County Committee Postpones Kahului Overnight Parking Ban Decision
Maui County deferred action on a proposed overnight parking ban in Kahului’s industrial area after hearing concerns about impacts on homeless residents. The committee also reviewed changes to water development fees. Bill 49 would ban overnight parking from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. on three streets near Kahului businesses. Local businesses requested the ban due […]
McFarland Commission Backs Tighter Short-Term Rental Rules with Grandfather Clause
McFarland’s Plan Commission unanimously recommended stricter short-term rental regulations including a 7-day minimum stay requirement for all owners and limiting rentals to 180 consecutive days per year. Current permit holders would be grandfathered from most new restrictions. The Plan Commission will send the proposed ordinance changes to the village board for a May 26 vote. […]
County Council Committee Backs $4M More for Wailuku Cultural Center Project
A Maui County Council committee approved adding $4 million in bond funding for the under-construction Hālau of ʻŌiwi Arts cultural facility in Wailuku, bringing the total project cost to $50.5 million. The additional $4 million would restore items cut during construction including commercial kitchen equipment, security systems, and rooftop solar panels. The original $46.5 million […]
Greenville Officials Seek Solutions for Short-Term Rental Neighborhood Issues
Greenville City Council is exploring ways to address resident complaints about short-term rental disruptions like parties and noise, but faces significant limitations from state laws and court rulings that restrict local regulation. City staff identified approximately 252 short-term rentals within city limits, mostly listed on Airbnb. Residents are complaining about parties, noise, and parking problems […]
EPA Blocks Closure of Major Power Plants in Kahului and Hilo
The Environmental Protection Agency has rejected a proposal to shut down power generation facilities in Kahului and Hilo. This decision maintains existing electrical infrastructure serving central Maui and the Big Island. EPA declined to approve the closure of power plants located in Kahului and Hilo. The decision preserves current electricity generation capacity for both islands. […]
Ethics Questions Raised Over Official’s Private Jet Trip to Packers Game
A Maui mayor’s office director allegedly traveled by private jet to a Packers game in Sentry Insurance’s luxury box, raising ethics concerns about gifts from companies receiving county funding. The county later allocated $100,000 to the Sentry PGA tournament in its budget. Social media video allegedly shows Maui Mayor’s communications director at Packers game in […]
Federal Agency Blocks Closure of Kahului and Hilo Power Plants
The EPA rejected Hawaii’s plan to shut down fuel oil-fired power units at generating stations in Kahului and Hilo, citing concerns about grid reliability and legal issues with forced closures. EPA partially disapproved Hawaii’s regional haze plan that would have closed power units at Kahului and Kanoelehua-Hill generating stations. The federal agency cited concerns about […]
South Kihei Water Outage Planned for Sunday Night Maintenance Work
Maui County has announced a scheduled water service outage in South Kihei for maintenance work. The outage will affect several roads in the area during late night and early morning hours. Water service will be interrupted from approximately 10 p.m. on May 19 to 3 a.m. on May 20 Affected areas include S. Kihei Road […]
UHERO Report: Short-Term Rentals Reduce Housing Supply for Residents
A new University of Hawaii study identifies vacation rentals as taking significant housing stock away from residents, with 34,500 active STRs statewide. The report recommends restricting short-term rentals to increase residential housing supply and improve affordability. Hawaii had 34,500 active advertised vacation rentals statewide in 2025, up from 33,600 the previous year. UHERO economists say […]
Fatal Three-Vehicle Crash on Honoapiilani Highway Claims Haiku Woman’s Life
A 55-year-old Haiku woman died from injuries sustained in a three-vehicle collision on Honoapiilani Highway near North Kihei Road intersection. This marks Maui County’s third traffic fatality of 2026, down from nine at the same time last year. Teresa Campisi of Haiku died May 17 after her Jetta crossed the median into oncoming traffic on […]