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The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, led by Chair Kaialiʻi Kahele and Interim Administrator and CEO Summer Sylva, has successfully concluded a three-day strategic delegation mission to Washington, D.C., engaging senior Department of Defense civilian leadership and key members of Congress on the future of military-leased lands in Hawaiʻi.

For the first time since the Lahaina fires, Cinco de Mayo celebrations are returning to the Front Street area—bringing a sense of joy, culture and community back to West Maui. Lahaina Cannery is proud to partner with Sergio’s Cantina to host a vibrant, all-day Cinco de Mayo celebration on Tuesday, May 5, 2026.

Twenty-three residents were honored today as 2026 Volunteer Heroes for their contributions to community nonprofit organizations, as Mayor Richard Bissen proclaimed Volunteer Week from April 19-25, 2026, in Maui County.

The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation congratulates the 2026 Hawai‘i Bridge Builder Competition champions, Ian Payba and Jeter Hondo of Maui High School.

Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green said the options for the damaged Upcountry hospital could include a mobile unit designed for disasters or a temporary modular clinic like the one Kaiser built in Lahaina after the 2023 wildfires.

One month after the kona low storms, the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation announced the first round of more than 20 grants to nonprofit organizations statewide from the Stronger Hawaiʻi Fund, deploying more than $650,000 to nonprofits supporting communities facing over $2 billion in statewide damage. 

The next concert in the Hawaiian Music Series in Lahaina, features Maui musician and Kumu Hula Kaniala Masoe. The free community concert will take place on Thursday, April 30, from 6–7:30 p.m. on the lawn of Waiola Church in Lahaina.

Organizers of the Maui Marathon have announced that the race’s start and finish line has been relocated to the mauka lane of Kāʻanapali Parkway, directly across from Whalers Village, to accommodate ongoing construction on a nearby water system.

The Coast Guard and Navy medevaced an ailing cruise ship passenger 58 miles offshore of Oʻahu, Thursday. 

Paipai Kaiāulu, a student club at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College will host an Earth Day 2026 fair titled “Hoʻōla I Ka Wai, Hoʻōla I Ke Ao — Heal the Water, Heal the World” on Saturday, April 25, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the UHMC Pāʻina Building.

Organized by STEMworks™, a program of Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB), the two-day event is the program’s largest student career awareness and teacher professional development event of the year. 

According to court documents, the defendants conspired to pay bribes and kickbacks to a county housing employee in exchange for his agreement to use his official position to ensure that the county approved three affordable housing agreements benefitting the defendants’ development companies.

More than $3.8 million in Hawaiʻi to upgrade the Energy Management System (EMS) platform for the Maui and Hawaiʻi electrical grids. EMS platforms are the backbone of electrical grids, enabling real time monitoring and control to quickly identify and triage threats and impacts to the electrical grid from natural hazards and vice-versa, potential threats to the community and environment from faulty electrical grid resources.  

Forty-three of the state’s top public school seniors, including two top honorees from Maui were honored April 22 at the Citizen-Scholar Awards luncheon held at the Prince Waikīkī.

The four-man crew: Joshua Dukes, Greg Anderson, Johnny Martinez, and Wilton Ngotel; will attempt the 3,100 mile transpacific crossing without sails, engines, or a support vessel, relying entirely on teamwork and physical strength to navigate one of the world’s most demanding environments.

May 1, 2026 will mark 50 years since Hōkūleʻa departed Honolua Bay, Maui on her maiden deep-sea voyage, sailing from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti using traditional, non-instrument navigation. This marked the first time in approximately 600 years that a voyaging canoe sailed the ancient sea road of Kealaikahiki and disproved theories of accidental drift.

Council Chair Alice L. Lee reminded Maui County residents that the county’s new water-conservation ordinance took effect last month, emphasizing that responsible water use remains critical despite recent heavy rainfall.

Department of Environmental Management officials now forecast the planned Central Maui Wastewater Reclamation Facility in Waikapū will cost from $298 million to $420 million, or two- to three-times higher than the $130.6 million project estimate published in the project’s final environmental impact statement in February.

Make a lei, Give a lei, and Wear a lei at Wailuku First Friday to celebrate Lei Day. Join us on Market Street, Friday, May 1, 2026, from 6–9 p.m. for this free, family-friendly community event features Maui-made shopping, ‘ono eats, and live local entertainment in the heart of Wailuku Town.

The discovery offers new clues into how brown dwarfs grow and change over time.