Maui News

The Hawai‘i Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Division of Financial Institutions has earned reaccreditation status for bank and mortgage supervision from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors.

Maui Public Art Corps, in partnership with the County of Maui + Hale Hō‘ike‘ike at the Bailey House/ Maui Historical Society, has released a request for proposals for participatory public art projects. The deadline to apply is Feb. 4, 2024. 

There is no tsunami threat to Hawai’i following a 7.4 moment earthquake reported off the west coast of Honshu, Japan at 9:10 p.m. HST on Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023.

Hana Hou Hospitality announced its Māla Ocean Tavern is set to reopen in February of 2024. The restaurant is one of five West Maui establishments run by the group, two of which were destroyed by the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfire in Lahaina.

Kīlauea is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, with a majority of its eruptions occurring at its summit or one of its two rift zones, the East Rift Zone and Southwest Rift Zone. The Southwest Rift Zone hasn’t erupted since New Year’s Eve 1974; almost exactly 49 years ago.

The state Department of Transportation will be conducting road work this week that will result in lane closures at various locations. There will be no lane closures on Monday, Jan. 1 in observance of New Year’s Day unless needed for emergency work. Lane closure schedules may change at any time without further notice. All projects are weather permitting.

A Health Fund in honor of the iconic Molokaʻi physician, Dr. Noa Emmett Aluli (1944-2022) has been established to work with the Molokaʻi General Hospital, Nā Puʻuwai and the Molokaʻi Community Health Center.

For most of Hawaiʻi, surf will build to 20 to 30 feet along north-facing shores and 15 to 20 feet along west-facing shores.

Maui County closed Baldwin Beach Park and Lower Pā’ia Park (Baby Beach) due to the shark encounter.

Earthquake swarms like this can precede eruptions, but there is no lateral or upward migration of earthquakes that would suggest magma is moving toward the surface at this time.

Radio and TV personality Kathy Collins is hosting Akakū Maui Community Media’s free 2024 Community Connection Day, with live entertainment from Homestead, on Jan. 12 from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The Maui County Department of Transportation announced that the hotel circulator shuttles in West Maui will be discontinued effective 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024.

This is the third shipping container within the last two weeks discovered during routine tariff inspections to have contained illegal fireworks. To date, the task force has seized nearly 105,000 pounds of illegal fireworks since its inception about five months ago.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory issued an information statement on Friday evening reporting elevated unrest and increased seismicity to the south of Kīlauea’s summit. The HVO reports that Kīlauea is not erupting, but that the increased unrest started at around 1:10 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023, and is continuing.

Amos Lonokailua-Hewett has been selected as the new administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, effective Jan. 1, 2024. He brings to the position 25 years of service with Maui Fire Department before retiring in 2019 as a battalion chief.

The Hawai‘i Department of Health has received a report of a travel-related dengue case in Hawai‘i, on the island of O‘ahu, in an individual who had recent travel to countries where dengue is commonly found. The last confirmed case of locally acquired dengue in the state was in 2016.

This year to date there have been 93 fatalities on Hawai‘i roads. The HDOT is asking all roadway users to place a priority on safety, so everyone returns home to their family and friends as we close out 2023 and enter 2024.

This year marks the 12th anniversary of the shoreline hike in Hawai‘i, and the second First Day event since COVID caused its cancellation in 2021 and 2022.

To help curb axis deer populations in Maui County, the Hawaiʻi State Division of Forestry and Wildlife is launching a program that will incentive eligible private landowners and lessees to harvest the non-indigenous animals.

Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler and Justin Rose are among the final field of 59 set to tee it up Jan. 4-7 at The Sentry tournament, which kicks off the 2024 PGA Tour season.