News Releases

Children’s Theater Receives HCF Grant

Thursday, January 23rd, 2025

HCF News Release

The Hawaii Community Foundation (HCF) announced on Jan. 14 the awarding of $1,521,000 in grant funding to 28 art and culture organizations through its Equitable Access Arts and Culture program. This initiative is dedicated to enhancing equitable opportunities for all Hawaii residents to engage in arts and culture, addressing barriers such as geography, socio-economic factors, and systemic inequities.
For Molokai, the Hokulani Children’s Theater of Molokai was the recipient of a $55,500 grant. The Hokulani Children’s Theater of Molokai Enriches Molokai’s youth through performing arts education and accessible artistic opportunities.
The HCF grants, which provide two-year general operating support, empower local organizations to sustain and expand programs that foster inclusivity, diversity, and community engagement in the arts.…

Erosion Repairs for Kam. V Highway

Thursday, January 23rd, 2025

Hawaii Dept. of Transportation News Release

The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) advises highway users that crews are preparing Kamehameha V Highway (Route 450) in the vicinity of Waialua Stream for temporary repairs to the undermined road. One lane will remain open for alternating traffic at mile post 18.7 on Kamehameha V Highway during the work.

Crews have placed cones and barriers at the site this week and will be installing temporary erosion control measures which include stacking sandbags alongside the eroded asphalt.
Work to rebuild the foundation of the road and shoreline protection measures started on Tuesday, Jan. 14, and will continue until early February.…

MAC Talk at Molokai Public Library

Thursday, January 23rd, 2025

MAC News Release

Join the Molokai Arts Center (MAC) at the Molokai Public Library on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 5:30 p.m. as MAC’s Artist in Residence Connie Lee Lynch shares her Molokai journey in art. Connie is a mixed media and fiber artist currently living in Pearl City. She is a certified crochet instructor and has had crochet designs and articles featured in both crochet and spinning magazine publications. Most recently, her work was included in the Fiber Hawaii 2024 Exhibit at the Downtown Art Center in Honolulu. Her website is crochetcetera.com.

While on Molokai, Connie’s mixed media paintings and fiber arts work has been focused on the theme, “Island Expressions: Exploring the Natural Beauty of Molokai through Texture and Color.”…

Two Molokai Churches Lauded for Highway Cleanups

Thursday, January 23rd, 2025

Hawaii Department of Transportation, Highways Maui District News Release

Two churches on Molokai have been recognized by the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation, Highways Maui District, for their contributions to the Adopt-A-Highway public service program.

The Heart of Aloha Church and Tenrikyo Molokai received the Adopt-A-Highway No Ka Oi Highway Hui Award for the fourth quarter of 2024 and first quarter of 2025, respectively. Both churches and their volunteers have regularly picked up trash along a two-mile segment of highway for the past eight or more years, helping to prevent roadside rubbish from blowing into the ocean or other sensitive ecosystems.…

Seed to Harvest Gardening Program Taking Applications

Thursday, January 16th, 2025

UH CTAHR Molokai News Release

The University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience (UH CTAHR) Molokai Cooperative Extension Service Team is excited to announce our 12 week “Seed to Harvest” gardening series. Apply by contacting UH CTAHR at (808) 567-6929. Applications are due no later than Jan. 24.

The “Seed to Harvest” gardening series is a part of the “Rooted in Resilience: Building Healthy Communities Through Gardening” program for 2025. This program is funded by the County of Maui Department of Agriculture and is a partnership between UH CTAHR, Molokai Cooperative Extension Service and the County of Maui Department of Agriculture.…

Ke Alahele Education Grant

Thursday, January 16th, 2025

MEDB News Release

Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) is seeking applications from educators and students for its Ke Alahele Education Grant. All Maui County public school educators and students are invited to apply. Projects must also be endorsed by the applicant’s school principal to be eligible.

Thanks to the generosity of over 300 Ke Alahele supporters at MEDB’s October fundraising dinner and auction, MEDB expects to award 15 to 20 grants of $3,000 in the spring 2025 semester, depending on the number of applications received.

The Ke Alahele Grant funds can be used to support a wide range of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and professional development activities at both the secondary and post-secondary levels.…

Tow and Scrap Program

Thursday, January 16th, 2025

Maui County Dept. of Environmental Management News Release

The County of Maui Department of Environmental Management has launched a new Tow and Scrap program for Molokai residents to recycle their unwanted qualified vehicles at no cost. The County is partnering with A&S Services LLC and Molokai Metals Facility to facilitate the program.

Residents must be the last registered owner of the vehicle being recycled. Residents will need the vehicle title with their name on the title and a government-issued photo identification.

To make an appointment, residents may call A&S Services LLC at (808) 336-0747. An A&S employee will go to residents’ homes, check their documents and give them two forms to fill out.…

Agricultural Micro Grant Additional Information

Thursday, January 16th, 2025

MEO News Release

Molokai residents interested in applying for the Agricultural Micro Grant Program can do so in-person at MEO’s Molokai Office, 380 Kolapa Place, Kaunakakai, Hawaii 96748. For more information, contact the MEO Business Development Center by phone at (808) 553-3270 or by email at lily.napoleon@meoinc.org. The deadline to submit applications is Feb. 25, 2025. Further application details are available at meoinc.org/programs and were printed in the Jan. 8 issue of The Molokai Dispatch.…

MEO 60-Year Spotlight: The Molokai branch

Thursday, January 16th, 2025

MEO News Release

Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc., (MEO) is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2025. The Community Action Partnership program, born of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty and the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, was chartered on March 22, 1965.
MEO’s reach stretches from East Maui to Lanai City to Kaunakakai, Molokai, while offering most of the agency’s 30 programs in each location.
On Molokai, MEO offices and a Head Start preschool were completed in 1992 on 1.3 acres at 380 Kolapa Place in Kaunakakai. Prior to moving, MEO was located across the street from Kaunakakai Elementary and served as a “community hub,” recalled MEO Molokai Director Mahie McPh

erson, who leads a staff of 19.…