The Board of Land and Natural Resources, Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands, holds a hearing today for the proposed Advanced Technology Solar Telescope planned for construction atop Haleakala on Maui.  The meeting gives the public an opportunity to provide testimony on the project’s Conservation District Use Application. Some concerns that have been raised are... Read more »

Maui’s plastic bag ordinance is the subject of a public hearing today in Wailuku.  Officials from the Department of Environmental Management will discuss proposed administrative rules that outline what types of bags are permissible and guidelines for compliance. Maui’s plastic bag ban is set to go into effect on January 11, 2011, prohibiting businesses from... Read more »

Maui will hold a public hearing on the proposed Plastic Bag ban ordinance set to go into effect in January.  The county also plans to adopt administrative rules at the meeting.  The plastic bag reduction ordinance prohibits businesses from providing plastic bags at the point of sale for the purpose of transporting groceries or other... Read more »

By Wendy Osher The council’s budget committee continues deliberations today (Wednesday, April 28, 2010) following several hours of testimony yesterday on the 2011 Budget.  Department heads expressed concern over recently announced plans to cut an additional 60 positions that were reported as vacant by the Department of Personnel Services. Several of the departments sighted discrepancies... Read more »

“I think this morning was quite difficult for me to just listen to some of the testimony, especially when the bulk of the testimony came from a good number of our own departments,” said Molokai council member Danny Mateo. “It bothered me to hear some divisions talk about: ‘if the proposals says as it is,... Read more »

By Wendy Osher [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YgpP5BPRWA[/youtube] Seniors and disabled residents showed up in force at the county building Tuesday morning (April 20, 2010) to speak out against proposed cuts to a portion of funding for the MEO bus system.  Maui Economic Opportunity currently provides transportation services to the elderly, disabled and under served groups. “No wheels, no... Read more »

Thousands of former Hansen Disease patients buried in the remote Kalaupapa Peninsula on Molokai, could finally get a memorial in their honor.  Although the Kalaupapa Memorial Act passed in the U.S. House last year, it did not pass the Senate prior to the conclusion of the 110th Congress.  It has since been reintroduced in the... Read more »