Inside the Amala Place Credibility Gap
In the worst days of the Vietnam War, a phrase arose: “The Credibility Gap.” It referred to the serious disconnect between what civilians, soldiers and journalists were seeing on the…
DICK MAYER: Maui County Census Count Will Re-Align Some Legislative Districts
Today's post is a guest column by Maui community activist Dick Mayer By Dick Mayer Ten years ago, a State Reapportionment Commission established our House and Senate legislative districts. The…
OPINION: Strange Bedfellows–Lorrin Pang and the Anti-Vaxxers
Maui vaccination rates, at 55-60 percent, are the lowest in the state. Teachers are wailing that COVID-19 protocols are being ignored in schools. Our hospital is teetering into the red…
Maui Census Part Two: Where Have All the Residents Gone? “Vacant Housing” High in West, South Maui
Maui County has the highest percentage of empty housing units in the state with 21.5% of all houses/condominiums/apartments classified as “vacant,” according to the 2020 U.S. Census data released last…
A Deeper Dive Into Maui’s 2020 Census Numbers, Part One
Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau released the long-awaited results of its once-a-decade tally. The voluminous data produced pretty paltry reporting when it came to Maui County. Our population has…
Maui News Opinion Page Actions Raise Questions
Last month, County Councilmember Kelly King sent a “Council’s 3 Minutes” column to the Maui News opinion page. The “3 Minutes” column regularly rotates among councilmembers and is generally used to…
“Production Errors,” Typos Cause Temporary Withdrawal of A&B/Mahi Pono Final Environmental Impact Statement
The Department of Land and Natural Resources announced Thursday that Alexander & Baldwin/Maho Pono has withdrawn East Maui Irrigation's Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for a 30-year lease on East…
Citing “Unconstitutional Status Quo,” Judge Sharply Curtails East Maui Water Diversion
Last week, Hawaii Environmental Court Judge Jeffrey Crabtree did what community water activists have spent years demanding: He cut East Maui Irrigation’s (EMI) water diversion almost in half. Crabtree modified…
Let’s Make An East Maui Water Deal: The Sequel
Big water news on our otherwise drought-stricken island. East Maui Irrigation (EMI), currently co-owned by Mahi Pono and Alexander & Baldwin, this week released the final version of its proposal…
Mahi Pono and Paraquat: The 2020 Sequel
The use of the paraquat-containing herbicide Gramoxone on Maui should drop dramatically in 2021, thanks to Mahi Pono’s decision last year to stop spraying it on weeds. However, prior to…