In Case You Missed It

The civil lawsuit filed in California against rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs — later amended to add a list of co-defendants, including Maui Police Chief John Pelletier — was dismissed on Tuesday for failure to prosecute.

Maui Mayor Richard Bissen announced the appointment of Kauanoe Batangan to fill the Maui County Council Kahului residency seat left vacant by the passing of Council Member Tasha Kama in October. Batangan will officially assume office on Jan. 1, 2026, due to transitional time over the holidays.

Mayor Richard Bissen today signed Bill 9 into law after Maui County Council approved the measure on second and final reading, marking what he calls “a historic step toward restoring housing availability for residents” and “realigning zoning policy with its original residential purpose.”

The Maui County Council members passed Bill 9 on second and final reading Monday by the same 5-3 vote that advanced the controversial measure earlier this month. Later Monday, Mayor Richard Bissen signed the bill into law. Bissen introduced the measure to phase out transient vacation rentals in apartment-zoned districts in May 2024. While the […]

Catholic Charities Hawai‘i, Kahului Target Store, and various first responders brought holiday cheer to Maui keiki this weekend at its third annual Target “Heroes and Helpers” event.

As the first full-time Major League Baseball manager ever from the state of Hawai’i, Suzuki was humbled as he prepared to go to the Major League Baseball Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 6.

The Waihe’e Villager and Kula Islander each see fewer than five riders per hour. Maui County hopes switching these routes to microtransit, which is like a hybrid between Uber and a public bus, will increase efficiency and cut wait times.

Economists say Maui’s tourism industry is “outperforming” other islands as visitors continue to return after the 2023 wildfires, a trend that could help cushion the island from an overall weakening economy.

On Maui, undocumented immigrants, people with legal status and U.S. citizens have been caught up in the federal mass deportation effort.

Longtime Maui resident Dave Russell began his audio engineering career volunteering at a Lahaina studio — a path that ultimately led him to record Steely Dan’s Grammy-winning “Two Against Nature.”

A draft environmental impact statement has been filed with the state Office of Planning and Sustainable Development for a now scaled-back Mākena Mauka master-planned community project in South Maui.

Jess Kiesel Lee, 43, of Kula, Maui, was sentenced last week by US District Judge Jill A. Otake to 40 months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release for possessing, as a convicted felon, explosive powder. According to court records, Lee set off an improvised explosive device (“IED”)—a homemade firework—near Kaʻamana Street in Kula, on or before Aug. 7, 2024. Officers with the Maui Police Department later encountered multiple IEDs near that location.

Developers have filed an environmental impact statement preparation notice for the Hoʻonani Village mixed-use development proposed for 1,600 residential apartment units near the old Puʻunēnē sugar mill on 166 acres off of Hansen Road in Kahului.

Storer, a 15-year-old sophomore at Kamehameha Schools Maui and member of the Lahaina Swim Club, set new records in the 50-yard freestyle (20.41 seconds), 100 free (44.66), 50 backstroke (22.52) and 100 back (48.96), winning all four races at the meet.

E-bikes have grown in popularity across the country, and the risks have gone up to as more people adopt them. Maui Waena barred them on campus last year, and other schools have since followed suit.

The Maui Police Department arrested an individual on Wednesday, Dec. 3, believed to be connected to multiple residential break-ins within the Haʻikū community, police said. The suspect is currently in custody, and detectives continue to actively investigate these incidents.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Health has been notified of a second detection of measles virus in wastewater from West Maui County. The latest positive sample was collected Nov. 30, 2025 and was tested through the National Wastewater Surveillance System.

The new program will charge visitors $10 a day, $50 a week and $150 a month to park at Kīhei beaches, with priority parking for locals on weekends and holidays.

Maui County reached a significant benchmark in its recovery from the 2023 wildfires this week as rebuilding of the 100th structure was completed, the County of Maui Department of Public Works Development Services Administration announced Tuesday.

The Maui County Council passed the contentious Bill 9 on first reading Monday, advancing a measure that would phase out thousands of transient vacation rentals currently operating in apartment-zoned districts, mostly in South and West Maui. The measure passed by a vote of 5-3 following a daylong meeting that included hours of emotional public testimony […]