the new slice sauce for free. Domino's.
