#Tavares

On its 20th anniversary celebration, the County of Maui’s PALS program honored Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares for her role in establishing the program. “Mayor Tavares deserves a lot of credit for not only seeing the need that parents had 20 years ago, but actually creating this program to help parents,” said Karen “Aunty Ti” Deguilmo, […]

Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares received the endorsement of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO) on Friday, July 23, 2010. SHOPO has 2,800 members statewide with nearly 400 in Maui County. In making the announcement, SHOPO President Tenari Ma’afala called Mayor Tavares’ ability to build positive working relationships as a key to the […]

By Wendy Osher  (Posted: Wednesday, July 21 2010) A political rivalry on Maui is off to a touchy start.  The race for Mayor is officially one candidate shy of a dozen, and eight weeks short of being narrowed to two.  But recent rumblings raised on the campaign trail have cast a shadow of negativity in […]

Today is the county’s first government imposed furlough Friday.  Closed today are all county service centers and satellite offices, payment windows, administrative offices, permitting facilities and senior centers as well as the Maui fire department’s fire prevention bureau and the police department’s records and id section.  Pools are open—following a previously announced one-day per week […]

The County of Maui observes its first government imposed furlough Friday on July 16, 2010.  It is the first of 12 scheduled furlough days in the new fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011. Furloughed employees also includes all managerial staff. One day per month furloughs were proposed by Mayor […]

(Updated 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 12, 2010) The Happy Valley fire that was sparked by fireworks Sunday night is now 60 percent contained. After 22 hours of firefighting efforts focused on the Mokuhau area where the blaze began, officials from the Maui Department of Fire and Public Safety say they were able to reach 60% […]

By Wendy Osher [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnBkAd6Qn4o[/youtube] The County of Maui added three new buses to its fleet today, bringing to 18 the number of large capacity buses in the Maui fleet. Transportation Director Don Medeiros said Maui recorded over 2.3 million boardings in FY 2010, marking yet another milestone for public transportation on Maui. Last year, an […]

Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares will sign a new ordinance into law today, restricting use of cell phones and mobile electronic devices while driving.  Maui becomes the last county in the state to implement such a ban.  The law allows the use of cell phones if they are operated with a hands-free device, such as Bluetooth […]

Maui Drivers have one week to prepare for a new law that goes into effect on Tuesday banning the hands-on use of cell phones and mobile electronic devices while driving.  Bill 40 gained unanimous passage by the Maui County Council on June 18th and takes effect upon the Mayor’s signature on July 6, 2010. “As […]

The county furlough schedule for the fiscal year that begins next week on July 1st, was released by the Mayor’s office today. All County of Maui civil service and appointed employees, excluding uniformed Police and Fire employees under separate collective bargaining agreements that do not include furloughs, will be furloughed 12 days between July 1, […]

The brush fire that began a week ago on Monday, June 7, 2010 in the mountainous terrain above Ma’alea, was officially extinguished by 12:30 this (Monday, June 14, 2010) afternoon.  County officials say the 6,200 acre fire is believed to be the largest to impact the island of Maui.  The cause remains under investigation. Maui […]

By Wendy Osher Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares today said she will not sign the council’s version of the 2011 budget, saying the council showed disregard for the departments’ financial and operating knowledge and expertise. [flashvideo file=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzFMjeN1mYc /] “It will become law without my signature or endorsement, as provided for in the charter,” said Tavares. “I […]

Reduced hours at all county landfills takes effect July 1, 2010 due to budget constraints.  The reduction in service is expected to address a $1.7 million decrease in the County’s landfill operations budget for the 2011 Fiscal Year. Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares said the county worked to address union employee concerns to reach a formal […]

Two Maui groups will benefit from thousands of dollars in grant funding from the county for cultural and environmental conservation efforts.  The funds include $10,000 to Na Mamo O Mu’olea for stewardship and education projects in the remote East Maui region; and $35,000 to the Tri-Isle Resource Conservation and Development Council to be used in […]

By Wendy Osher Water to six East Maui streams will be restored at varying levels, under a decision issued by the state Commission on Water Resource Management tonight (Tuesday, May 25, 2010). The commission also voted to keep instream flow standards at status quo levels at the remaining 13 East Maui streams under consideration. The […]

Lanai residential refuse customers will receive a credit of $27 on their June/July refuse collection statement for a three-month disruption of service. Refuse collection was disrupted from December 2009 to February 2010 when the island’s only refuse truck experienced mechanical problems. In order to accommodate the narrow streets of Lanai, the refuse truck is smaller […]

Construction has started on the new recycling and redemption center on the island of Lanai. The $235,727 first Phase includes grubbing and grading. When work on Phase I is complete this summer, the facility will begin accepting HI5 beverage containers. When Phase II is complete, services will be expanded to include acceptance of glass and […]

Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares returned to the council yesterday (Tuesday, May 18, 2010) urging members to restore full funding for the South Maui Park and the Fire Department’s helicopter.  Tavares said the deletion of $250,000 for Countywide Parks Facilities would hamper the completion of Phase 1A of the South Maui Community Park.  She said reduction […]

Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares urged the council on Tuesday to reconsider funding for the Department of Parks & Recreation and the Department of Fire and Public Safety. Her testimony was given prior to the passage of the budget on first reading in a unanimous 8-0 vote. The latest adjustments proposed by the Mayor were not […]

By Wendy Osher The state legislature did not vote before Friday’s deadline on a proposal to take the county’s share of the Transient accommodation tax or TAT.  Now it’s a wait and see situation as county mayors across the state monitor the latest developments. “We’re not out of the woods quite yet,” said Maui Mayor […]