In Case You Missed It

ʻĀina Lani Pacific is seeking a Maui County grant of more than $4.9 million to help pay for steeply rising construction costs projected for the developer’s 28-home Kilohana Makai project in Kīhei.

Maui Academy of Performing Arts has started construction on its new black box theater in the former National Dollar Store building at 2027 Main Street in Wailuku. With plans to consolidate programming in the new facility, the Board of Directors made the decision to list MAPA’s other two commercial buildings across the street for sale with Commercial Properties of Maui.  

Nearly six months after the Aug. 8 Lahaina wildfire, Maui police released a 98-page preliminary after-action report outlining 32 recommendations.

A project to install fencing in West Maui to keep invasive, hoofed animals out of key watershed forests, has a mutually beneficial goal of enhancing human health and environmental well-being.

The ʻUkiu Energy 40-megawatt (MW) biofuel-powered generator facility would be built on 10 acres owned by Hawaiian Electric at Waena across from the Central Maui Landfill – Refuse and Recycling Center on Pūlehu Road.

The Army Corps of Engineers completed its final phase of the federal wildfire response in Kula ahead of schedule last month, with their focus now shifting to West Maui. Volunteers in Kula say there’s more to be done and the remaining cleanup likely rests on the shoulders of residents.

Hawai‘i-made narrative feature film ‘Chaperone’ premiered in Park City Utah as part of the 30th Annual Slamdance Film Festival last week and took home the festival’s prestigious Grand Jury Award for Breakouts.

After his appointment to the 10th House District seat and the beginning of this year’s lawmaking session, Tyson Miyake is reading hundreds of bills, attending countless meetings and finding he’s not just another fresh face at the Hawaiʻi Legislature.

Two West Maui locations and the Central Maui Landfill are under consideration as permanent disposal sites for an estimated 400,000 cubic yards of ash and debris to be removed from Lahaina wildfire burn zones.

Executives with Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines discussed their recently announced merger agreement during a fireside chat hosted by the Maui Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.

Maui High School’s Blue Thunder 1 robotics team finished as a tournament finalist and took home the Energy Award after competing last week in the 2024 Hawaiʻi Middle and High School VEX Robotics Regional Championships on Oahu.

Maui Economic Opportunity’s Head Start Lahaina site, the only preschool in town spared by the Aug. 8 wildfires, will reopen Thursday, Feb. 1, following extensive cleaning, repairs, renovations and clearances for health and safety.

Increased earthquake activity and inflationary ground deformation at Kīlauea’s summit began occurring during the early morning hours of Jan. 31, 2024, indicating movement of magma in the subsurface, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Scientists with the HVO issued an activity notice, but noted that Kīlauea volcano is not erupting.

A year ago today, nearly 700 gallons of diesel fuel spilled at the Maui Space Surveillance Complex at Haleakalā’s summit. Since then Air Force reports its officials have worked with the Maui community and Native Hawaiian organizations to remediate the site.

A total of 2,124 whales were observed throughout the state during the Great Whale Count and Ocean Count held Saturday, Jan. 27. Organizers say this number may represent duplicate sightings of the same whale by different observers or at different time periods or different locations throughout the day.

Six months after reaching a settlement with owners of a luxury yacht for its grounding, removal and damage to natural resources, the owners still have not paid the thousands of dollars owed to the state.

After paddling miles and hours on the ocean, two kayakers ended up off the shore of Launiupoko, and there it was: a humpback mother whale “tail sailing” beside her calf.

Hawaiian Electric is continuing restoration work to rebuild portions of the electric system in Lahaina in an effort to ensure safe and reliable power to all West Maui customers following the August 2023 wildfires. Ongoing restoration efforts include the rebuilding of transmission and distribution lines along former routes in the Lahaina area with the installation of new interim steel poles and electrical equipment.

At its upcoming meeting on Jan. 26, 2024, the Board of Land and Natural Resources will consider enforcement action against the owners of the vessel Nakoa, which, in February 2023, grounded outside the Honolua-Mokulēʻia Bay Marine Life Conservation District. In the incident, 119 specimens of stony coral and 1640.5 square meters of live rock were damaged.

New research reveals a daily pattern pattern for humpback whale songs which dominate the marine soundscape during the winter months off Maui. Researchers with the University of Hawai’i, in partnership with NOAA’s Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary found that whales move their singing away from shore throughout the day and return to the nearshore in the evening.