Featured

The Fukunaga Scholarship Foundation is now accepting applications for the 2026 Fukunaga Scholarship through Feb. 23, 2026. In its 76th year, the Foundation continues its commitment to supporting Hawaiʻi students who plan to pursue degrees in business or related fields.

Effective immediately, the County of Maui’s free Tow and Scrap vehicle recycling program will no longer accept hybrid or electric vehicles, according to the County Department of Environmental Management Environmental Protection & Sustainability Divison.

The Maui Economic Recovery Committee (Maui ERC) – Healing Journey Team is honored to announce the launch of Pa‘ūpili 3rd Saturdays, a monthly community healing gathering taking place in Lahaina Town. The first event will be held on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026 at the Lahaina United Methodist Church, marking the beginning of an ongoing series dedicated to healing, connection, and resilience for Lahaina residents impacted by the 2023 Maui wildfires.

With a wind advisory in effect through 6 p.m., Hawaiian Electric will continue to closely monitor weather conditions throughout the night. High wind gusts and low humidity may lead to increased risk for wildfires, particularly in West Maui and in the North and South Kohala areas of Hawaiʻi Island, and may require a Public Safety Power Shutoff within the next 12 to 24 hours.

The proposal comes at a time when Maui County is hoping to one day take over the private system used to divert streams in East Maui.

Up to $3,000 more in funding is now available to each of the first 35 homebuyers in the Hale Kamaʻāina Mortgage Program, a state initiative aimed at offering first-time homebuyers below market rate mortgages.

The newly built Trilogy VI replaces the original catamaran of the same name — a cherished vessel lost in Lahaina Harbor during the catastrophic Lahaina wildfires in August 2023. Carrying forward the name was a deliberate choice, honoring the legacy of the past while looking confidently toward the future.

Following its return to Lahaina for the 2026 season, the Hawaiian Music Series continues with its next show on Thursday, Feb. 26, at its new location on the lawn of Waiola Church, located at 535 Waineʻe Street. The free, family-friendly concert will take place from 6-7:30 p.m. and will feature acclaimed Maui musician Kepa Revelle-Aikala.

Patrick Klein, a lifelong Hawaii resident with deep ties to the local business and not-for-profit community, officially took over as CEO of Easterseals Hawaii at the start of the new year.

The Judicial Council announced that the deadline to submit applications to fill two upcoming vacancies on the Hawaiʻi State Ethics Commission has been extended from Feb. 13 to March 13, 2026. The terms will run for four years from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030.

A new platform has launched on Maui, aiming to lower the cost of living on the island by redirecting tourism dollars into the local economy. Mahalo Rewards, developed by a Maui-born software engineer, eliminates marketing fees for local businesses by utilizing a visitor-funded model.

Brenton Deardorff is a successful artist and a 2005 graduate of the Kīhei Charter School. His art can be viewed at several locations on Maui—at Lahaina Print Sellers at the Lahaina Cannery Mall, Martin & MacArthur in The Shops at Wailea, and at Hands Maui in Pāʻia.

Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi have uncovered new clues about how energy moves through the Sun’s outer atmosphere, using one of nature’s rarest events as their window: total solar eclipses.

Subaru Telescope’s powerful new Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) has been given the Hawaiian name ʻŌnohiʻula, merging the instrument’s scientific mission of “perceiving the realm of our origins” with the cultural heritage of Hawaiʻi.

Whale Trust will present Listening to the Ocean: An Evening of Conversation with Ocean Elders on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026 at The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua, as part of its 20th Annual Whale Tales celebration. The special event will bring together internationally recognized leaders in ocean science, exploration, and conservation for an evening of discussion focused on the future of the world’s oceans.

Advancing are Island Robotics, Waiʻanae High School, Pearl City High School, Kaimuki Middle School, Mililani Mechs Robotics, and Waialua High & Intermediate School. The double qualifications by these teams will allow one other Hawaiʻi team – to be determined by the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation – to advance to the VEX Worlds.

Sedona Wachaiyu has joined the Maui Economic Opportunity Board of Directors as Head Start Policy Council representative.

Maui Nui Golf Club will celebrate International Women’s Day with a special wahine golf event, Drive Like a Woman, on Sunday, March 8 at 3 p.m. The 3 p.m. shotgun invites women of all skill levels to come together for an afternoon of golf, connection, and celebration on the course.

Maui Fire Chief Brad Ventura announced a list of 25 personnel who were promoted recently, including 18 to the rank of Firefighter III and seven to the rank of Firefighter II. All promotions went into effect no later than Jan. 1, 2026.

The Maui Marathon will take place Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Kāʻanapali. Race weekend begins with the official Health & Fitness Expo and runner packet pickup on Friday and Saturday, April 24–25, at the The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Valley Isle Ballroom.