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Of the 446 applications already filed, 76% are for the first-time homebuyer program, reflecting the impact of the August 2023 wildfires on renters and the ongoing struggle of residents to afford a home in today's pricey market.
The final factor in the traffic equation appears to be the trucks hauling Lahaina wildfire debris from the temporary disposal site in Olowalu to the permanent site at the Central Maui Landfill — up to 50 of them, according to the mauirecovers.org dashboard. The trucks are identified by “Lahaina Wildfire Debris” decals and are “making multiple round trips daily.”
After losing 27 seniors, the defending champion Lunas will look to a new crop of rising leaders to lead them back to the state tournament. Baldwin and Maui High will have something to say about that.
Maui High beat Kealakehe 21-6 on Saturday at King Kekaulike Stadium, Baldwin beat Hilo 17-13 on Friday at Wong Stadium on Hawai’i island, and King Kekaulike beat Honoka’a 9-7 at Honoka’a on Saturday. Lahainaluna travelled to Wai’anae and got beat 41-21 Saturday night, while Damien Memorial School beat Kamehameha Maui 33-17 at Kana‘iaupuni Stadium on Friday.
Neighbors remember Kula Lodge and Restaurant's tasty breakfasts, the cozy lodge setting and the generosity they showed after the 2023 wildfires. Kula Lodge's owners say the restaurant is a "complete loss."
The beloved Maui Film Festival ran from 2000 to 2024, but Barry and Stella Rivers, the married couple who ran the event, said it was a "great ride" but now they want to retire.
“We don't want anybody to be by themselves on days like this. We want them to be with their neighbors, their friends, their family, with us," Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said.
“The trauma will always be there for sure … but the image that I have in my mind of that day, it’s hard to picture that when you see frames being put up and you see construction happening,” fire survivor Dustin Kaleiopu said.
Hawaiian Electric's efforts since the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfires on Maui are part of its $350 million, three-year Wildfire Safety Strategy that is projected to reduce fire risk by 68% to 72%.
"The public information, or lack thereof, causes tremendous angst and panic, and we wanted to ensure that we improve in that area," MEMA Administrator Amos Lonokailua-Hewett said.
Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said his department over the past two years also has invested in better training and equipment for officers and dispatchers.
The team lost for the first time in 14 games this season, to Valencia, Venezuela, in the world championship of the Intermediate (11-13) Baseball World Series.
The 2023 Maui wildfires "still weigh heavily on everybody in the department, and it was something that a lot of our firefighters faced that day that they hope to never have to see again,” Maui Fire Chief Brad Ventura said.
The Central East Maui Little League All-Stars came back from a 3-0 deficit to claim the national championship at the Intermediate 50/70 World Series in Livermore, Calif., with a 7-3 win over Greater New Orleans Little League on Saturday.
“Chief of War,” a project of Jason Momoa’s that has been 15 years in the making, is set during the wars to unify the Hawaiian islands in the last decades of the 18th century and told from the perspective of a real-life chief conflicted over the bloody campaign.
The mass evacuations, business closures and frequent warnings from government officials about Tuesday's tsunami warning reflect the serious approach to potential disasters two years after the deadly fires on Maui.
