Government

Join a County Board or Commission

Thursday, October 14th, 2021

County of Maui News Release

The County of Maui is seeking applicants to fill multiple vacancies on county boards, commissions, councils and committees. There are currently two vacancies on the Molokai Planning Commission, among dozens of other opportunities to make an impact on local policy. 

There is one vacancy on each of the following: Affirmative Action Advisory Council, Civil Service Commission, Maui County Cultural Resources Commission, Real Property Tax Review Board, and Salary Commission. 

There are two vacancies on each of the following: Animal Control Board, Board of Ethics, Board of Variances and Appeals, Board of Water Supply, Fire & Public Safety Commission, Hana Advisory Committee to the Maui Planning Commission, Liquor Control Adjudication Board, Liquor Control Commission, Maui Planning Commission, Molokai Planning Commission, Paia-Haiku Advisory Committee to the Maui Planning Commission, Police Commission, Public Works Commission, South Maui Advisory Committee to the Maui Planning Commission, Kula Agricultural Park Committee, Commission on Healing Solutions for Homelessness, Maui County Arborist Committee, and Maui Redevelopment Agency. …

Join the Conservation Planning Committee

Wednesday, October 6th, 2021

County of Maui News Release  

Applications to fill Molokai, Lanai and East Maui seats on the Conservation Planning Committee are being accepted until Oct. 15 at 4:30 p.m., Councilmember Michael J. Molina, chair of the council’s Government Relations, Ethics and Transparency Committee, announced.  

“The Conservation Planning Committee provides recommendations to the mayor, council and county agencies prior to acquiring parcels for land conservation purposes using Open Space, Natural Resources, Cultural Resources and Scenic Views Preservation Funds,” Molina said. “It is important we have representation from community members in our remote locations as lands in those areas are best known by its nearby residents.”…

Open Letter to Congressman Kahele

Thursday, September 16th, 2021

As one of many Molokai residents who voted for you to represent us in Congress, I’m sad to hear that you not only voted for the nearly three quarters of a trillion-dollar FY 2022 U.S. military budget but also to increase it by an additional $24 billion. With so many issues facing Molokai and every island, I’m sure your voters could think of far better ways to use those funds. Don’t let the good work you’re doing for Hawaii be overshadowed by indebtedness to weapons manufacturers. You can win elections without them. Please learn from Afghanistan, Iraq, etc., a lesson we should have learned from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia: no amount of money spent on instruments of death can translate into victory of any sort beyond Wall Street.…

Don’t Like the Noise? Make Your Voice Heard

Thursday, September 16th, 2021

Don’t Like the Noise? Make Your Voice Heard

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

Molokai residents have been complaining for years about the noise caused by military training flights over the island, particularly from Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, which can adjust their rotors to fly like either a helicopter and fixed-wing plane. Now, with more people staying at home during the pandemic, complaints are coming in from around the state, Honolulu Civil Beat reported. The Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) has opened up a comment questionnaire available for Hawaii residents to air their grievances about military aircraft noise as part of an initiative to address high-disturbance areas. The comment period is open until Oct.…

Blood Quantum Change ‘Nail in the Coffin’

Wednesday, September 8th, 2021

In response to your excellent reporting “Congressman Kahele Visits Molokai” in the Aug. 25 issue. 

The need for changes of our Abbott and Costello government begins with a restitution that releases the “native Hawaiians” from our longtime policy as wards of this crooked state!

There is no such law, at both levels, which promotes the “rehabilitation” nor advocates “the betterment of the conditions” on behalf of the 1/32 blood quantum Hawaiian.

The introduction in the changing of the blood quantum requirement in order to inherit Hawaiian Homes Land falls in line with Hawaii’s latest scam, Act 80, which reduces the successorship qualification of a lease’s spouse, children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, etc.,…

Improvements for Kualapu`u Rec Center

Wednesday, September 8th, 2021

County of Maui News Release 

The Department of Parks and Recreation announced last week that, with ongoing repairs and renovations at the Kualapuʻu Recreation Center, the facility’s basketball/volleyball court will be closed from Monday, Sept. 20, through Friday, Dec. 10, 2021, for the construction of the Kualapuʻu Recreation Center Court Improvements project.

The court renovation project will include the removal and replacement of existing court equipment, resurfacing and restriping of the court, and an accessible route along the court to the existing walkway. The construction contract was awarded to Site Engineering Inc.

As part of the ongoing improvements to the Kualapuʻu Recreation Center, the renovation will also focus on upgrading the facility’s entrance and interior areas to enhance accessibility and security.…

$950K for Na’iwa Subdivision

Wednesday, September 8th, 2021

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

Improvements to the Na’iwa Subdivision on Molokai Hawaiian Home Lands are moving forward with the release of an additional $950,000 in capital improvement funds, Sen. Lynn DeCoite announced last week. The funds are allocated for design and engineering services for roadway access, water and electrical service for the subdivision area. 

After years of waiting, the Na’iwa agricultural subdivision in Ho’olehua near the airport, which encompasses 341 acres and 58 lots, is getting infrastructure improvements including access roads, driveways, electrical connections and potable and irrigation water lines. Site inspections and field work for the improvements began in February and March.…

Linda Clark Appointed District 13 Rep

Thursday, July 29th, 2021

Linda Clark Appointed District 13 Rep

Gov. Ige News Release

Gov. David Ige has appointed Linda Ann Ha‘i Clark to fill the state House District 13 seat, which includes Maui (Haiku, Hana, Kaupo, Kipahulu, Nahiku, Paia), Kaho‘olawe, Lanai, Molokai and Molokini.

Clark replaces Sen. Lynn DeCoite, who was appointed last month to the state Senate (District 7) seat formerly held by Kalani English.

Clark currently serves as an independent process server for the Child Support Enforcement Agency, State of Hawaii. She has previously worked as an administrator, office manager and clerical worker for Alternatives to Violence, First Hawaiian Bank, and Maui Windows and Doors. She was also the owner/operator of Kupono and Friends Day Care Center from 1996-2003.…

Bovine TB Found on Molokai

Wednesday, July 14th, 2021

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

Twenty-five years after a bovine tuberculosis (bTB) outbreak on Molokai caused the culling of all the island’s cattle, a cow infected with the disease was reported by the Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture last Friday. The infected cow was originally from a beef cattle herd in Ho`olehua and was temporarily pastured in Mapulehu on the east end because of the ongoing drought, the HDOA reported.

Bovine tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis, is a contagious and infectious disease of animals, usually carried by cows, that can also infect humans. There have been sporadic outbreaks on Molokai in cattle herds since the 1940s, especially on the east end, but this is the first detected case in Hawaii since a Molokai outbreak in 1997.…

3 Selected as Representative Picks

Wednesday, July 7th, 2021

3 Selected as Representative Picks

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

Molokai’s Stacy Helm Crivello is among three applicants selected by the Democratic Party to fill the House District 13 vacancy left when former Molokai Representative Lynn DeCoite was named a state senator. Crivello, a former County Councilmember and community advocate, was selected along with Claire Kamalu Carroll of Hana, Maui and Linda Clark of Kaupo, Maui from among five candidates who submitted their applications for the vacancy. The three names will be sent to Gov. David Ige for his consideration to fill the House vacancy, and he has until Monday, August 16 to select one of these individuals.…