Maui News

Fall 2024 enrollment at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa surpassed 20,000 students for the first time since 2013, the university reports. The final enrollment numbers will not be official until the first week of October, but as of Sept. 17, there are 20,012 students enrolled at UH Mānoa, a 4% increase over 2023. 

The County of Maui Department of Parks and Recreation PALS Program is seeking seasonal employees for its winter 2024 session.

Kaiser Permanente members are invited to a free Women’s Health Fair at the Wailuku Medical Office on Saturday, Sept. 21 from 8 a.m. to noon. Attendees can receive mammograms, cervical cancer screenings/pap tests, resting echocardiograms, blood pressure checks, and laboratory services.

Hawaiian Electric is raising awareness about its drone operations after one of its contracted drones was damaged while midair, downing the tool as it was being used to inspect overhead lines on Maui last week. Company representatives say the drone was purposely targeted. As part of its ongoing wildfire safety strategy, Hawaiian Electric is using unmanned aircrafts, or drones, for aerial inspections within Maui County, Hawai‘i Island and O‘ahu to inspect its electrical infrastructure in identified wildfire risk areas.

Hundreds of Hawaiian Telcom employees throughout the state and on Maui will spend the day volunteering this Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, the company announced

The Rotary Club of Kīhei-Wailea and the Rotary Satellite Club of Kīhei-Wailea will host a Peace Pole dedication ceremony this Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, at 9 a.m. This will be the first joint project between the two Rotary clubs in South Maui. The public is invited to attend this occasion at South Maui Gardens, 35 Auhana Road, Kīhei.

The County Department of Parks and Recreation will continue one-day mass permitting events for summer 2025 private-party community center permits in West Maui and South Maui districts, county officials announced.

Maui police have launched a shooting investigation after the death of a motorist in Waikapū early Monday morning. Police have since identified the victim as Shawn Lewis, 42, of Lahaina. Lewis was reportedly driving along the Honoapiʻilani Highway in Waikapū early Monday morning when he crashed shortly after midnight on Sept. 16, 2024, near Waiolu Place, forcing the closure of the highway for five hours while police conducted an investigation. The cause of death is pending autopsy.

SUM awarded the 2024 Michael Williams Certificate of Appreciation to Lahaina Strong. This award is presented annually to an exemplary individual who is standing up for Maui County’s residents. Lahaina Strong was chosen for the role they played in the effort in returning short-term rental units across Maui County into long-term housing.

US Sen. Brian Schatz led 10 bipartisan senators on Friday in calling for additional disaster relief funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund and Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) ahead of the governments’ Sept. 30 funding deadline.

Rent stabilization is legal, but will it work to help residents at the mercy of landlords seeking the highest possible return on their Maui property investments? That’s the question left hanging after Maui County Council members heard Monday evening from more than two dozen testifiers, most of whom favored putting brakes on runaway rental costs.

Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines, announced today the interim Honolulu leadership team that will guide Hawaiian Airlines operations from transaction close through a full combination of operations under a single operating certificate with two brands – Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines. Current Alaska Airlines regional president of Hawai‘i/Pacific, Joe Sprague, will be named chief executive officer of Hawaiian Airlines.

The US Department of Transportation has given Alaska Airlines permission to close on its $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, after the carriers agreed to maintain key Hawaii routes and adopt consumer protections. This exemption allows the carriers, which are respectively the fifth and tenth largest domestic airlines, to finalize their merger while maintaining separate operations until DOT rules on their transfer application.

The Rotary Satellite Club of Kīhei-Wailea will hear from Dr. Justin Feinstein with the Maui Calm Project on Tuesday, Sept. 17 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. He will be discussing Maui’s mental health crisis and an innovative emergency response that his nonprofit has been working on bringing to the island.

Step aside foie gras and soufflé. Poke has arrived as haute cuisine. And this surge of poke popularity benefitted the Maui Strong Fund recently during the fourth annual Kaua‘i Poke Fest.

Kīlauea volcano is erupting near Makaopuhi Crater in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. Eruptive activity increased this morning between 4 and 5 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. Scientists with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory say there is no immediate threat to life or infrastructure. The Volcano Alert Level/Aviation Color Code remains at WATCH/ORANGE.

Evacuations were implemented for businesses near Hanakai Street on Monday night due to a leaky CO2 tank at the Airgas facility in Kahului. The incident was reported at 6:33 p.m. on Sept. 16, 2024.

The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation advises highway users that eastbound and westbound lanes of Kaʻahumanu Ave. (Route 32) between Kāne Street and Lono Ave. will be impacted by water line work for the Maui Palms Hampton Inn project on Thursday, Sept. 19.

More than 20 years after he moved onto his homestead land on Moloka‘i, Woodrow Poepoe has a home to live in, complete with electric lights and running water. Born and raised on Moloka‘i, “Uncle Blue” got a lease from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) at Nāʻiwa Homestead in 1986 and immediately moved onto his five rural acres. Now in his seventies, he has made do camping and getting along without access to infrastructure.

The winners have been announced for the 17th Annual Kū Mai Ka Hula competition, held on Saturday, Sept. 14 in Castle Theater at Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Eight award-winning hālau from Maui, O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, and the continental US participated this year.