Maui News

The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court has scheduled an oral argument on Dec. 14, 2023, for the lawsuit against Maui County challenging a September 2021 houseless sweep at Amala Place near Kanahā Beach Park.

Decades of conservation work led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and American Bird Conservancy has paid off for Hawaiʻi’s Millerbird, now downlisted from critically endangered to endangered status.

The Maui-based nonprofit Nā Keiki O Emalia hosts a Keiki Holiday Festival on Sunday, Dec. 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Cameron Center in Wailuku. The event is free and open to all Maui families.

AAA Hawaiʻi predicts 20.5 million residents of Hawaiʻi, Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington will travel during the year-end holiday period this year between Dec. 23, 2023 and Jan. 1, 2024.

The Kahului Disaster Recovery Center will close at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, but disaster-related assistance for survivors of the August wildfires will remain available at the Lahaina Civic Center in West Maui.

The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua has joined forces with music industry leader Sony Music Publishing Nashville, and production company Renate Event & Design, to host the 2024 Maui Songwriters Festival from Jan. 6–13, 2024.

The State of Hawaiʻi revised its 2023 growth projections upward to 1.9%, but lowered its 2024 projections to 1.3% due to the projected global slowdown and recovery from the Maui wildfires.

James Taylor and his All-Star Band will perform at Maui Arts and Cultural Center on May 5. The show will take place at the A&B Amphitheater and Yokouchi Pavilion.

The Maui Friends of the Library seeks volunteers to help open and run a new bookstore planned to serve customers soon in Kīhei.

The Salvation Army Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Division is seeking community assistance with its annual Angel Tree program, dedicated to providing Christmas gifts for keiki and kupuna and offering year-round support for families facing economic challenges.

This was the final BCRC graduating class under the Department of Public Safety. The department will soon split into two departments — Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Department of Law Enforcement — effective. Jan. 1, 2024.

“Drug traffickers are targeting Native communities because so many of these communities are more rural, isolated, with less law enforcement presence, and traffickers can charge more for their products,” said Vice Chairman Murkowski. “Congress must provide better support for federal agencies, law enforcement at all levels, and Native communities to end this crisis.”

The Hawaiʻi Department of Health released data today showing elevated levels of arsenic, lead, antimony, cobalt, and copper in wildfire ash collected in Lahaina.  The Lahaina data validates that the primary contaminant of concern is arsenic, a heavy metal that adheres to wildfire dust and ash. Department officials say this finding reinforces the need to diligently follow recommendations to reduce potential exposure.

The Building Industry Association of Hawaiʻi installed its 2024 Board of Directors. The list includes Hinano Nahinu, Lead Designer at Pacific Source, who was tapped to lead the organization in 2024.

Renewable energy projects on Maui include: Three solar-plus-storage projects and one wind project totaling approximately 324 GWh of variable generation, and 320 MWh of storage.

McDonald’s celebrates a newly renovated Kīhei restaurant with a more spacious 74-seat dining room, self-ordering kiosks and double drive-thru lanes for quicker and easier ordering. 

In the spirit of hope and community resilience, The Salvation Army’s “Magical Maui Christmas” event brought warmth and love to over 2,000 Maui wildfire survivors. The event took place at the Queen Kaʻahumanu Center on Dec. 9, 2023, with the goal of creating a memorable Christmas experience for survivor families to uplift their spirits and bring some much-needed holiday joy. 

Discover the revitalized charm of Upcountry’s Surfing Goat Dairy as it gears up for a grand reopening on Dec. 16, 2023, ushering in an era of enhanced visitor experiences and new efficiency for the farm.

The newly sworn in firefighters include: Curtis Abafo-Briones, Kai Adachi, Jonovan-Taje Akaka, Dane Andersen, Christian Balthazar-Chang, Jameson Fafard-Keuma, Noah Galvin, Jacob Gifford, Kyle Hayashi, David Isenmann, Jason Mangonon, Blake Nunes, Ian Stevens, Chandler Wade and Bryce Yoshida.

The Department of Water Supply reports a water service outage and road closure on Puʻunēnē Ave. scheduled Sunday, Dec. 10 from 7:30 p.m. to Monday, Dec. 11 at 5 a.m. The section of Puʻunēnē Ave. between W. Kaʻahumanu Ave. to E. Kamehameha Ave will be closed in both directions.