Featured

Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green, M.D., issued a proclamation recognizing National School Nurse Day on May 8, 2024.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa placed in the top 2.5% out of more than 20,000 universities in the world, according to the Global 2000 list by the Center for World University Rankings, released on Monday. The flagship campus of the 10-campus UH System placed No. 511 out of 20,966 universities ranked. UH Mānoa also ranked No. 138 among universities in the US.

A waiting list opens next month for the Kaiāulu o Kūku′ia affordable apartment project located on Keawe St. in West Maui.  The project will begin accepting applications at 9 a.m. on June 24; and a lottery will be held on Aug. 20 to determine the order in which applicants are processed for eligibility.

Over 400 delegates are expected to attend in person or virtually during the weekend proceedings. Interim Party Chair, Representative Adrian Tam, will oversee the meeting which is expected to include consideration and debate of topics ranging from the tragic fires on Maui, to housing affordability, access to health care, climate change, and many other issues. 

The Maui Police Department kicked off its impaired driving enforcement campaign, which will run through the Memorial Day weekend. The MPD Traffic Division will be conducting sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols as part of the increased enforcement effort. The public can also expect an increase in police presence utilizing unmarked vehicles. 

To kick off its 22nd annual Japanese Festival, Maui Matsuri plans to hold its Children’s Festival portion of the celebration at the Queen Kaʻahumanu Center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 18.

The first permit for rebuilding a Lahaina residence destroyed in the Aug. 8 wildfire disaster was issued on Wednesday, with another 40 applicants under active review, Department of Public Works Director Jordan Molina told members of the Maui County Council’s Water and Infrastructure Committee on Thursday.

The Maui Chamber of Commerce is now accepting nominations for the Annual Mayor’s Small Business Awards in 2024. All nominees and winners will be honored during an event on Sept. 19, 2024.

The inaugural Mixed Plate Music Fest, presented by Smooth Moves Entertainment, will be happening at the South Maui Gardens in Kīhei from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 18.

The Maui Ocean Center Marine Institute hosts a reef cleanup at Kamaʻole Beach I on Saturday, June 1, from 9 to 11 a.m. 

The national recruitment for the next president of the University of Hawaiʻi 10-campus system will officially begin in late May 2024 after the UH Board of Regents approved the position description and leadership profile at its May 16 monthly meeting.

Hawaiʻi has formally received a Sentinel Landscape designation, the Trust for Public Land announced today. Hawaiʻi’s designation ensures that, under existing federal conservation and the Department of Defense Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration programs, the state’s key conservation efforts will receive priority consideration for funding. 

A new 14-passenger bus based in East Maui was officially blessed May 1 outside the Maui Economic Opportunity office in Hāna. MEO Hāna driver Kane Kanakaʻole, the great grandson of famed kumu hula Edith Kanakaʻole, conducted the blessing with lei made for the bus. Following the blessing, Kane and Tuks Medeiros drove bus around town.

Op-Ed: A plan to phase out more than 7,000 transient vacation rentals that have been operating legally in Maui apartment districts since 1989 likely has a long and rocky road ahead of it, according to The Grassroot Institute of Hawai’i.

The US Senate unanimously passed a resolution introduced by US Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) to mark May as Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month.

A Brown Water Advisory has been issued for West Maui from Honokōwai Beach Park to Pāpalaua Beach Park; and in South Maui from Māʻalaea Bay to Keawakapu Beach Park

Sales and Marketing Executives Honolulu (SME Honolulu) named Chad Buck as the company’s distinguished recipient of its Salesperson of the Year award for 2023. Buck is credited as the driving force behind multiple successful enterprises, including the Hawaiʻi Foodservice Alliance; and for his community outreach including his work to bring food and aid to Maui following the Lahaina wildfires.

The Maui Hotel & Lodging Association awarded a total of $53,500 in scholarships to graduating students of Lahainaluna, Maui High, Baldwin High, Kamehameha Schools Maui and Maui Preparatory Academy, as well as students currently attending post high school institutions.  Thirty-five outstanding individuals were awarded through three scholarship programs: the UH Maui College Hospitality and Culinary Program, the Academy of Hospitality Program and the MHLA Member Program.

The 20th Annual Ian Walsh Menehune Mayhem was held May 4 and 5, 2024 at Ho’okipa Beach Park. The event, hosted by Maui surfer Ian Walsh is a nonprofit event that’s designed to hone the skills of up and coming Maui surfers, and prepare them for success on a larger scale.

Hawai‘i Leadership Forum welcomed 16 local leaders into the ninth cohort of its Omidyar Fellows program. The program seeks to cultivate the conditions in which Hawai‘i thrives by equipping leaders with the skills and cross-sector relationships necessary to affect societal change.