In Case You Missed It

Mayor Richard Bissen and officials from the County’s Office of Recovery announced temporary modular home group housing projects being planned in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the State of Hawaiʻi and private developers to provide an estimated 4,000 interim housing units for wildfire survivors. The information was shared at the Disaster Recovery Community Update meeting held at the Lahaina Civic Center on Wednesday night.

Maui Academy of Performing Arts has received a $1,000,000 donation for its new black box theatre in Wailuku from philanthropist Susan Naylor Moulton. Currently under construction, the Naylor Family Theatre will open in spring 2025.

Preliminary data on coastal water quality monitoring in West Maui was presented Wednesday at a public speaker series featuring Andrea Kealoha, Ph.D., an assistant professor of Oceanography at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

While thousands of wildfire survivors remain displaced, Maui County Council members heard Tuesday a proposal for the state to purchase the former 216-room Maui Sun Hotel property in central Kīhei and convert it into long-term affordable workforce housing and a public prekindergarten facility.

The community is encouraged to attend the County of Maui’s Weekly Disaster Recovery Community Update Meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 6 at the Lahaina Civic Center to hear about the County’s interim housing plan.

Maui County’s Department of Finance was under-staffed and ill-prepared to collect transient accommodations tax money beginning in November 2021 when a state law allowing the county to tap millions of visitor-generated revenue went into effect, according to a report by the Office of the County Auditor.

This week on Maui, a musical tribute to Gutsy Women honors Women’s History Month, An African American dance company shares its drumming roots, and Maui Arts & Cultural Center has its annual gala fundraiser. Coming up fast are the Tony Award winning musical Kinky Boots, Maui Pops Orchestra’s music of the Roaring ’20s, and a historic play reviving the memory of Hawaiʻi’s Prince Kūhiō.

Maui musician Kamalei Kawaʻa secured a spot on Team Chance during the Blind Auditions of NBC’s “The Voice” by singing “Redemption Song” by Bob Marley and the Wailers. Just seconds into his audition, Chance the Rapper turned his chair in the hopes of securing Kawaʻa for his team.

Upcountry, Maui post offices are nō ka ʻoi when it comes to service. The US Postal Service recently recognized the Kula, Makawao and Pukalani Post Offices as among its very best postal retail offices in the entire nation.

A new AARP Hawaiʻi/Smart Growth America report about the potential danger of losing affordable housing in Hawaiʻi has triggered a response from the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corp., which is responsible for increasing and preserving the supply of affordable housing statewide.

The group Hoʻomakaukau Maui Hikina – “East Maui Ready” Leadership (EMR) is issuing a standing advisory requesting that both Waiʻoka and Kaihalulu areas of East Maui be avoided when looking for recreational spots to visit.

The Hawaiʻi State Senate Committee on Ways and Means passed out several bills aimed at addressing key priorities for the Senate, including bills to assist in wildfire recovery, agriculture, economic development, homelessness and housing.

What they stumbled upon was an unprecedented observation that was previously unknown to the scientific community, according to the PWF. The groundbreaking photographs provide an unparalleled glimpse into the private lives of these majestic marine mammals.

The Central Maui Landfill will be the final disposal site for an estimated 400,000 cubic yards of toxic ash and debris left in the aftermath of the Aug. 8 wildfire that leveled Lahaina Town.

In a move to bolster sustainable transportation infrastructure and promote electric vehicle adoption, Maui County celebrated the grand opening of new electric vehicle charging stations today.

The US Army Corps of Engineers announced on Tuesday the successful installation and turnover of the newly constructed temporary campus for King Kamehameha III Elementary School students in Lahaina to the Hawai‘i State Department of Education.

This week on Maui, there are free performances by the Brigham Young university jazz orchestra, Brother Noland and renown pianist June Choi Oh, Billboard hitmaker Iration performs at the MAAC, Mantoku Mission holds its annual bazaar, and the Nāpili Farmers Market reopens after the Aug. 8 Lahaina wildfire.

A bill that seeks to establish a nine-member Lele Community District Board to facilitate rebuilding decisions for the post-wildfire Lahaina area of West Maui, is scheduled for key committee decision making on Wednesday.

A measure that would restore the counties’ power to regulate the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products and e-cigarettes appears to be stalled in the House Finance Committee, and it may die there Wednesday if no action is taken.

A lawsuit was filed Tuesday by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation and the Center for Reproductive Rights challenging a midwifery law that they say is preventing pregnant people in Hawaiʻi from using skilled midwives for their pregnancies and births, as they have for generations.