Maui News

The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Maui Island was 3.7% in May 2024, compared to 4.3% the previous month, and 2.5% at the same time in 2023. The data was included in a new report released today from the Hawaiʻi Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. 

The Maui Police Department today confirmed the identity of another victim involved in the West Maui Wildfire incident of August 2023, bringing the total confirmed dead to 102. On Monday, June 24, 2024, the Honolulu medical examiner’s office confirmed Claudette Heermance, 68, of Lahaina succumbed to injuries sustained on Aug. 8, 2023, according to Maui police.

The Construction Industry of Maui awarded three Maui high school students each a $25,000 scholarship to encourage education towards a career in the construction industry. The Bob Poulson scholarship encourages Maui students to pursue a degree in the construction and design industry, away from Maui, then bring their acquired knowledge, skills and local hearts back to Maui to serve their communities. This year’s scholarship recipients are Maui high school seniors, Carla Mae Agrade of Lahaina, John Kaahui of Haʻikū and Emi Sado of Kahului.

As Maui continues its disaster response and moves toward mid- and long-term recovery, the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation (HCF) has hired Keanu Lau Hee as our senior director of the Maui Recovery Effort. She officially joins HCF on July 16.

Maui’s community-based water-quality monitoring program Hui O Ka Wai Ola has resumed water-quality testing at four locations in South Maui under a new partnership with the Wailea Community Association. Under the partnership, testing has resumed at Kilohana Drive (Keawakapu North site), Keawakapu South, Ulua Beach and Palauʻea Beach.

A wave of opposition has been building from vacation rental owners and property managers to Mayor Richard Bissen’s proposed phase-out of an estimated 7,000 transient vacation rentals in apartment-zoned districts in Maui County.

The state Department of Transportation’s working with the Count of Maui, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers to reopen Honoapi‘ilani Highway from Keawe Street to Hōkiokio Place prior to the start of the new public school year, with a target date of Aug. 1, 2024.

A two-day Financial Literacy for Teens workshop, which covers basic money management skills, will be held in-person Monday, July 1, and Tuesday, July 2, at Maui Economic Opportunity in Wailuku.

The Ian Walsh Menehune Mayhem Foundation (IWMMF) has awarded six outstanding student athletes with $5,000 scholarships for their college or university expenses. The 2024 scholarships were made possible with the generosity of Audrey and Scott Blum and the Harbaugh Foundation.

The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court on Thursday issued a landmark decision in the long-running water case over Nā Wai ‘Ehā, “The Four Waters” of Waihe‘e, Waiehu, Wailuku, and Waikapū in central Maui. In a 134-page unanimous opinion authored by Justice Sabrina McKenna, the court ruled in favor of Maui community groups Hui o Nā Wai ‘Ehā and Maui Tomorrow Foundation, who were represented by Earthjustice, and joined by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA).

A surfer was fatally injured in a shark attack off of Mokuʻauia islet on the North Shore of Oʻahu Sunday afternoon. Authorities have since identified the victim as Tamayo Perry, 49, a longtime lifeguard with the City and County of Honolulu Ocean Safety division.

The Mākena Mauka land plan covers approximately 1,041 acres and proposes 850 to 900 new homes in an area long identified for residential/resort residential uses but that is currently largely vacant.

The severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms in the planetary science community is greater than in the general US population, according to a study led by a University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa scientist and published in Nature Astronomy.

The County of Maui Department of Fire and Public Safety added two new Ocean Safety officers to their force after the graduation of Recruit Class 7.

County of Maui officials provided updated details regarding resident and contractor access in the Lahaina impact zone, previously called the disaster zone. For residents with vehicle passes who have a temporary building permit for a temporary dwelling (such as an ADU, camper, trailer, etc.) and are living onsite while they are rebuilding their permanent home within the impact zone, access is 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Thanks to the Wave of Harmony Foundation’s, kids 12 and under receive free entry to a Dr. Seuss extravaganza that performs at the Historic ‘Iao Theater in Wailuku from July 12 through Aug. 4.

A new specialized course track at Windward Community College is combining traditional Native Hawaiian knowledge of algae (limu) with Western scientific methods to explore key questions about limu and Hawaiian fishponds, announced the college on June 17.

Kaunoa Senior Services announced that it will offer free bingo for seniors from 9 a.m. to noon on Thursday, June 27, 2024, at Kaunoa Clubhouse in Royal Lahaina Resort’s Aliʻi Ballroom, 2780 Kekaʻa Drive, Kāʻanapali.

In May of this year, a group of volcano geochemists and petrologists (scientists who study the chemistry, textures, and origins of volcanic rocks) met in Hilo to discuss how to improve our understanding of magma storage and evolution at Kīlauea.

This month’s popular Hawaiian Music Series will be held at 6 p.m. June 27 at Maui Historical Society Hale Hōʻikeʻike at the Bailey House Museum lawn in Wailuku. Local musician and singer Ron Kuala’au and Pelekila will perform.