Maui Now: Top 22 stories of 2022

As Maui rings in the new year, we take a moment to reflect on 2022–a year that brought highs and lows, challenges and triumphs, and shed light on erosion and the economy.

Below is a list of our top 22 stories of 2022.

1. Stubborn Kauaʻula Valley Fire puts community on edge: A swift-moving fire in West Maui started on Nov. 8, 2022 in West Maui’s Kauaʻula Valley, and scorched 2,100 acres as it advanced toward Launiupoko. On Day 5, the fire was still less than 50% contained. Flare-ups continued to prompt precautions more than a week after the fire started as crews battled the blaze in hard-to-reach areas of the West Maui Mountains.

2. Popular Maui beachwalk, trees fall into ocean, triggering calls for managed retreat: A concrete section of Kāʻanapali Beachwalk was crumbling into the ocean, tall coconut trees crashed in the high surf and a stretch of walkway pooled with minor flooding and debris. Beach access was cut off and pedestrians were rerouted fronting Kāʻanapali Aliʻi Resort, where damage from surf-induced erosion is the worst. 

3. Live Election Results: Maui Now provided up to the minute election results during the Primary and General Elections. In the end, voters selected former Maui Judge, Richard Bissen as Mayor. Maui voters also elected County Council newcomers Tom Cook and Nohe Uʻu Hodgins to the South Maui and Makawao seats respectively.

4. Long lines at OGG: In July 2022, TSA lines for those without PreCheck were among the longest Kahului Airport has seen. Some residents were wondering if it was a new normal.  Maui District Airports Manager Marvin Moniz told Maui Now there were multiple reasons behind the mid-day congestion and extended wait times during Maui’s busy summer travel season.

5. Lahaina Crossroads tenants faced with skyrocketing rent, speak out: With rent rising from about $1,220 to $2,200 for a one bedroom unit, tenants felt forced out. Maui Now spoke with residents who said they wanted local politicians to do more to address the housing crisis. In the end, the County purchased the 20-unit Lahaina Crossroads for $10.98 million.

Meanwhile, a UHERO 2nd quarter report shows rent prices spiked 41% on Maui; as residents worry about finding a place to live.

6. Kona low powers through state, brings snow to Haleakalā: An accumulation of snow was observed along the roadsides near the summit of Haleakalā on Dec. 19, 2022. The observation was made after the most severe impacts from a kona low storm system passed over the state, bringing with it hazardous conditions. The vigorous cold front left portions of South Kīhei Road covered in mud, uprooted trees in Maui Lani and South Maui, and knocked out power to an estimated 12,000 customers on the Valley Isle.

7. Lingering pandemic impacts, COVID restrictions eased: Maui entered 2022 with COVID restrictions still in place. In January, a new rule was added, requiring boosters for patrons of restaurants, bars and gyms who wanted to eat or exercise within. Just two weeks later, that rule was relaxed due to dropping cases. By the beginning of March, Maui County’s Public Health Emergency Rules were repealed, and on March 25, the state ended its Safe-Travels program. Meantime, activities that had taken a two year hiatus began to return, including the Maui Bon Dance schedule, and the return of cruise ship travel after 22 months.

8. Maui eateries get new start, expand, keep traditions alive:

• Maui smash-hit burger joint, Havens, launched in December 2020 in Kīhei. In less than two years, the small business has expanded to Kahului, with plans for more in Wailuku and Upcountry.
• Maui mainstay restaurant, Tiffany’s got a new start this year. When Chef Sheldon and his wife Janice Simeon learned that the Orite family was ready to hang up their hats, the pair jumped at the opportunity to keep the local favorite in operation.
• Hāliʻimaile General Store, Gannon’s Pacific View Restaurants were bought by Wyoming-based Gather Restaurant Group LLC. 
• Maui’s iconic Kula Lodge is under new ownership and management by Simon Vojdani. Vojdani is the owner of 5 Palms Restaurant, which was previously situated on Keawakapu Beach in South Maui for 27 years.
• Maui sherbet makers find a cool niche in sharing a family treat, tradition: Tasaka Guri Guri has been around since the 1920s and continues to do brisk business.
• Legacy Maui mom-and-pop eatery Cupies will have new local owners by end of year.

9. Maui’s Lily Meola gives Golden Buzzer performance of Daydream on national stage: Singer and songwriter Lily Meola of Maui wowed judge Heidi Klum and drew a standing ovation in her Season 17 performance of Daydream on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. She’s now slated to perform at the upcoming Maui Songwriters Festival at the Grand Wailea, Jan. 15-17.

11. Cliff House controversy: Maui shoreline activist Kai Nishiki alerted residents via social media that neighboring mansion-owner Jonathan Yantis allegedly erected misleading nature preserve signs about native birds, and hired a private security officer to “harass” people about noise, drinking, and music at Hāwea Point. Yantis said he was being painted in a poor light and wanted to combat “noise pollution” and underage drinking. The home estate, adjacent to the Montage Kapalua Resort, is now on the market for $41.9 million.

12. First humpback whale of the 2022-2023 season was spotted off of South Maui in September, slightly ahead of schedule. Ed Lyman, Natural Resource Specialist and Dr. Marc Lammers, Research Ecologist at NOAA’s Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary called the early sighting “unusual, but not unheard of.”

10. Pacaso launches in Maui, but some residents want to pull welcome mat: A new real estate company that helps people own their second luxury home is rolling out a welcome mat in Maui County, but some residents are pushing back against Pacaso, saying the homes are timeshares in disguise that will ruin neighborhoods.

13. Chick-fil-A, Raising Canes hatch as 5 Maui restaurants race to open. It was a race to open for five restaurant chains launching along Hoʻokele Street in Kahului: Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane’s, Sonic, Taco Bell and Teddy’s Bigger Burgers.

14. Maui Seaside Hotel in Kahului to be converted into upscale Hilton: Located at 100 W. Kaʻahumanu Ave. next to Maui Beach Hotel, Maui Seaside is a 181-room limited-service hotel with a restaurant and swimming pool. It was founded in 1956. California’s ASAP Holdings recently acquired the property, saying it will be converted to an “upscale Hilton hotel.”

15. After 38 years of rest, Mauna Loa began erupting again on Nov. 28 at the Moku‘āweoweo summit. Just over two weeks had passed on Dec. 13, when scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said both Mauna Loa and Kīlauea were no longer erupting, and were considered “paused.” Scientists will continue to study any possible relation between the waning activity at the two sites over the next year or so as they comb through additional data. Meanwhile, a swarm of small earthquakes beneath the Kīlauea caldera is being attributed to repressurization after the end of the last eruption. 

16. Former Maui County public officials charged in ongoing fraud: A former Maui County public official has been charged in one of the largest fraud and public corruption cases investigated by the United States Attorney’s Office in Hawaiʻi. In September, Stewart Olani Stant, 55, was accused of a conspiracy, spanning six years from 2012 to 2018, during which time in his capacity as a manager and then the director of the Department of Environmental Management, he is accused of steering contracts to H2O Processes, LLC, a company run by Hawaiʻi businessman Milton Choy. In December, another former Maui County official with the Maui County Department of Environmental Management, Wilfred Tamayo Savella, 71, was charged with taking bribes in the scheme also tied to Honolulu businessman Milton Choy.

17. Roundabout woes ahead of High School opening: The long-awaited opening of Kūlanihāko‘i High School in Kīhei is planned for January, but will it happen? There is a big problem to solve. For 10 years, a “grade-separated crossing” of an overpass or underpass for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the busy four-lane highway has been a requirement for opening the school safely. The Department of Education shared results of a pedestrian crossing study during an open house in September. Meanwhile, construction continues, and traffic worries persist as the target date nears.

18. What Happened to? Maui Now follows-up on a missing person case involving Kevin Winters who made an ATM deposit in Kahana and vanished; and a mysterious death in Pāʻia involving Mana Foods baker John Palicki.

19. Maui council, state set aside money to buy 257 acres in Māʻalaea but developer beats them to it: Within days of a Maui County Council vote to set aside $6.2 million in order to keep 257 acres in Māʻalaea from development, one of Maui’s largest, most polarizing developers scooped up the land.

Māʻalaea also gained media attention in 2022 as wastewater soiled the ocean, and injection wells fueled debate over who’s liable.

20. Missing medical response aircraft: A Hawaiʻi Life Flight emergency fixed wing airplane based on Maui, went off radar while enroute to pick up a patient in Waimea Big Island. The incident occurred at 9:27 p.m. HST on Dec. 15, 2022. During a Dec. 22, 2022 vigil, three wreaths were placed on the sand to honor a flight nurse, a paramedic and a pilot who were never found after the aircraft apparently crashed in waters off of East Maui.

21. Bernard Brown is found guilty in death of Moreira “Mo” Monsalve: After a day of deliberations, a guilty verdict was reached in the second degree murder trial of Bernard Brown. The verdict was unanimous. Brown was on trial for the presumed death of his ex-girlfriend Moreira “Mo” Monsalve, who was last seen on the night of Jan. 12, 2014 at Brown’s ʻĪao Parkside residence. After more than eight years, her body has not been found despite a series of exhaustive searches that included the use of cadaver dogs. Brown had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

22. Maui Police Chief speaks of progress as complaints are made: Flanked by his command staff during a brief news conference, new Maui Police Chief John Pelletier staunchly defended himself and his administration from the critical results of a survey taken by nearly 60% of his rank and file — and made public by the Maui Chapter of the State of Hawaiʻi Organization of Police Officers.

In August, the Maui Police Commission met to review complaints against the chief and several members of his executive staff, alleging violations of policy and procedure. The following month, the commission announced it had declined to initiate disciplinary proceedings. Dec. 15 marked Pelletier’s first full year at the helm.