News Releases

Releases that pertain to the Molokai and Hawaiian communities.

Local Man Flown to Oahu After ATV Accident

Thursday, June 12th, 2025

Maui County News Release
Firefighters responded to the report of an ATV accident involving three males, with one seriously injured, two miles from the nearest paved road above Kawela on Molokai June 2 at 12:19 p.m.
Firefighters used utility vehicles to access the patient, a 78-year-old Molokai resident, and begin initial treatment. Additional fire and Emergency Medical Service personnel were brought to the scene by off-duty fire personnel using a UTV. The patient was evaluated at the scene by EMS and prepared for transport.
Rescue 10 personnel aboard Air 1 lifted the patient from the accident scene and transported him to a landing zone at One Ali’i Park, where he was transferred to a medivac helicopter and flown to Oahu.…

MEO Head Start Secures Federal Funding for School Year

Thursday, June 12th, 2025

MEO News Release
Maui Economic Opportunity’s Head Start preschool program was notified this week that federal funding has been secured for the 2025-26 school year.
“We are so pleased that Head Start was funded by the federal government for next school year,” CEO Debbie Cabebe said.
Head Start is a national program that provides preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds at no cost to income-qualifying families. Local Head Start officials have been fielding questions about the status of the program for next school year amid cost-cutting at the federal level.
The federal notice of $2.7 million in funding allays some of the fears for the upcoming school year that begins in August and ends in May 2026.…

MAC Hosting Ceramic Artist

Thursday, June 12th, 2025

MAC Hosting Ceramic Artist

MAC News Release

The Molokai Arts Center welcomes Artist in Residence Sheldon Tsu-Yao Wong of Honolulu, Hawaii. As an artist, Sheldon uses clay to explore and dissect ancestral stories, exploring themes of ownership, belonging, and the politics of memory. 

He will be on Molokai from June 5 through 20 working on a project aimed at creating a dialog between the viewer, the material, and the island, exploring how we archive our existence and make our presence known through tactile and visual expressions.

“For my time on Molokai, I intend on working on a series of work that continues to explore the meaning of touch in all aspects: with the Earth, connection to ancestry, and the legacy of our archives.…

HDOA Giving More than $500,000 for Specialty Crop Grant Programs

Thursday, June 5th, 2025

By HDOA News Release

The Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture (HDOA), Market Development Branch (MDB), is accepting applications for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) for Fiscal Year 2025. The funding for this year’s program totals $512,663 and seeks project proposals that increase the competitiveness of Hawai‘i’s specialty crops. Award amounts range from $20,000 to $50,000.
Under the program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) allocated funding to each state based on the value of the specialty crops produced. Specialty crops are defined by the USDA as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture). Much of Hawai‘i’s diversified agriculture falls under this specialty crop designation.…

Hunting Licenses, Stamps for Upcoming Season

Thursday, June 5th, 2025

By DLNR News Release

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) will begin issuing hunting licenses and stamps for the new hunting season June 15. The date of issuance will be through June 30, 2026.
Hunters can purchase their licenses and stamps online using a credit card. The online purchasing portal is available at dlnr.hawaii.gov/recreation/hunting/.
Alternatively, hunters can visit any DOFAW branch offices or an authorized hunting license vendor. Hunters can obtain vendor information by contacting their local DOFAW office.
A valid state of Hawaiʻi hunting license is required for hunting on public and private lands.…

MEMA Urges Residents, Visitors to Prepare for Hurricane Season

Thursday, June 5th, 2025

By MEMA News Release

As hurricane season approaches, the Maui Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) is urging all residents and visitors to take proactive steps now to ensure safety and resiliency. The Central Pacific hurricane season officially runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.
“Being prepared ahead of time is critical,” MEMA Administrator Amos Lonokailua-Hewett said. “By getting ready now, we strengthen our ability to care for our families, neighbors, and community. E hoʻomākaukau kākou a e mālama pono.”
The 2025 season is expected to bring near-normal tropical cyclone activity, with an estimated four-to-five tropical cyclones anticipated, according to the National Weather Service.…

Hospice Maui Molokai Needs Volunteers

Monday, June 2nd, 2025

Hospice Maui Molokai News Release

Volunteers provide important services to hospice organizations and the people they serve. By being a hospice volunteer, you can gain great personal satisfaction from knowing you have made an impact in another person’s life and have contributed to your community in a compassionate and caring way.

Hospice volunteers are essential members of the Hospice Team. Hospice volunteers provide companionship to people living with a serious illness who might be near the end of life. They help family caregivers in a variety of ways. Hospice also relies on volunteers to help with office work, fundraising, community outreach and other operational areas.…

Greeters Needed

Monday, June 2nd, 2025

Molokai History Project News Release

As you know, we have moved to a much larger space and a great location just across the street from Friendly Market. We are so appreciative of this wonderful location. It is much larger than our original space, so we have to make some changes. We are in need of greeters who have two hours a week that they can share with the History Project and our local residents and visitors who stop in every day. It is a fun two hours with friendly, interested visitors to chat with, a piano you can play to your heart’s content, beautiful displays that are informative and interesting, and a lovely relaxing space that says what a wonderful, full history Molokai shares with our beautiful state.…

Molokai Students Receive Bayer Hawaii Life Sciences Scholarship

Monday, June 2nd, 2025

Bayer Hawaii News Release

A total of ten Hawaii students, including Halena Peterson and Chloe Tancayo from Molokai, have received the 2025 Bayer Hawaii Life Sciences Scholarship. Peterson will be attending Montana State University to study Pre-Veterinary Medicine, and Tancayo will be attending University of Hawaii at Hilo where she will study Chemistry.

Recipients statewide were Leah Bautista, Leilehua High School, Keira Brown, Leilehua High School, Ciana Cooper, Maui High School, Sophia Kato, Maui High School, Halena Peterson, Molokai High School, Faith Shimabukuro, Mililani High School, Rylee Stout, Seabury Hall, Chloe Tancayo, Molokai High School, Jyliann Teocson, Waipahu High School, and Joshua Yasuda, Mid-Pacific Institute.…

Surveying Residents About Top Community Needs

Thursday, May 22nd, 2025

Surveying Residents About Top Community Needs

MEO News Release

Maui Economic Opportunity (MEO) is seeking the community’s help in identifying Maui County’s top community needs as the Community Action Agency embarks on a process to develop a three-year plan to tackle those needs.
The survey of the general public and stakeholders is an initial step as MEO creates a Community Action Plan for 2027-30.
The Community Needs Assessment Survey can be found at forms.gle/uq57oVKrHpHcKUvx8. The deadline to receive the surveys is June 25.
MEO was established 60 years ago through the American Opportunity Act, part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. The agency is one of more than a thousand Community Action Agencies across the nation (and four in Hawaii) formed to tackle poverty.…