The State of Hawaii Department of Health Data for Coronavirus Cases for March 29, 2020, including a line chart showing the Oahu and Maui curve data. Total Hawaii COVID-19 Cases Jump to 175, with 4 new Maui Residents testing positive. The State is now releasing the data on breakdown on how many are residents versus […]
Maui News Feature
Number of Medical Supplies, Visitors, and New Cases in Hawaiʻi: Facts and Figures From the Governor’s Press Conference
Governor David Ige’s press conference on Thursday was packed with data about the rapid decline in tourist arrivals, medical supplies available to Hawaiʻi, and new COVID-19 cases, plus the news that the Army Corps of Engineers is conducting site assessments in case alternate medical facilities are needed. Ige was joined by several officials, including Lt. […]
‘It’s Crazy’: Maui residents wait for hours and days to file claims for unemployment insurance
Walter Moses and his uncle walked laps around the State Office Building on Friday, March 20, looking for ways to file an unemployment claim. Moses, who spoke softly as his uncle translated, was laid off from his job at Mama’s Fish House just two days prior, and with upcoming rent to pay, the pair was […]
Hawai’i Doctors: We want Josh Green – Hawai’i’s Lieutenant Governor and emergency room doctor missing at the command table
Who do you want dictating government policy during the COVID-19 pandemic: doctors or government officials? As the state struggles to quickly implement the new lockdown rules, a group of more than 300 Hawai’i physicians and health professionals is demanding that even more stringent steps be taken, and that government officials give Lt. Gov. Josh Green […]
Employee at Maui Health Infected with COVID-19
An employee at Maui Health has been infected with the coronavirus, the company said in a news release Tuesday morning. The individual “is in good condition and is isolated to prevent the spread of infection to others,” the company — which has facilities on Maui and Lanai — said in a statement. No other facts about […]
Maui County Council Approves $6M in Emergency Funds for COVID-19
[Follow our live COVID-19 coverage at Mauitime.com/covid19] At an emergency meeting held Friday, March 20, the Maui County Council approved $6 million in budget amendments to allow the use of money from the county’s Emergency Fund to assist with response the COVID-19 pandemic. Four million dollars will go to support county departments, and $2 million […]
Maui County to Enact Emergency Rules: Dine-in restaurant service closed, public venues closed, travel restrictions enacted
[Story updated at 7:18pm on 3/18 to add a comment from county spokesperson Chris Sugidono about penalties for rule violations.] Maui Mayor Michael Victorino announced new “Public Health Emergency Rules” to combat the spread of COVID-19. The rules will go into effect at 7:45am on Friday, March 20, 2020 and will limit “gatherings of groups […]
On MauiTime’s Mahi Pono Coverage: Mahi Pono’s community relations director has called our reporter “corrupt and dishonest.” That’s false… and it’s wrong.
Last week, Mahi Pono community relations director Tiare Lawrence took to Facebook to attack MauiTime’s reporting and more specifically, our reporter Deborah Caulfield Rybak. In her public post, Lawrence called Rybak “corrupt and dishonest,” and identified a source who had asked not to be named in print in Rybak’s February 27 piece, “Mahi Pono Plays […]
Kaho‘olawe Fire Burns Nearly 9,000 Acres, Walter Ritte Reminded of When He First Got Involved in the Fight Over Kaho‘olawe
A brush fire on Kaho‘olawe burned for more than a week, scorching roughly a third of the island before fizzling out Monday, March 2, said a spokesperson from the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission. KIRC, the entity “responsible for the restoration and sustainable management of the island until it can be transferred to a Native Hawaiian […]
On County Single-Use Plastic Ban, Differences Emerge Regarding Sense of Urgency
A bill to prohibit the use and sale of disposable plastic foodware in Maui County passed the Council’s Environmental, Agricultural, and Cultural Preservation Committee by a vote of 5-1 on Tuesday, Feb. 18, with Councilmember Yuki Lei Sugimura being the sole No vote (Councilmember Alice Lee was not present). The bill now heads to the […]
Few Tourists Expected, Firm on Six Stories, Says Jonathan Starr of Hotel Wailuku at Event Sponsored by Hotel Wailuku
The Hotel Wailuku is not expected to cater to tourists and is unlikely to be reduced from its planned six-story height, said landowner and Hotel Wailuku developer Jonathan Starr at a Feb. 13 Akaku Salon sponsored by Hotel Wailuku. Following Akaku CEO Jay April’s sycophantic introduction of Jonathan Starr and Helen Nielsen (which notably excluded […]
It’s Not the Potatoes, It’s the Pesticide – Public health expert to Mahi Pono: ‘Quit spraying stuff!’
A sample of potatoes from Mahi Pono’s recent donation to the Hawaii Foodbank on O‘ahu show insignificant amounts of the heavy metals cadmium and lead, a trace of the herbicide chlorpropham, and nothing else, according to the results of lab testing recently commissioned by MauiTime. The tests were conducted by Anresco Laboratories of San Francisco […]
Sex Trafficking Linked to Homelessness and Other Factors, Report Says
A study of sex trafficking in Hawai‘i has found that homelessness, drug use, adverse childhood experiences, and a need for money are all linked to sex trafficking victimization in the state. The research, conducted by the Hawai‘i State Commission on the Status of Women in partnership with Arizona State University and published last week, collected […]
Raise the Minimum Wage and Reduce Suicide, Study Says
[Content Warning: Suicide] Increases to the minimum wage result in a decrease in the rate of suicide among individuals with a high school education or less, found a study published last month in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. Researchers involved in the report looked at monthly data for all 50 states and the […]
A Dream Deferred: A week after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the war on the poor continues
“The poor are less often dismissed, I hope, from our conscience today by being branded as inferior and incompetent… The dignity of the individual will flourish when the decisions concerning his life are in his own hands, when he has the assurance that his income is stable and certain, and when he knows that he […]
UPDATED: Would You Like a Side of Paraquat with Those Potatoes? Mahi Pono sidesteps questions on its use of the highly toxic, widely banned chemical
Mahi Pono, Maui’s largest landowner and agricultural entity, was allegedly cautioned by an agricultural extension agent earlier this month for failing to follow proper procedures when applying Gramoxone, an herbicide product that contains paraquat – one of the most toxic chemicals in use today and one that’s been banned internationally. That’s the story that’s been […]