Off the news: Don’t bring ohia back from Hilo hula fest

The Merrie Monarch Festival is in Hilo this week — and that means wonderful hula and mele, plus the splendor of flowers and plants used in colorful costumes. But all attendees should remember that there’s a longstanding quarantine in place for ohia, which restricts the movement of ohia plants and parts off Hawaii island due to rapid ohia death, a fungal plant disease that’s afflicted more than 1 million trees. The quarantine aims to stop the spread of the fungus to other island...