By Rick Schonely
Henrietta Helm is the April Golf Ace for the Hui O Kukui Golf Club. Helm, a retired MPD Dispatch supervisor and a golf enthusiast extraordinaire, shot 42-45 for a gross total of 87. With her 22 handicap, her 65 net got her the victory. Congratulations Etta!
The Hui O Kukui Golf Club would like to thank the staff and management of iconic Ironwood Hills Golf Course for perpetuating the game of golf on Molokai.…
Hawaii State Dept. of Health News Release
The Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) has issued notices of award for the Essential Rural Medical Air Transport (ERMAT) Pilot Program to Pulama Ka Heke, a Molokai-based nonprofit healthcare hui, and to a partnership between Pulama Ka Heke and Lanai Kina‘ole, a home healthcare agency, for the island of Lanai.
The ERMAT program will support transportation to receive scheduled healthcare services not available on Molokai and Lanai. This program does not include air ambulance, in which an individual needs to receive medical care during transport.
Residents of both Molokai and Lanai often need to travel off their home island to receive essential healthcare services yet may frequently experience delays, cancellations and groundings — leaving residents stranded on other islands or missing critical medical appointments.…
Hokulani Children’s Theater of Molokai News Release
After two successful years of offering free performing arts education and staging eight beloved community performances, Hokulani Children’s Theatre of Molokai (CTOM) is taking a bold and exciting next step. Our mission has always been to nurture creativity, confidence, and community in our keiki—and now, we’re expanding that vision by building real-world career pathways in media and the performing arts.
Thanks to growing support and grant funding, Hokulani CTOM is launching professional media production training right here on Molokai. This shift is more than just a program change—it’s a transformation in how we prepare our youth for thriving futures in the arts.…
‘Ainapa‘a Wrestling Team News Release
On behalf of the ‘Ainapa‘a Wrestling Team (AWT) ‘ohana, we would like to extend our deepest mahalo to the Molokai community for helping to create such a successful and memorable wrestling tournament experience. As the first wrestling tournament ever held at the Kaunakakai County Gym, it was a true honor to be a part of this milestone. We are proud to have showcased the sport of wrestling and contribute to its growth here on Molokai. Your support, hospitality, and aloha made all the difference, and we are filled with gratitude.
Until next time, AWT will continue to travel to Maui to compete in more Maui style wrestling tournaments, as well as participating in Hawaii Federation USA Wrestling events on Oahu.…
By The Molokai Dispatch Staff
Kids love trucks.
“I think it’s the infatuation with trucks being so big, with the noises, the sounds” said Chanelle Beruan, general manager at Makoa Trucking.
On March 28, Makoa Trucking invited Na Kamali’i Hoaloha preschool to the inaugural Touch-a-Truck event at the Makoa baseyard near the Kaunakakai Wharf. Students in the class got to meet with Makoa truck drivers, beep the horns and check out a variety of equipment from refrigerated containers to flatbeds to forklifts.
Mostly though, the kids were just excited to see the huge machines, explained Beruan.
“Some [of the kids] were just in awe,” she said.…
By Catherine Cluett Pactol
Molokai residents gathered around as cultural practitioners and educators Mahi La Pierre and ‘Iliahi Doo unfurled a long roll of brown paper covered with sketches, names and dimensions. It’s a road map to building holua — ancient Hawaiian wooden sleds.
“These days are going to be like, laugh, cry, everything, and just pouring our time and energy into these things that our kupuna rode,” La Pierre told the Molokai participants of a three-day holua workshop.
La Pierre and Doo, of Oahu, visited the island last month to share their love and knowledge of holua. It was a sport of the akua and ali’i, in which brave kane and wahine rode narrow sleds that were between 7 and 18 feet in length, down a mountain track at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour.…
By Jack Kiyonaga, Editor
Kaunakakai Elementary students were treated to an evening of Easter eggs. 1500 plastic eggs were spread across the school’s campus, enticing students and their families to an entertaining activity with a positive twist.
“We wanted to add a fun event before the Easter holiday for our students and families outside of school hours as we celebrate and bring awareness to so many causes during the month of April,” explained Kala Bishaw-Juario, parent community networking center for Kaunakakai Elementary.
April is Autism Awareness, Child Abuse Prevention and Sexual Abuse Awareness Month. Early in April, the school had hosted the Molokai Community Action Team, who had come to educate students on child abuse prevention and sexual abuse awareness.…
By Jack Kiyonaga, Editor
One of the most attended events on Molokai, the annual Earth Day celebrations, took place last Friday, April 18, at the Mitchell Pauole Center. Approximately 1,000 Molokai residents came through to check out over 30 exhibits along with music, food and a celebration of the Malama Kuleana Honua award.
The long running tradition celebrated 31 years of Earth Day on Molokai, explained Allyson Durkin, program coordinator for The Nature Conservancy and organizer of Friday’s event.
Earth Day on Molokai “is unique,” said Durkin. “We hope you walk away with something that you can implement into your own life.”…
Herbert Iopa Paleka Jr. passed away on March 23 at Kona Community Hospital with his family by his side.
He was born on Nov. 30, 1945 on Molokai to Herbert Sr. and Eliza (Enos) Paleka. He would often share stories of being raised on Molokai, feeding the pigs and working in the kalo patches.
Herbert attended school on Molokai and in 1964 graduated from Molokai High School. He married Hinano Hapai on April 10, 1971 and raised his family on Oahu. He was a truck driver for Gaspro and a member of the Hawaii Teamsters Local 996 for over 35 years.…
Community Contributed
By Keomailani Hanapi Hirata
The protection of iwi kupuna and burial sites is a sacred kuleana that must be upheld with the highest level of cultural care, local oversight, and community authority. For remote islands like Molokai, Lanai, and others with limited state agency presence, the absence of an active burial council leaves our most sacred sites vulnerable to desecration, neglect, and irreversible harm. Our kupuna and their final resting places deserve better.
There are four main reasons why an active burial council is critical for Molokai and remote islands. One, is the geographic and cultural necessity of the council.…
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