Maui News

The Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi has endorsed Mayor Richard Bissen in his campaign for reelection as mayor of Maui County.

Today, the Hua Momona Foundation, a nonprofit spearheading recovery and long-term resilience efforts following the 2023 Lahaina wildfires, officially announces the Rain to Resilience program, an initiative providing 120 West Maui households with hands-on training and equipment to install rain catchment systems at their homes through a grant from the Hawaii Community Foundation.

County of Maui officials are encouraging residents and visitors to remain ready as two hurricanes — Lowell and Karina — approach the Hawaiian Islands, less than a month after Tropical Storm Lala affected the state. With multiple weather systems interacting, there is more uncertainty in forecasts, National Weather Service officials emphasized.

Hurricane Lowell is currently a category 4 system with sustained winds of 140 mph. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center says Lowell is expected to remain a major hurricane for the next several days and interests in the Hawaiian Islands should monitor future forecasts.

After flooding from Kona Low storms earlier this year prompted the County to reassess a previously identified Safe Parking site, the County of Maui is moving forward with a new, interim Safe Parking location on County property in Puʻunēnē and a permanent site in Kahului, Mayor Richard Bissen announced on Wednesday.

County of Maui Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Martin announced the indictment of a Maui Police Department officer on multiple counts of alleged sexual assault. The charges stem from an encounter between the officer and a citizen following a single-car crash of the victim’s vehicle.

Makawao Elementary physical education teacher, Troy “Leven” Abshire Jr., and King Kamehameha III Elementary kindergarten teacher Robert Livermore were recognized as the 2027 Teachers of the Year for respective complex areas in Maui County. From among the 16 honorees statewide, one will be selected as the 2027 Hawai‘i State Teacher of the Year, HIDOE’s highest teaching honor.

Residents and visitors are encouraged to support Hawaiʻi Island communities devastated by Hurricane Lala by participating in the Kōkua Hawaiʻi Island Donation Drive, taking place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 5 and 6, 2026, in Kahului, the County of Maui Office of the Mayor announced.

Hawaiʻi’s five-star, five-diamond Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea proudly unveils The Queen’s Garden: Uluhaimalama, a new cultural experience within the Resort’s interior courtyard dedicated to Queen Liliʻuokalani, Hawaiʻi’s last reigning monarch.

Maui-based filmmaker Stephan Boeker and Pacific Story Tellers recently won two Northern California Regional Emmy Awards for Journey Beyond the Grid: The Hawaiʻi Off-Grid Story, a documentary that began as a story about sustainable, self-sufficient design and ultimately became a much broader exploration of resilience and preparedness in Hawaiʻi.

More Hawaiʻi families will have access to free, high-quality early learning opportunities this school year as the Executive Office on Early Learning opens 18 new public prekindergarten classrooms across 15 public school campuses.

Starting Monday, Sept. 7, the award-winning restaurant overlooking Māʻalaea Harbor will serve breakfast daily from 10 a.m. to noon and lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Hurricane Lowell has rapidly intensified into a Category 5 system and is expected to remain a major hurricane for the next several days, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center.

FEMA announced that federal disaster assistance is available to the state of Hawaiʻi to supplement recovery efforts in the areas affected by the 6.0 earthquake reported on May 22, 2026 in the Hōnaunau-Nāpōʻopoʻo of Hawaiʻi Island.

Rotary club members and members of the public are invited to the Central Maui Rotary “Friendraiser” on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026.  This free event will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Heritage Hall, 401 Baldwin Avenue, Pāʻia.   Lunch is provided at no cost to attendees.

An 11-year-old boy sustained serious injuries when he fell from the bed of a pickup truck and was run over by a food wagon being towed by the vehicle. The incident was reported at around 7:24 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026 near the intersection of Maile Way and Alanui Iiwi Road in Volcano on Hawaiʻi Island.

Registration is open for First Tee — Hawaiʻi’s fall programming opportunities of 2026. First Tee — Hawaiʻi is a youth development organization that helps kids and teens build their strength of character through golf.

Following an agreement between US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Education Secretary Linda McMahon, the US Department of Education finalized an extension to fully fund the Native Hawaiian Education Program for another year and today awarded $29.7 million of that funding, which is set to go to Hawai‘i providers by Friday.

Maui County Council Vice-Chair Yuki Lei Sugimura is calling on the County Administration to respond immediately to serious public safety concerns along Pūlehu Road and Hansen Road, two heavily traveled County roads used daily by Central Maui and Upcountry residents.

A van was destroyed by fire during an incident reported Tuesday morning along the Honoapiʻilani Highway in Olowalu. The incident was reported at 6:38 a.m. on Sept. 1, 2026 in the area known as “Cut Mountain.”