In Case You Missed It

Public debate intensified Wednesday during several hours of sometimes heated testimony over a proposed phase-out of vacation rentals before the Maui County Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee.

Nearly two years after the devastating Maui wildfires, survivors of the disaster are showing encouraging signs of recovery, although problems with healthcare access, children’s mental health and housing instability persist, according to a report by the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization. The results come from the latest update of the Maui Wildfire Exposure Study, […]

Changing rainfall, persistent drought and invasive species are taking a toll on the watershed and leaving East Maui farmers with less water than expected after the restoration of streams.

The Los Angeles Rams in collaboration with Hollman Lockers and design firm Forty Nine Degrees announced an initiative to support the Maui community by building new locker rooms for Lahainaluna High School in Lahaina, Maui.

A “No Kings” event on Maui drew a crowd of demonstrators along Kaʻahumanu Avenue in Kahului, stretching from the Wākea Avenue intersection, past South Kāne Street on Saturday afternoon.

With the average age of Hawaiʻi farm producers at 60.7 years in 2022, many groups in Maui County are offering programs to attract young people to the farming profession.

Community members say there aren’t enough Hawaiian homestead opportunities in East Maui and hope the project can ease the burden on multigenerational households living under one roof.

There is much to appreciate about the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption as it approaches its 6-month anniversary on June 23. The stunning episodic lava fountains and lava flows erupting within Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park have provided island residents and visitors with safe and accessible viewing opportunities. However, volcanic hazards are always present. 

Gates to restrict access to the road could be installed anywhere from six months to a year or more. As they sit in limbo, houseless community members living there worry where they’ll go next.

Overflow crowds turned out Monday to support or attack the hotly debated vacation rental phase-out bill, but the action started early, on the sidewalk outside the Kalana O Maui Building in Wailuku. Wearing red Lahaina Strong and yellow ILWU shirts, supporters of Bill 9 formed a circle and prayed. Their signs read “Maui People First,” […]

Citing Maui’s severe post-wildfire housing crisis, the Bissen administration presented its formal case to a County Council committee to phase out approximately 6,000 short-term vacation rentals mostly in West and South Maui. “We simply can’t build fast enough to meet the scale of demand we’re facing,” Mayor Richard Bissen told members of the Housing and […]

Lifeguards have extended hours this year, but with only 12 towers on Maui, dozens of beaches still don’t have protection.

After a tense 90-minute debate, the Maui County Council voted 6-3 on Friday to give its staff a 15% pay increase, plus an additional 5% for experience and performance-based “step” increases.

Work on the state’s $25.5 million Puʻunēnē Avenue road widening project is around 40% complete, according to state Department of Transportation Director Ed Sniffen in an email Wednesday. The projected timeline for the entire project to widen the roadway from two to four lanes is either late third quarter or early fourth quarter of 2026. […]

Three sites have been selected for up-close plans: Olowalu town, Mile Marker 14 and Ukumehame Beach Park.

Council members ended their work on the fiscal 2026 budget Tuesday, giving final approval to a $1.558 billion spending plan that sets the course for Maui County government beginning July 1.

West Maui state Rep. Elle Cochran missed 51 of 60 House floor sessions — an 85% absence rate — during the 2025 legislative session while collecting $22,725 in per diem payments intended to cover off-island living expenses, according to House records. Her near-total absence from legislative proceedings in Honolulu, coupled with her acceptance of these taxpayer-funded […]

Gov. Josh Green, M.D., today announced the appointment of Dori Booth as Hawaiʻi’s new State Fire Marshal, reviving a critical public safety position that has been vacant for nearly 46 years. The original Office of the State Fire Marshal was abolished by Act 241 of the 1978 Session Laws of Hawaiʻi, with its responsibilities devolved to the counties as of July 1, 1979.

The West Maui Improvement Foundation started advocating for a fire station in Olowalu after the 2018 Lahaina fire destroyed 21 houses in the area. 

With the diligent help of the community, the sign was recovered and the members of Lahaina Rotary Club and Lahaina Restoration Foundation re-installed the sign on Friday. The second sign which stood across from Puamana Park will be installed at a future date.