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E Hoʻomanaʻo Honors 5 Hawaiian Leaders

Thursday, February 19th, 2026

E Hoʻomanaʻo Honors 5 Hawaiian Leaders

By Léo Azambuja

The monthly E Hoʻomanaʻo at Molokai Public Library usually highlights the life of an aliʻi or prominent leader who helped to shape the course of Hawaiian history. The first E Hoʻomanaʻo of 2026 celebrated the life of five leaders, featuring musical performances and tributes to their legacies.

“We have quite a lineup today,” Awaiulu head researcher Kalei Roberts said, listing the five Hawaiians honored at the Jan. 27 event: Queen Emma Rooke, King William Charles Lunalilo, Prince William Pitt Leleiohoku II, Princess Miriam Likelike and Joseph Kahoʻoluhi Nāwahī, newspaper publisher and Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Hawaiian Kingdom.…

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Go Slow, Whales Below

Thursday, February 19th, 2026

Go Slow, Whales Below

By The Molokai Dispatch staff

Each winter, more than 10,000 humpback whales migrate from the frigid Alaskan waters to the warmer, tropical waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands. Once here, they breed, nurse their calves and raise their young before returning to the North Pacific. 

“As koholā, or humpback whale, season reaches its peak in Hawaiʻi, the Go Slow – Whales Below initiative urges mariners to be mindful and exercise caution when out on the ocean, for the safety of the whales and everyone on the water,” the state Department of Land and Natural Resources states in a recent news release.

Most of the koholā migrations are between December and April, but there are whale sightings as early as October.…

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Proposed Kalaupapa Memorial Still Faces Hurdles

Thursday, February 19th, 2026

Proposed Kalaupapa Memorial Still Faces Hurdles

By Léo Azambuja

A memorial honoring thousands of late Hansen’s disease patients sent on a one-way ticket to Kalaupapa has yet to be built more than two decades after its initial idea and nearly 17 years after President Barack Obama signed a federal bill paving the way for the monument.

“There’s this big hairball of bureaucracy that just keeps getting bigger and bigger,” Ka ʻOhana O Kalaupapa executive director Valerie Monson said at a Maui Council’s Aloha ‘Āina Committee meeting at Mitchell Pauole Center Jan. 29. “We just hope we can get through it.”

Committee chair Keani Rawlins-Fernandez scheduled the meeting to discuss the proposed Kalaupapa Memorial Monument, which has been in the works for at least 23 years.…

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Lauhala Workshop Part II this Sunday in Hoʻolehua

Thursday, February 12th, 2026

MAC News Release

The Molokai Arts Center’s Hawaiian Arts Program presents its second Lauhala workshop on Sunday, Feb. 15 from 3:30-5:30 p.m. at Hoʻolehua Homestead Makeke, at 2240 Lihi Pali Ave behind Molokai High School, mauka, just east of Purdy’s Mac Nut Farm. Register at https://bit.ly/MACHA2026.

The MAC continues its popular HĀ workshops featuring the Lauhala (pandanus) plant. Participants will be taught to weave lauhala into a bracelet. Cultural practitioner Mokihana Paleka Jackson returns this Sunday to share the art of lauhala weaving.

The MAC HĀ 2025-26 Program is a bi-monthly series which promotes cultural arts through ‘aina (land) and mea kanu (that which is planted), utilizing our natural resources. Each month, a cultural practitioner will help participants, keiki through kupuna, craft a product from a specific plant (i.e. kukui,…

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Robert Ukini Kalua Sr.

Thursday, February 12th, 2026

Robert Ukini Kalua Sr.

Robert Ukini Kalua Sr. entered his rest on Jan. 30, 2026, without urgency, without pain and as a final exhale.

Born on April 11, 1938 to John and Irene Kalua. Robert lived a life shaped by aloha — not as a word, but as a way of being: steady, loyal and quietly devoted to those entrusted to him.

He is survived by his brother John, his beloved wife Sylvia, his son Bobby, and his daughters, Shelly and Loli.

He is also lovingly remembered by his nine grandchildren: Justin, Gavin, Kaylee, Robbie, Koa, Ana, Chad, Molli and Megan. and three great-grandchildren: Rhea, Vyenna and Zavian who knew him as a source of safety, humor, and constant care.…

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Hana Keaka 2026

Thursday, February 12th, 2026

Hana Keaka 2026

He Lālā Au No Kuʻu Kumu

By The Molokai Dispatch Staff

The schoolchildren from a traditional charter school on Molokai put on a strong theater performance for a sold-out crowd during a fundraising event at the Molokai High School Gym last weekend.

The keiki from Ke Kula Kaiapuni o Kualapu‘u, an elementary public charter school, presented their Hana Keaka 2026, or Hawaiian theater program, before nearly 300 people at The Barn Feb. 7. 

“What you will see today represents months of intentional, instructed creativity and ʻike Hawaii integrated across science, math, reading and the arts,” emcee Lokelani Fergerstrom said. “The theme of this evening is He Lālā Au No Kuʻu Kumu — I’m a branch of a firm tree, and this sea reminds us that our success doesn’t stand alone.…

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Lawmakers Secure $1.3M for ʻAha Pūnana Leo

Thursday, February 12th, 2026

Office of Sen. Brian Schatz News Release

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) secured $1.3 million in congressionally directed spending, also known as an earmark, in this year’s appropriations deal for ʻAha Pūnana Leo. The funding will be used to train teachers, support families, and develop new early childhood education Hawaiian language materials, such as books and videos, to help young children build literacy and math skills.

Learning language early matters because it shapes how kids think and learn for the rest of their lives,” said Schatz, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This new earmark funding will help revitalize the Hawaiian language while making sure more kids have the resources to learn and grow.”…

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Hoʻolehua Homestead Makeke

Thursday, February 12th, 2026

Hoʻolehua Homestead Makeke

By Léo Azambuja | Interim Editor

The Hoʻolehua Homestead Makeke, a small community market on homestead land, has become one of Molokai’s hidden gems. Usually held twice a month in tandem with a Hawaiian arts workshop, the market offers locally grown produce, plants, snacks, drinks, a thrift shop and a place for ‘ohana to hang out.

“It’s the Hoʻolehua Homesteaders Association, the Molokai Arts Center, and then us as Hoʻolehua homesteaders that want to see our economics grow and have a space for people,” Hoʻolehua homesteader Kilia Purdy said.

The Makeke, or market, operates on a piece of land besides Purdy’s Mac Nut Farm in Hoʻolehua.…

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Mud Bog Season Opens on Valentine’s Day

Wednesday, February 11th, 2026

Mud Bog Season Opens on Valentine’s Day

By The Molokai Dispatch staff

The Alcon ʻohana brought back the Molokai Mud Bog to the island last July, after more than three decades since the last one. It was just the beginning; this year, organizers want to deliver four mud bogs, with the first one, Molokai Rooted, on Valentine’s Day Feb. 14.

“We’re excited for what 2026 has in store,” organizers posted on Instagram earlier this year, adding they have been busy planning additional races for 2026 — all free and family-friendly — since the last mud bog.

The Molokai Rooted on Feb. 14 will be for Molokai racers only.…

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What Is a Community?

Thursday, February 5th, 2026

What Is a Community?

By Kendrick Kansana Jr., Kualapuʻu 6th Grader

What is a community? Many people think a community is just a group of people. But a community is a group of people who help out each other.

First, a healthy community is a group of people who help each other strive by sharing resources. They also notice others’ needs and listen to each other. They also keep good relationships between each other, so they can stay a community.

Why is it important to participate in a community? One reason is because what goes around comes around. If you don’t help out with community events, then the community might not help you when you need help.…

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