[In November 2018, MauiTime broke the story of the $262-million sale of 56,000 acres of Alexander & Baldwin sugarcane land and watershed to Mahi Pono, a joint venture between California-based Pomona Farming and a Canadian pension fund. Our Changing Maui: Mahi Pono series examines all facets of the sale and the changes it will bring […]
Farm Plan or Lobbying Tool? A Mahi Pono “Farm Plan Narrative” outlines planting scenarios – with and without water. Is it accurate?
[In November 2018, MauiTime broke the story of the $262-million sale of 56,000 acres of Alexander & Baldwin sugarcane land and watershed to Mahi Pono, a joint venture between California-based Pomona Farming and a Canadian pension fund. Our Changing Maui: Mahi Pono series examines all facets of the sale and the changes it will bring […]
The Man With the Plan: Mahi Pono’s new general manager Larry Nixon wants more bees and bugs and less corporate hierarchy as he rehabilitates and replants Central Maui’s cropland
[In November 2018, MauiTime broke the story of the $262-million sale of 56,000 acres of Alexander & Baldwin sugarcane land and watershed to Mahi Pono, a joint venture between California-based Pomona Farming and a Canadian pension fund. Our Changing Maui: Mahi Pono series examines all facets of the sale and the changes it will bring […]
Stand Aside and Let the Big Dog Slurp: ‘Corporate Water Theft’ bill sailing through the Hawai‘i Legislature
[MauiTime first broke the story of the sale of Alexander & Baldwin’s old sugarcane lands in November 2018. Our ongoing Changing Maui: Mahi Pono series investigates the new owners of these massive land holdings and the changes they will bring to Maui. It is part of Changing Maui, a larger series on the changes facing […]
‘I’m Still Tiare’: Tiare Lawrence plans to keep fighting for her community – only now she’ll do so as Mahi Pono’s new Community Relations Director
Tiare Lawrence strolled into MauiTime’s offices last Friday precisely on time for a noon interview. Wearing cut-off jeans, a red plaid shirt, and long hair wound into a loose bun, she had agreed to meet with editor Axel Beers and me to discuss her new job. The Lahaina born-and-raised waterwoman and hula dancer is […]
Coffee, Cattle and Citrus, Oh My!!! Mahi Pono makes public its crop plans (and a bit of confusion) to Maui community association leaders
[MauiTime first broke the story of the sale of Alexander & Baldwin’s old sugarcane lands in November 2018. Our ongoing Changing Maui: Mahi Pono series investigates the new owners of these massive land holdings and the changes they will bring to Maui. View our coverage dating back to November by clicking here. It is part of […]
It’s the Water, Stupid: Mahi Pono hasn’t told the public what it plans to plant, but demands the water to do it anyway
Editor’s note: This post has been updated since its original posting for clarity and to include comments from Sean Lester and Tiare Lawrence. [MauiTime first broke the story of the sale of Alexander & Baldwin’s old sugarcane lands in November 2018. Our ongoing Changing Maui: Mahi Pono series investigates the new owners of these massive […]
Bad News for Maui News
The Maui News took a couple of nasty hits this month. First there was the loss of City Editor Brian Perry and reporter Chris Sugidono, who left the paper to work in Mayor Mike Victorino’s administration. Now, the paper has announced that its opinion pages will decrease due to “budgetary considerations.” Instead of publishing five […]
Does Mahi Pono Want More? Company official says land ‘partnerships’ on other islands a possibility
[MauiTime first broke the story of the sale of Alexander & Baldwin’s old sugarcane lands in November 2018. Our ongoing Changing Maui: Mahi Pono series investigates the new owners of these massive land holdings and the changes they will bring to Maui. It is part of Changing Maui, a larger series on the changes facing […]
Finally! A farmer! Who is Californian Ceil Howe III and what is he doing as an overseer of Mahi Pono?
[MauiTime first broke the story of the sale of Alexander & Baldwin’s old sugarcane lands in November 2018. Our ongoing Changing Maui: Mahi Pono series investigates the new owners of these massive land holdings and the changes they will bring to Maui. It is part of Changing Maui, a larger series on the changes facing […]
Mahi Pono Purchase Agreement: Lots of legalese with a few tasty nuggets
Here’s a link to the Alexander & Baldwin/Mahi Pono purchase and sales agreement, filed by A&B as part of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Form 8K filing. The 50-plus pages are long on Real Estate legalese and short on what everyone really wants to see – any kind of listing of which A&B […]
Two Activists and a Lt. Governor: Mahi Pono’s first hires seem long on charm and short on farm
Mahi Pono, the island’s newest and largest landowner, has acquired some Maui employees. Former Hawai‘i Lt. Governor Shan Tsutsui and longtime island activist Sean Lester have signed on with the subsidiary of California-based Pomona Farming, which acquired more than 41,000 acres of former sugarcane land from Alexander & Baldwin last month. Currently a vice […]
Who Are These Guys? Enthusiasm over the new owners of A&B’s agricultural lands runs high, though almost nothing is known about them
[Editor’s note: This story has been updated since its first posting. This is the version that ran in our Jan. 3 print edition.] To hear the hosannas from members of Maui’s progressive community, Christmas came early this year with Alexander & Baldwin’s sale of some 41,000 acres of former sugarcane lands to a mainland company […]
Where Are the Whales? Scientists Address Humpback Mystery
For years, the news about humpbacks was positive. Rebounding from near decimation after landing on the endangered species list in 1973, more and more whales came to Maui each winter from their feeding grounds in Southeast Alaska to breed and give birth. The Northern Pacific humpbacks were “de-listed” in 2016. Ironically, that’s the year things […]
Maui’s Music Man: Steve Grimes makes music as a songwriter and – literally – as an instrument builder
In April, before his concert at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Jackson Browne traveled to Kula to see a man about a guitar. The man is Steve Grimes, who, in addition to being a longtime Maui musician and songwriter, is a renowned luthier – a builder of stringed instruments. Grimes has spent the last […]
Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa complains about County Council cutting $2.5 million Project Aloha–which still has no plan
What is it with Mayor Alan Arakawa’s obsession about banishing Maui’s homeless to Old Maui High School, a 23-acre venue on the far side of traffic-clogged Paia with no sewer, water or social services? The lame duck mayor emphasized the “lame” part of that title this week by pontificating in a May 4 Maui News opinion piece […]