Maui News

During their meeting, Kouchi and Hashimoto urged Ambassador Tai to recognize the unique situation that West Maui is in as it attempts to recover from the wildfire, and to advocate for the construction of 1,000 permanent FEMA-built housing units to house wildfire survivors.

Councilmember Yuki Lei Sugimura has announced a community meeting at the Mayor Hannibal Tavares Community Center in Pukalani on Thursday, Feb. 29 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The focus of the meeting will be on hazard mitigation and recovery efforts Upcountry.  

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.

Maui firefighters responded to a structure fire early Tuesday morning in the Kaupō area of East Maui. Damages were estimated $6,000 to the structures and $100,000 in damage to the contents. No one was displaced and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is undetermined and remains under investigation.

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.

Two teen girls were arrested on Tuesday afternoon following an investigation into an alleged threat at ʻĪao Intermediate School.

University of Hawaiʻi Maui College Chancellor Liu Hokoana will be the speaker at the Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset meeting on March 5, 2024. He will share an update on UH Maui since the Lahaina wildfires.

The County of Maui Office of Recovery invites residents to participate in an online feedback activity on its recently launched Ola Lahaina page, a hub for online community engagement for Lahaina’s wildfire recovery efforts. The feedback activity will be available through March 15, 2024, and can be found at https://mauirecovers.org/lahaina. 

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.

Kupu, a conservation and youth education nonprofit, is accepting applicants for its Kupu ʻĀina Corps Wildfire Recovery Initiative dedicated to wildfire recovery and resilience work on Maui and Hawaiʻi Island, until the deadline on March 1, 2024.

Gov. Josh Green, M.D. announced details surrounding the planned launch of the One ‘Ohana Fund on March 1, and provided a housing update for wildfire survivors. While earlier this month, the governor said a moratorium would “not likely” be needed during his six month update, he revisited the idea today.

The 34-year-old man made international headlines after surviving a 1,000-foot fall off the Ko‘olau Mountains and lay dazed and alone at the base of a waterfall for three days before he was rescued, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. “All things considered,” is an understatement.

A last call is going out for applicants to a program launched by the J. Walter Cameron Center last year to provide laptop computers to families that lost their belongings in the Aug. 8 Maui wildfires.

The State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers and Maui County have reached a negotiated settlement agreement on hazard pay for Maui officers who remained on duty during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a SHOPO announcement.

A statewide survey commissioned by the Care for ‘Āina Now coalition, formerly known as the Hawai‘i Green Fee Coalition, shows strong support for state funding of legislative bills to fund natural resource stewardship, the coalition announced.

Young visitors ranging in age from 5 through 12 can form a connection to Hawaiʻi through hands-on learning experiences, marine exploration, new culinary adventures, and enchanting storytelling under the stars with new and reinvigorated experiences including: ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian Language), Hawaiian Star Stories, Ocean Aloha, Chef’s Garden Club, Maui Whale Watchers and more.

Placing an order in the month of March benefits Special Olympics Hawaiʻi, enabling the organization to offer year-round sports training, competition and health, wellness, and leadership initiatives for more than 3,400 athletes across the state with intellectual disabilities.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness Hawaiʻi and Mental Health America of Hawaiʻi will offer free, in-person help for people affected by the Aug. 8 Maui wildfires.