Last year at this time, Mauians were cheering the news that Alexander & Baldwin had suddenly shed its former cane field land and 50 percent of its EMI irrigation system in a $267-million sale to a completely unknown, newly-created entity named Mahi Pono. Oh, there were high hopes for this corporate stranger, the result of […]
‘This DEIS Is Deficient’: Sierra Club, Maui Tomorrow, and others weigh in on A&B/Mahi Pono’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a 30-year water lease
The public comment period for Mahi Pono/Alexander & Baldwin’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) closed last week, and judging from the dozens of pages of responses I’ve read, this DEIS has more holes in it than bleached coral. Those stalwart folks who actually pored through the 2,700-page tome seemed to find scant substance and lots […]
Mahi Pono Is Coming For Our Water
“Worldwide, as temperatures rise and aquifers dry, investors are increasingly bullish on water, and buying vineyards, farms and ranches for what’s underneath or flowing through…” -Seattle Times They are coming for our water on Maui. Make no mistake about it. It’s not Wall Street, but Mahi Pono’s Canadian pension fund/California investor group who are on the […]
Mahi Pono Hires The Hammer
California water attorney Tim O’Laughlin, aka “The Hammer” has joined Mahi Pono as its new chief operating officer, a development that should strike fear into the hearts of everyone working to protect Maui’s water. His former law firm bio describes him as advising clients “on matters involving water, land use and planning, and the environment.” […]
Dirty Water: Why is the Victorino Administration monkeywrenching Maui’s water issues?
A bullying leader trying to advance an agenda that lacks widespread public support and now faces potential legal action. An elected official who refuses to work with legislative branch members who disagree with him. Lawyers mandated to serve the public interest instead cater only to selected officials. Political toadies use script-like talking points to malign […]
Bad Manners: Mahi Pono’s rudeness toward the Maui Board of Water Supply may have consequences
“Maui is losing its aloha,” a friend lamented recently as we discussed the news of the week. During a County Council Affordable Housing Committee meeting, a shouting match between attendees grew so heated that security was summoned and Council Chambers were cleared. Maui’s social media pages are filled with belligerent commands to anyone posting […]
Nixon Resigns: The sudden departure of Mahi Pono’s ag chief is the latest bad news for the company
[Editor’s note: This story was updated on May 22.] [In November 2018, MauiTime first broke the story of the $267-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 […]
Alive and Well With the Juice King: Maui’s favorite mom and pop health emporium has an impressive new restaurant and its own “juice alchemist,” Craig King
There have been some dramatic changes at Alive and Well, which until recently served as the quieter Kahului counterpart to corporate operations like Down to Earth and Whole Foods. Since 1993, the family-owned business has been a reliable mainstay of Maui’s wellness community. The organically oriented deli and health food store might not have been […]
Nothing Is Dead in the Land of the Zombies: The twisted legislative saga of the “Corporate Water Theft” Bill
The passage of HB1326, the so-called “Corporate Water Theft Bill” that affects the future use of East Maui’s water, has morphed from a civics lesson into an episode of “The Walking Dead.” In the past week alone, the bill has been alive, dead, undead, and buried-but-still-moving. It has become so toxic that few lawmakers even […]
‘It’s Hawai‘i, Jake’: In the State Legislature, water legislation grows murkier
[In November 2018, MauiTime first broke the story of the $267-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 chages it will […]
“It’s Hawai‘i, Jake”: In the State Legislature, water legislation grows murkier by the minute
This story has been updated. Click here to see the latest version. In the film classic Chinatown, hard-bitten but good-hearted detective Jake Gittes (played by Jack Nicholson) confronts the politics of water in 1930s Los Angeles. By film’s end, Gittes’ personal devastation by power and perfidy is summed up in two words, “It’s Chinatown.” In 2019’s […]
State Democratic Party Opposes ‘Corporate Water Theft’ Bill: Letter tells lawmakers to “halt this bill immediately”
[A version of this story was previously posted online. It has since been updated. This is the version that appears in the 3/28 print issue of MauiTime.] The increasingly unpopular HB1326 – the so-called “Corporate Water Theft” bill – currently languishing in the Senate, took another hit last weekend. In a letter written Sunday, March […]
State Democratic Party Opposes ‘Corporate Water Theft’ Bill
[This story has been updated since its first posting. See the updated version by clicking here.] The increasingly unpopular HB1326 – the so-called “Corporate Water Theft” bill, currently languishing in the Senate – took another hit over the weekend. In a letter to legislators, the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i has officially declared its opposition to […]
Mahi Pono Plants! Crop plan shows plans for 2019-2020
[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 […]