Maui News

Kaiser Permanente Hawaii – Maui’s largest OB-GYN department – yesterday announced the expansion of its maternity services across the Valley Isle.

Established in the wake of wildfires that burned more than 200 acres in Kula, the Kula Community Watershed Alliance has convened neighbors, local leaders, and subject matter experts to develop a unified plan to support the land’s recovery from the fires, including stabilizing and regenerating the disturbed soil, restoring and protecting native plants and animals, and stewarding the long-term vitality of the land.

Maui police arrested a 37-year-old man for drug and firearms offenses following the execution of a search warrant at his residence on Molokaʻi late last month.

Hawaiʻi’s Democratic congressional delegation has introduced a resolution celebrating Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, also known as Hawaiian Language Month.

At Haleakalā National Park yesterday, the Director of Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and conservationists involved in Birds, Not Mosquitoes, shed light on the ongoing project to save native birds on East Maui. 

The Pukalani Elementary School STEM Imagineers team won the Energy Award while the Kaunakakai Elementary School Molokai All Stars team won the Sportsmanship Award at the 2024 Hawaiʻi Elementary and Middle School VEX IQ Robotics Championships held earlier this month on Oʻahu.

Half a year after the devastating Aug. 8 Maui wildfires, tourism is making a comeback in Maui County when measured by hotel occupancy but not so much by room revenue, according to the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority’s monthly hotels performance report released Tuesday.

Mayor Richard Bissen made a plea to the state for $401.75 million over the next three years to help Lahaina rebuild and recover. The request was made before the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday, on behalf of the people of Maui County. County of Maui would separately leverage $198.75 million over the next three years, according to a news release announcement.

The first Ambient Community Air Sampling Reports for Lahaina, issued by the Hawaiʻi Department of Health, confirm good ambient air quality for the period of Jan. 13-24, 2024. 

Arthur and Betty Ventura of Kula, Maui were recognized on Feb. 4 as the state’s longest married couple in an annual project sponsored by Worldwide Marriage Encounter.

The third annual Alaska Airlines BizMixx fundraiser for the Maui Chamber of Commerce will be held March 16 at the Grand Wailea Resort Maui. Cocktails will be served from 6 to 7 p.m., followed by dinner, entertainment and a silent auction.

One year after a luxury yacht caused extensive damage to the reef in Honolua Bay on Maui’s northwestern coast, staff and volunteers with the Maui Ocean Center Marine Institute continue to care for coral fragments collected from the reef.

Kīhei Charter School will hold open house informational meetings beginning at 5 p.m. Feb. 27 at the school campus located at 650 Lipoa Parkway in the Maui Research & Technology Park. Other informational meetings are scheduled for March 6, 14 and 27.

Some topics that will be covered are discussions on the current state of housing across the United States focused on efforts to improve housing availability, affordability, and homelessness, and reimagining models of disaster preparedness and Maui’s recovery. 

The 54th annual Maui Marathon scheduled for April 21 will look a lot different this year. After devastating fires impacted Lahaina and Kula, the Maui Marathon that historically stretched from Puʻunēnē to Kāʻanapali will host a new route and only include the half marathon, 10k Run/Walk, and 5k Run/Walk. For 2024, the 26.2-mile race is canceled, and the start/finish line for the other distances is moved to the Maui Tropical Plantation in Wailuku.

The Hurley Pro Sunset Beach, Stop No. 2 of the 2024 World Surf League Championship Tour, is ON today and will see the world’s best surfers get their Sunset campaigns underway in clean four-to-six-foot waves.

Maui County will resume its Lahaina Disaster Recovery Community Update meetings beginning 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, at the Lahaina Civic Center with an update on survey results for a permanent disposal site for wildfire ash and debris and cesspool information.

While the Federal Emergency Management Agency continues to lease Maui rental units to Maui wildfire survivors who lost their homes, the FEMA Direct Lease program is turning away property owners who illegally force tenants out so landlords can gain higher rents from the FEMA program.

Another affordable housing proposal is headed to the Maui County Council, but this one is not “shovel ready.” It’s built already, although it’s going to be a multimillion-dollar fixer-upper.

Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, the State of Hawai‘i Museum of Natural and Cultural History, announces a new original exhibition coming to its Castle Memorial Building in May: “Ka ʻUla Wena: Oceanic Red.”