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Dippin’ Dots, known for its flash-frozen beaded ice cream, debuts the brand’s new location in Kahului, Maui. The 700-square-foot store located at 312 Alamaha Street in Kahului officially opened its doors in December 2022.

Over the past two decades, both scientists and members of the public have anticipated the occurrence of slow slip events (SSEs) on Kīlauea’s south flank.  These events are recorded by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s (HVO) continuous GPS network, which show as much as 2 cm (0.75 inches) of increased seaward motion of the flank over 2-3 days—equivalent to about a M6 earthquake.

Maui Obituaries for the week ending Feb. 26, 2023. May they rest in peace.

A SMALL TOWN * BIG ART Request for Expression of Interest (REOI) recently went live for orientation-based artwork at five sites within the Wailuku Municipal Parking Structure, which is currently under construction in the heart of Wailuku town. The art will function as directional signage and offer a wayfinding element that draws people to entry and exit points, a news release said. Application deadline is March 26.

Theo Morrison has been a staunch advocate for the restoration of historic buildings and the preservation of Maui history, through her work as executive director of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation for the past 15 years. Morrison, once a fiber artist creating baskets from a variety of natural materials, has helped to successfully weave the stories of Lahaina’s past into an amazing tour through history. Maui Now’s Gary Kubota conducts this People of Maui interview.

A total of 596 humpback whales were observed during the Great Whale Count on Maui, for a grand total of 997 spotted throughout the state. On Maui, Great Whale Count volunteers collected data from 12 sites during 15-minute intervals between 8:30 a.m. and 11:50 a.m. A total of 105 whales were observed during the 11:30-11:45 a.m. time period, the most of any time period throughout the day’s count. 

The state Department of Transportation will be conducting road work this week that will result in lane closures at various locations. Lane closure schedules may change at any time without further notice.  All projects are weather permitting.

Hawaiian Telcom spokesperson Ann Nishida tells Maui Now the company has located the source of the problem, a break in a fiber in Lahaina. Service was restored to the remaining affected customers by 9 p.m. on Saturday.

Defueling of the 120-ton luxury yacht, Nakoa, is now complete, and salvage of the vessel is expected to start on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023.

Work to remove fuel, other pollutants, and batteries from the grounded 94-foot-long luxury yacht Nakoa, will continue today (Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023) at Honolua Bay in northwest Maui. The State will bill the yacht’s owner for reimbursement of the $460,000 salvage cost, and for additional staff and administrative costs, and take legal action if necessary.

The most recent Visitor Satisfaction and Activity Survey released Friday surveyed visitors from the U.S. West, U.S. East, Canada, Japan, Oceania, Korea, and China who visited Hawai‘i from October to December 2022. More than 60% of visitors from all markets indicated they were “very likely” to return to Hawai‘i in the next five years, a news release from state DBEDT said.

A worker at one of Maui’s largest private employers, Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort, filed a class-action lawsuit Friday alleging owners of the luxury hotel giant misclassified hundreds of spa and salon workers, groundskeepers, facilities maintenance personnel and window washers as independent contractors in a “fraudulent scheme” to avoid pay and benefits at two of its landmark hotels, the Grand Wailea and Beverly Hills Waldorf Astoria.

Seabury Hall junior Dean Tapler has been selected to represent Kahului as a National Youth Delegate to the 2023 Washington Youth Summit on the Environment at George Mason University in Washington, D.C.

The statewide release of a small wasp to battle the devastating berry borer beetle — which causes millions in Hawai’i coffee crop damage — moved another step closer to taking flight. 

Maui County last month had the largest vacation rental supply and average daily rate of all four counties, according to a state report released Thursday. 

The U.S. Coast Guard with the help of a private contractor removed several barrels of diesel Thursday from a 94-foot-long luxury yacht that ran aground Monday in Honolua Bay and began leaking fuel in the marine life conservation district. Meanwhile, Mauians took to social media to decry the state’s alleged lack of mooring rule enforcement that could have prevented the incident and to critique the slow response time from state and federal officials that worsened the situation.

US Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) toured General Dynamics HSI-Electric Boat with HSI-Electric Boat leadership on Wednesday. The company provides installation, maintenance, troubleshooting and repair services for US Navy ships and nuclear submarines, commercial shipping vessels, wind turbines and conventional power generation operations, refineries, and medical facilities. 

Maʻemaʻe (cleanliness, purity) represents the idea that descriptions and portrayals of Hawai‘i should be clean, attractive and pure, and therefore without misrepresentations or inaccuracies.

Hospice Maui hosts a Lunch and Learn community presentation on Friday, March 24, from 12 to 1 p.m.

A call-to-artists is now LIVE for a new juried exhibition at the 6-acre Will Smith Imua Discovery Garden in Wailuku. The deadline to apply is April 14, 2023.