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Hawaiian Electric Company unveiled details today regarding its Public Safety Power Shutoff or PSPS program for lessening the risk of wildfires in Hawaiʻi, which will launch on July 1. As part of this program, Hawaiian Electric may preemptively shut off power in certain areas it has identified as high risk during periods of forecast high winds and dry conditions. In Maui County, the program will start in West Maui, Upcountry, parts of Central and South Maui, and parts of central Molokaʻi (affecting approximately 26,100 customers).

Since the fund began accepting applications on March 1, 2024, 48 registrations have been received from families who lost loved ones in the August 2023 wildfires, while 17 have been submitted by injured survivors.

Update: (11:44 a.m., May 29, 2024) Cabreros was located and found to be in good health, according to Maui police.  The Maui Police Department thanked the public for their assistance.

If you stop by the Haleakalā Creamery booth at Maui AgFest next weekend, don’t be startled if you’re greeted by a goat. Rebecca Woodburn-Rist, owner of Maui’s “Farm to Spoon” goat dairy, will be selling her delicious goat milk caramel sauces and “Goatlato” ice cream with a little help from the herd. 

The 13th Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture (FestPAC), the world’s largest celebration of indigenous Pacific Islanders convenes on O‘ahu from June 6-16, 2024. More than 2,200 delegates from 27 Pacific nations will gather for 10 days of cultural exchange, appreciation, and celebration at various venues across the island. More than 50 festival events, including the opening and closing ceremonies, Festival Village, heritage dance and contemporary music performances, heritage arts demonstrations, visual arts exhibits, and more, will be free and open to the public.

An international team of scientists, with the help of three observatories atop Maunakea on the Big Island, discovered the relatively close exoplanet dubbed Gliese 12 b in our galactic neighborhood.

With a June 4 deadline just a week away, there’s been a flurry of activity in the past three weeks by candidates seeking Maui County political offices, with several checking out and/or filing their official nomination papers.

The Maui Traffic Division conducted eight separate impaired driving checkpoints, and screened 1,768 vehicles, which resulted in 13 arrests for impaired driving, nine other arrests for various offenses, issued 23 citations, and towed six vehicles.

The Maui Police Department is asking for the public’s help with any information on the whereabouts of Gloria Brewer, 50, of Makawao. Brewer was reported missing on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, by a family member who has not seen her since the Fall of 2023 in the Makawao area.

COVID-19 activity is on the rise, according to a new Respiratory Disease Activity dashboard released by the Hawai‘i State Department of Health. 

Gov. Josh Green, M.D., highlighted the achievements of the 2024 legislative session to unlock more affordable housing across the state in a ceremony at the State Capitol. Green underscored the collaborative efforts behind several significant bills aimed at addressing the state’s housing crisis. 

The deadline is fast approaching for COFA citizens who were affected by the Aug. 8 wildfires on Maui to apply for FEMA disaster assistance. The 60-day application period ends Friday, May 31.

The Chamber of Commerce Hawaiʻi, in collaboration with nine other diverse, statewide business organizations, hosted the Inaugural Chamber Alliance Legislative Wrap-Up and Pau Hana event at the YWCA Honolulu on May 22, 2024. State lawmakers and business leaders discussed cost of living challenges, legislative session reflections and 2025 legislative priorities.

Registration opens Wednesday for the County of Maui, Department of Parks and Recreation, South District 9- and 10-year-old Youth Basketball League.

The Board of Land and Natural Resources has rejected a request from the owners of the luxury yacht Nakoa for a formal contested case hearing to fight a $1.8 million fine assessed last month.

Allen’s Plumbing will be performing work on the County’s water system, starting Thursday, May 30, 2024. The work will result in a water shutdown for a portion of Kīhei from approximately 9 p.m. Thursday, May 30 to 5 a.m. Friday, May 31, 2024.

The Institute of Hawaiian Music (IHM) at the University of Hawai‘i Maui College has just released a CD of new music written and recorded by a special cohort of students. Entitled Ha‘ina Ko Wehi: Celebrating West Maui in Mele, the project was supported with a grant from the North Beach-West Maui Benefit Fund and originally intended to create new music for West Maui. However, given the tragic wildfires of Aug. 8, 2023 – occurring just two weeks before the group was scheduled to begin its work – the project’s focus shifted and many students chose to write and sing about Lahaina, its rich history, and their hopes for its future.

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen praised the work of Maui Economic Opportunity, citing the efforts that “make a difference in the lives so many” in proclaiming May as Community Action Month in Maui County.

Three Wailuku men were issued multiple citations within the ʻĀhihi-Kīnaʻu Natural Area Reserve on May 21, at approximately 9:30 p.m. Officers recovered a total of 78 different fish. The men are scheduled to appear in Maui District Court on June 27 at 9 a.m.

A 57-year-old man died as a result of a motor vehicle collision on Lono Ave., southeast of Kaʻahumanu Ave. in Kahului early Monday morning. Police say the man who died was known to frequent the area, and was lying in the roadway when an unknown vehicle drove over him at around 3:10 a.m. on May 27, 2024.