Maui News

All Walmart locations statewide will participate in the first Wellness Day of 2025 this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., where customers can receive free BMI and blood pressure screenings, and affordable immunizations like COVID-19, flu, RSV, tetanus, hepatitis, HPV and more.

The Hui No‘eau Visual Arts Center’s annual juried exhibition will be on display Jan. 17 through Feb. 21, 2025, with an opening reception to be held on Friday, Jan. 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. A walk through with juror Abigail Romanchak will be held Friday, Jan. 17 from 4 to 5 p.m.

“Hawaiʻi Conservation Kuleana,” a new podcast from the DLNR, launches next Monday, Jan. 13. Monthly episodes will explore the complex balance of conservation, cultural stewardship and community engagement in Hawaiʻi.

Researchers at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa have made an exciting discovery: a virus found in the ocean called FloV-SA2 carries the genetic instructions for making part of a ribosome—a crucial component in cells that turns genetic information into proteins. This is the first time a virus that infects eukaryotic organisms (such as plants, animals, and fungi) has been found to have this capability, according to UH researchers.

Queen Kaʻahumanu Center is seeking vendors for the return of the Baby Expo, happening on Saturday, Jan. 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Lights at both the Waiʻale Park and Waiehu Terrace Park basketball courts are temporarily out of service. The outage is due to vandals severing light control box wiring.

A 49-year-old Haʻikū woman suffered fatal injuries in a single-vehicle crash on Baldwin Avenue in Pāʻia, Wednesday.

FEMA continues to house survivors of the Aug. 8, 2023, Maui wildfires through their Direct Housing Program. FEMA responds to questions that tenants may have about the program and their housing security as well as questions landlords may have about housing fire survivors.

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa nursing students Cedric Abad and Sandra Xiao credit their six-week internship at Molokaʻi General Hospital this past summer with transforming their career aspirations and deepening their commitment to healthcare.

The five nonprofits receiving grants from Nareit Hawaiʻi are Hawaiʻi Literacy ($35,000), Kaibigan ng Lahaina ($30,000), Hawaiʻi Land Trust ($30,000), The Pantry by Feeding Hawaiʻi Together ($25,000), and The Salvation Army ($25,000). 

About a 6-mile segment of Honoapi‘ilani Highway from Ukumehame to Launiupoko would be moved mauka, beyond the reach of rising sea levels, to protect a vital roadway to West Maui. Even now, portions of the highway from Pāpalaua Wayside Park to the Lahaina Bypass are a mere stone’s throw away from the ocean.

The Department of Law Enforcement asks anyone with unused fireworks on Oʻahu to bring them to a fireworks amnesty event at Aloha Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 11.

Maui native Jarrett A. Dempsey has been promoted to partner at Cades Schutte LLP, the firm announced Tuesday, alongside two other promotions in its Honolulu office’s Litigation and Trusts & Estates departments.

Update: Caldwell was located and found to be in good health, according to Maui police.  The Maui Police Department thanked the public for their assistance.

Maui United Way and Friends of the Children’s Justice Center, with generous sponsorship from Pacific Media Group, recently concluded their annual Holiday Toy Drive, bringing holiday cheer to children in need across Maui County. For the past nine years, these two agencies have collaborated to serve the community’s keiki, making the drive a cherished tradition made possible by the continued support of local donors. 

Among the topics to be discussed is the recently announced $1.6 billion in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds that was appropriated by Congress after the 2023 Maui wildfires.

An agriculture inspector from the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture Plant Quarantine Branch in Kona retrieved the animal early Sunday morning and arranged for it to be transported to Honolulu. This was the second opossum in as many months to be captured in the islands.

The US Department of the Interior has announced $41 million in funding through the Biden-Harris administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support 21 water and ecosystem health projects nationwide, including two in Hawaiʻi.

The Climate Advisory Team, established by Hawaiʻi Governor Josh Green, M.D., in May 2024, on Tuesday released its policy paper, including recommendations to inform the administration’s legislative priorities for the 2025 legislative session and beyond. The policy paper describes actions Hawaiʻi can take immediately while simultaneously building the foundation for long-term policies that will help Hawaiʻi survive and respond to future disasters.

Kids Hurt Too Hawaiʻi, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting children and young adults experiencing grief or trauma, is offering monthly peer support groups in Lahaina and Wailuku to assist families impacted by the wildfires and other challenges.