Maui News

The 55-foot Expeditions Five passenger ferry ran aground near Māʻalaea Harbor on Maui, Monday. There were three crew members on board at the time of the incident.

The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation advises the traveling public to slow down while traveling east on Ka‘ahumanu Avenue when approaching the Lono Avenue intersection. The pavement at the intersection was damaged by a water main break Saturday night. The road surface is uneven and rough.

DOH has currently installed a total of 40 real-time air monitors and air samplers in Lahaina and Olowalu. DOH staff deployed four additional real-time air monitors on Jan. 18 and will continue to augment Maui’s air monitoring network as USACE debris removal work expands and continues.

Maui police arrested a Makawao man after he failed to stop at a road closure on Haleakalā Highway where an active investigation was underway into a fatal motor vehicle accident reported about three hours earlier. The incident ended as the man’s SUV collided into the rear of a parked MPD fleet vehicle.

A 19-year-old motorcyclist from Haʻikū, Maui suffered fatal injuries in a crash on Haleakalā Highway late Sunday night.

Gov. Green announced a Housing Hawaiʻi’s ʻOhana plan, vowing to sign into law any legislation that will help move short-term rentals and vacant investment properties owned by non-residents into the local housing market. He also is said he would declare a moratorium on all short-term rentals in West Maui if he is unable to find enough housing for displaced families in the next six weeks.

The Maui County Veterans Council, in collaboration with the County of Maui, extend an invitation to attend The Wall That Heals, Vietnam Memorial, at the War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku. The exhibit opens on Friday, Feb. 9 and will run until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 13.

The senators voiced their support for the new capital rules proposed by the agencies in an effort to strengthen the financial system and protect Americans’ jobs, businesses and money. In the letter, the lawmakers cited that strong capital rules allow banks to continue to serve their communities during difficult financial periods.

Hawaiian Airlines is increasing flights for the summer travel season between Honolulu and Austin, Boston, Las Vegas and Pago Pago. The airline will also add a fourth daily flight between HNL and Los Angeles from May 24 through Sept. 2.

Governor Josh Green, M.D., will deliver his second State of the State address today at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol at 10 a.m.

For the first time, researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi Health and Stranding Lab have successfully detected Fraser’s morbillivirus, which can cause respiratory and neurological disease, in the feces of a dolphin. The findings published in Marine Mammal Science provide a new tool to identify and monitor threats faced by Hawaiʻi’s marine mammals.

A fatal motorbike accident occurred on Haleakalā Highway overnight, resulting in the temporary closure of the mauka bound lanes from North Firebreak Road to Keahua Road. The closure went into effect at 11:25 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024.

To help improve data quality, shallow boreholes are being drilled that will house new instruments and allow them to be thermally insulated. These new seismometers have both broadband and strong motion capabilities, and the seismic data quality is proving to be excellent, according to researcher technicians with the University of Hawaiʻi.

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.

Maui County hotels continued to be impacted by the Aug. 8 wildfires, but still led the counties in December 2023 Revenue Per Available Room due to comparatively higher Average Daily Rate. 

The National Weather Service says a large west-northwest swell building down the island chain will peak today, then slowly ease tonight through Monday.

Chef Zach Laidlaw, of Maui’s Hua Momona Farms, competes on the upcoming season of the FOX show “Next Level Chef” hosted by Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay.

At the end of a nearly four-mile walk, community organizer Archie Kalepa addressed a crowd gathered at Launiupoko saying, “The depth of our grief and the warmth of our aloha is overwhelming. Today marks a different kind of point in the history of this place.”

Prayer, ʻoli (chanting) and protocol were practiced during the Lele Aloha Hoʻūlu Lahaina Unity Walk held Saturday morning in West Maui. “We need to come together all of Hawaiʻi. We have the opportunity to rebuild Lahaina in a pono way,” said Kalepa. “Lahaina will take the lead but we need everyone’s support.”

Attorney General Anne Lopez joins a coalition of 26 states in sending a letter to the Federal Communications Commission emphasizing the potential harm in the use of artificial intelligence by telemarketers and asking the federal government to strongly restrict such usage.