#molokai news

As part of ongoing efforts to harden the electrical grid and reduce wildfire risk on Molokaʻi, Hawaiian Electric crews will begin its first targeted area of replacing existing copper power lines with new aluminum conductors along East Kamehameha V Highway between Onioni Drive and ʻUalapuʻe from Saturday, Oct. 3 through Thursday, Oct. 8 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The project includes replacing 8 miles of power lines and upgrading 27 poles.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife is seeking input on a draft management plan for the Puaʻahala Section of the Molokaʻi State Forest Reserve. The plan will guide management priorities for this area over the next 10 years.

Lāna‘i Air, operated by Western Aircraft, Inc., launched a new route connecting Moloka‘i and O‘ahu. The expanded service between Moloka‘i Airport (MKK) in Ho‘olehua and Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) in Honolulu includes four daily flights serviced by a Cessna SkyCourier, a twin engine turboprop airplane with a spacious cabin that seats 19 passengers.

Two people died as a result of a rollover accident involving a Polaris utility terrain vehicle (UTV) near Hālawa Valley Park on Molokaʻi, Saturday. The incident occurred on at around 10:57 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2026, on Kamehameha V Highway near Mile 28.

Update: All electricity has been restored, and the port is deemed safe for operations. The gates will open today from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. for the pickup and drop-off of all refrigerated cargo at Young Brothers. The gates will resume normal operations tomorrow, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, for the pickup of all other cargo.

The American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, in partnership with the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s Peter Lamy Center on Drug Therapy and Aging, has announced Molokai Drugs, Inc. as the first recipient of Age-Friendly Pharmacy Recognition in Hawaiʻi. Funding from The John A. Hartford Foundation supports education and development of pharmacy champions in the […]

Two men were aboard a single-engine plane that went down approximately two miles west of Kalaupapa Airport on Molokaʻi, Monday morning. Fire officials say the men were able to exit the single engine plane and make their way to shore on their own. 

Spectrum announced a donation of $6,000 to Molokaʻi Homestead Farmers Alliance through the company’s national community philanthropic program, Spectrum Employee Community Grants.

A Molokaʻi man has died following a dog attack reported Tuesday afternoon. The incident was reported at 12 p.m. on April 14 at a home on Hoʻomalu Drive in Kaunakakai.

Mayor Richard Bissen will hold a community meeting at 10 a.m. Sunday, April 19, 2026, at Mitchell Pauole Community Center in Kaunakakai for Molokaʻi residents to discuss impacts of the recent kona storms and severe weather in their area.

A second dead coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB) was found in a detection trap on Wednesday afternoon, April 8, 2026, approximately 2 miles west of Molokaʻi Airport, by staff from the Molokaʻi/Maui Invasive Species Committee (MoMISC). This is the second CRB detection on Molokaʻi. This follows the first Molokaʻi detection of a dead CRB on April 7.

A large dead insect suspected to be a coconut rhinoceros beetle was found in a trap by staff from the Molokaʻi/Maui Invasive Species Committee (MoMISC) on Tuesday morning, April 7, 2026, near Kaunakakai Harbor. Based on photographs of the specimen, it is likely a coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB) and is being sent to the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (HDAB) Plant Pest Control Branch on Oʻahu for official species confirmation. If confirmed to be CRB, this will be the first detection of CRB on Molokaʻi.

As part of its ongoing wildfire safety strategy, Hawaiian Electric will begin this month using unmanned aircrafts, or drones, for aerial inspections of its electrical infrastructure in identified wildfire risk areas throughout Moloka‘i. Inspections will continue through May 2026. The drones play a critical role in the inspection process in Maui County, and on Hawai‘i Island and Oʻahu as the technology enables Hawaiian Electric to more quickly identify issues to prevent or lessen the risk of wildfires.

The Hawaiʻi Board of Land and Natural Resources approved recommendations from the Legacy Land Conservation Commission and the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife to award up to $7 million in state grants for five conservation projects across Maui and Molokaʻi.

In response to the March 2026 kona storms, the County of Maui is providing free hauling and disposal of storm-damaged appliances for Molokaʻi residents, according to the County Department of Environmental Management, Environmental Protection & Sustainability Division.

Maui Emergency Management Agency at 7:06 and 7:12 a.m. today, March 22, 2026, issued evacuation WARNINGS for Central Molokaʻi areas of Kapaʻakea Hawaiian Homes along Kamehameha V Highway, along with Kalamaula area, west of Kaunakakai, due to flash flooding. Warnings and advisories are NOT mandatory evacuation orders.

Maui Economic Opportunity on Moloka’i has canceled all bus rides today due to hazardous conditions from the Kona storm. MEO will announce when service resumes and apologizes for any inconvenience.

Mayor Richard Bissen is bringing Holomua Kākou back to Molokaʻi on Monday, Aug. 25, and Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025, as part of his continuing efforts to take county government to the rural areas of Maui County.

To build Molokaʻi’s capacity to detect and prevent the spread of the invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB), the County of Maui Department of Agriculture and CRB Response are holding a free workshop Tuesday, July 29, 2025, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at One Ali‘i Park Pavilion, Kaunakakai.

A 78-year-old Molokaʻi man was transported via medevac to Oʻahu after suffering critical injuries in an ATV accident involving three men in the mountainous terrain above Kaunakakai. The two other men, both 72-year-old Molokaʻi residents, sustained minor injuries.