Maui News

The nonprofit community development financial institution, Hawai‘i Community Lending, has hired Aikue Kalima, former Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund Manager for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, as its lending director. 

The Hawaiʻi State Junior Golf Association | First Tee – Hawaiʻi (HSJGA|FTH) conducted the 2024 Kāʻanapali Junior Classic at Kāʻanapali Royal Golf Course this weekend on Aug. 17-18. This event was 36 holes. A total of 35 junior golfers from across the state teed up in the event. This tournament awards points for HSJGA | FTH Player of the Year and the season race to the coveted HSJGA | FTH Tour Championship on Maui in December (an event that is by invitation only to top finishers on the HSJGA|FTH Points List throughout the season).

The Realtors Association of Maui members recently received the 2024 Nate Ellis Award by Inman, for their community service and support within the industry. The award recognized RAM members for their commitment and contributions to the community in the aftermath of Maui’s devastating wildfires.

The next Hawaiian Music Series of 2024 will take place on Thursday, Aug. 29, at 6 p.m., at the Lahaina Civic Center Amphitheater. This is the first Hawaiian music series in Lahaina after the fire. This free event will feature well-known local musician Joshua Kahula.

Kahului resident Dillon Gunderson and Wailuku resident Kristen Takamiya have received scholarships from the Hawaii Education Association, a statewide nonprofit dedicated to improving education by supporting Hawaiʻi students and educators in public, charter and private schools.

The County of Maui Department of Environmental Management’s Wastewater Reclamation Division announced that it has amended the Sewer Service Status from “red,” which indicates a property does not currently have active sewer service, to “green,” meaning the sewer service is active for a property, in the following area: Seven lots near Kahula Place and the southern end of Lahainaluna Road.

The Central East Maui All-Stars lost their third game in the Little League World Series on Friday with a 3-2 loss against Paseo Verde Little League of Henderson, Nevada, the Mountain regional team.  They are now 2-1 for the series.

Bacon Universal, a dealer of construction and agricultural equipment in Hawaiʻi, announced the launch of its dedicated used equipment website.

Maui Memorial Medical Center has again earned the highly distinguished Gold Plus and Target: Honor Roll Quality Achievement Awards from the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines program for excellence in heart and stroke care.  This year marks the 16th consecutive year that MMMC has been awarded and more than 10 consecutive calendar years of Gold Plus achievement.

Gov. Josh Green, M.D., today announced the Lahaina HERO Awards, a new initiative aimed at recognizing the extraordinary resilience and dedication of Department of Education (DOE) employees who have played a critical role in keeping Lahaina schools open following the devastating wildfires on Maui last year. HERO stands for Honoring Employees’ Resilience and Optimism in serving Lahaina students in spite of the challenges presented by the wildfires.

The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation advises highway users that crews will be making improvements and conducting a cleanup of the makai shoulder of Kahului Beach Road (Route 3400) in the vicinity of Wahinepiʻo Ave. and Kanaloa Ave.

This summer, the Maui Economic Development Board’s (MEDB) STEMworks program welcomed its largest cohort of interns to date. A total of 89 high school and college students from across the state participated—64 in the STEMworks Innovation Internship program, and 25 in the Maui County Agriculture Business and Technology program. 

The 2023 edition of the “State of Hawai‘i Data Book,” released Thursday by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) serves as Hawaiʻi’s most comprehensive statistical resource.

US Rep. Jill Tokuda (HI-02) joined Representatives Mike Thompson (D-CA), Greg Steube (R-FL), and 76 other House members on Thursday in sending a letter to Senate leadership urging them to promptly bring the bipartisan Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2023 (H.R. 5863) to the floor for a vote. 

Kū Mai Ka Hula (“Hula Appears”), Maui’s only adult hula competition, returns to the Castle Theater for its 17th annual event Saturday, Sept. 14.

The Pacific Internship Programs for Exploring Science (PIPES) is celebrating its 30th anniversary of growing the next generation of aloha ʻāina leaders in Hawai‘i and the Pacific through transformative place-based internships, mentorship, innovative programming, and strategic partnerships.

Maui Arts & Cultural Center presents Altered Earth in Schaefer International Gallery, an invitational exhibition featuring ten contemporary artists whose work explores the medium of clay and earth-derived materials through a diverse breadth of processes. The invited artists are Clayton Amemiya, Jake Boggs, Jisoo Boggs, Rachelle Dang, Roberta Griffith, Codie M. King, David Kuraoka, Jenna Macy, Sarah Metz, and Brad Evan Taylor. The exhibition runs from Aug. 27 through Oct. 19. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

As New Zealand-based disaster relief group Taskforce Kiwi closes out its second year of operations, an initial rotation of skilled volunteers have departed for Hawaiʻi to support with wildfire recovery on the island of Maui.

Hawai‘i Department of Transportation crews will close two southbound lanes and the makai shoulder of Honoapi‘ilani Highway (Route 30) between Papalāua Street and Lahainaluna Road from 7 a.m., Monday, Aug. 19 to 6 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 20.

While the vast majority of Maui County residents remain employed, the county’s unemployment rate has gone up 58% in July, compared with the same month last year before the Maui wildfires, according a monthly report from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.