Maui News

Maui County’s state Senate delegation was united Monday in voting with the majority of senators to kill a bill that would have decriminalized the possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana.

Officials from US Army Corps of Engineers, state Department of Health and other agencies will discuss the status of debris clearing, how trees in the burn zone are determined to be hazardous and testing for shoreline water quality during this week’s meeting.

The Lānaʻi Culture & Heritage Center hosts its 3rd Annual Kupulau Festival on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in front of the center in Lāna‘i City.

Gov. Josh Green, M.D., has announced a new partnership with HomeAid Hawai‘i to build Ka La‘i Ola, a project that will create 450 units for wildfire survivors on Maui who were not eligible for FEMA assistance. Ka La‘i Ola is the largest interim housing development announced for Maui wildfire survivors to date. Groundbreaking will soon be announced. 

Lahaina will be the second Branch of Tomorrow on Maui. The first is Kīhei, which opened in 2017. Bank of Hawai‘i has served the people of Lahaina for nearly a century—beginning with its first branch in the area on Front Street in 1930. In addition to the new branch, Bank of Hawai‘i Foundation donated $100,000 to Hawai‘i Community Lending for the Lahaina Homeowner Recovery Program.

The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation advises highway users of nighttime lane closures along the state-owned portion of Keawe St. adjacent to the Lahaina Bypass (Route 3000) beginning on Wednesday, April 24.

The Maui Fair Alliance announced that it will not organize or hold a Maui Fair in 2024, and will be taking steps to dissolve after years of dedicated service to the Maui community. The Maui Fair was last held in October 2019 several months before Hawaiʻi’s first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the islands.

Local collection points will be available April 27 for residents to safely dispose of unused or expired medications during the National Take-Back Initiative. On Maui, medications can be taken from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Wailuku Police Station at 55 Mahalani St.

Gov. Josh Green, M.D., marked Earth Day 2024, by announcing the appointment of Charles “Chip” Fletcher, Ph.D., as Special Advisor for Climate and Resilience and David Karl, Ph.D., as Chair of the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Marine Affairs. These appointments are aimed at addressing critical environmental challenges and advancing initiatives for sustainable development in the state.

US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) announced that the Hawai‘i Green Infrastructure Authority is receiving $62.45 million in grant funding from the Environmental Protection Agency to deliver solar power to low-income households across the state.

The Maui County Small Business Week starts on Sunday, April 28 and ends on Saturday, May 4, 2024. The 2024 MauiSBW program includes four educational events designed for one-person, mom-and-pop, micro to small size of businesses.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife will conduct animal control activities for feral goats, feral sheep, mouflon, and mouflon/feral sheep hybrids in an effort to protect critical habitat for the endemic palila bird on Hawaiʻi Island.

The Hawai‘i Department of Health Maui Food Safety Branch issued a red “closed” placard to a Wailuku business on Friday due to a cockroach infestation.

Slim’s Power Tools, Hawaiʻi’s largest locally owned power tool distributor, presents the 31st Annual He-Man Competition, set to take place on Saturday, at the storeʻs Kalepa Place location in Kahului, Maui.

A minute-by-minute timeline assembled by fire investigators provides a chilling, detailed account of how a grassland fire reported at 2:55 p.m. Aug. 8, mauka of the Lahaina Bypass and Kelawea Mauka Makai Park, rapidly grew into a monster, devouring everything in its path.

The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court ruled that the Board of Land and Natural Resources, through the State Attorney General’s office, acted in bad faith when it alleged there was not enough permitted water to fight the Aug. 8 wildfires because of an earlier ruling that capped the amount of water diverted from East Maui streams.

Dr. Hanna Mounce, manager of the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project, will speak at the annual meeting of the Friends of Haleakalā National Park on Thursday, April 25. Her presentation will cover “Alalā Recovery, Maui Nui.” 

Hundreds of volunteers dug up and chopped down invasive plants along the banks of Makiki Stream on Oʻahu, during an annual Earth Day cleanup event on Saturday.

Earth’s magnetic field surrounds us every second of the day, everywhere on the planet. Anyone who has picked up a pocket compass and seen the magnetic needle quickly align itself has seen the action of this ever-present invisible field. But can we harness the magnetic field to forecast volcanic activity? Emerging technology in the field of “quantum” science may aid us in doing so.

O‘ahu’s Melanie Shim, MD, and Maui’s Felicitas Livaudais, MD, were both recognized for their outstanding volunteer activities that improve community health and wellness.