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About a 6-mile segment of Honoapi‘ilani Highway from Ukumehame to Launiupoko would be moved mauka, beyond the reach of rising sea levels, to protect a vital roadway to West Maui. Even now, portions of the highway from Pāpalaua Wayside Park to the Lahaina Bypass are a mere stone’s throw away from the ocean.

The Department of Law Enforcement asks anyone with unused fireworks on Oʻahu to bring them to a fireworks amnesty event at Aloha Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 11.

A group of unsheltered residents living on Amala Place in Kahului sued the county in 2021, saying they weren’t given enough notice and weren’t granted a hearing to make their case before the sweep.

Maui native Jarrett A. Dempsey has been promoted to partner at Cades Schutte LLP, the firm announced Tuesday, alongside two other promotions in its Honolulu office’s Litigation and Trusts & Estates departments.

Update: Caldwell was located and found to be in good health, according to Maui police.  The Maui Police Department thanked the public for their assistance.

Maui United Way and Friends of the Children’s Justice Center, with generous sponsorship from Pacific Media Group, recently concluded their annual Holiday Toy Drive, bringing holiday cheer to children in need across Maui County. For the past nine years, these two agencies have collaborated to serve the community’s keiki, making the drive a cherished tradition made possible by the continued support of local donors. 

Among the topics to be discussed is the recently announced $1.6 billion in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds that was appropriated by Congress after the 2023 Maui wildfires.

An agriculture inspector from the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture Plant Quarantine Branch in Kona retrieved the animal early Sunday morning and arranged for it to be transported to Honolulu. This was the second opossum in as many months to be captured in the islands.

The US Department of the Interior has announced $41 million in funding through the Biden-Harris administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support 21 water and ecosystem health projects nationwide, including two in Hawaiʻi.

The Climate Advisory Team, established by Hawaiʻi Governor Josh Green, M.D., in May 2024, on Tuesday released its policy paper, including recommendations to inform the administration’s legislative priorities for the 2025 legislative session and beyond. The policy paper describes actions Hawaiʻi can take immediately while simultaneously building the foundation for long-term policies that will help Hawaiʻi survive and respond to future disasters.

Kids Hurt Too Hawaiʻi, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting children and young adults experiencing grief or trauma, is offering monthly peer support groups in Lahaina and Wailuku to assist families impacted by the wildfires and other challenges.

Six grassroots nonprofit hospice providers—Hawai‘i Care Choices, Hospice Maui, Kaua‘i Hospice, Navian Hawaii, North Hawai‘i Hospice, and St. Francis Hospice—have united to form the Hawai‘i Palliative and Hospice Care Collaborative, a statewide initiative leveraging decades of expertise to provide compassionate palliative and hospice care across Hawai‘i.

Hawaii State Federal Credit Union has introduced two new loan programs this month to help address the growing affordability challenges in Hawaiʻi’s housing market.

By a 5-4 vote, Maui County Council Member Tasha Kama maintained chairmanship of the Housing and Land Use Committee last week, although it came with diluted committee responsibilities and no jurisdiction over proposals for increasing housing availability or affordability.

Update: Wright-Jordan was located and found to be in good health.  The Maui Police Department thanked the public for their assistance.

Maui student Caroline Sloper was recently awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the PinkRose Foundation, which works to provide post-secondary scholarships to students who have lost a parent to breast cancer.  “I am honored to receive this PinkRose scholarship in memory of Marie Dibattista,” said Sloper. “This scholarship will help me with my educational costs at […]

Maui United Way is proud to announce the recipients of its Mā‘ona Food Security Grant, a new initiative aimed at addressing critical food security challenges in Maui County.

The County of Hawaiʻi is continuing emergency rules for Waipiʻo Valley Road, three years after the rules were first enacted in 2022.

The agreement was hammered out in December following a three-day strike. The union wields significant power with 930 members — more than half of the 1,650 employees at Maui Health’s three hospitals.

Maui Economic Opportunity’s Head Start preschool program, which offers comprehensive early childhood education at no cost to income-qualifying families, will begin accepting applications Feb. 1 for the 2025-2026 school year.