Mahi Pono director of community relations Tiare Lawrence told a politically active local businessman in January that there would be “a lot of money available” if he ran against South Maui State Representative Tina Wildberger in this year’s election. The businessman recently confirmed the conversation to MauiTime, but asked that his name not be used in print. The phone call … [Read more...] about Mahi Pono Plays Politics: What’s the end game?
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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 complaints about island … [Read more...] about Bad Manners: Mahi Pono’s rudeness toward the Maui Board of Water Supply may have consequences
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 want to discuss it anymore. Currently, HB1326 is … [Read more...] about Nothing Is Dead in the Land of the Zombies: The twisted legislative saga of the “Corporate Water Theft” Bill
‘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 bring to Maui. It is part of Changing Maui, … [Read more...] about ‘It’s Hawai‘i, Jake’: In the State Legislature, water legislation grows murkier
“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 Honolulu, the same elements … [Read more...] about “It’s Hawai‘i, Jake”: In the State Legislature, water legislation grows murkier by the minute