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Search Results for: ferry

Candidate Response: John Pele

Thursday, October 31st, 2024

Candidate Response: John Pele

John Pele 

Running for Maui County Council — Molokai Councilmember 

 

What are your priority goals for Molokai if elected?

I would like to reach out to the community to see if there is a need for housing options for our

residents. However, we must build in a way that insulates us from outside speculation. Land

trusts and leaseholds are good examples of this. I would also seek continued funding for our

keiki and kupuna programs as well as try to expand services for mental health and substance

abuse. Programs dealing with environmental issues and invasive species should also be

considered for funding.…

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Candidate Survey Response:Gabby Macaraeg (R)

Thursday, October 31st, 2024

Candidate Survey Response:Gabby Macaraeg (R)

Gabby Macaraeg (R)

Running for State Senator, District 7 

What are your priority goals for Molokai if elected? 

My goals are health care, especially for the kupuna, dependable and reliable inter-island transportation, lowering the cost of living, and higher education that establishes high paying jobs.

How would you address the transportation issues that have frustrated Molokai residents in recent years? 

I would follow up with the current pilot program proposal pertaining to ferry transportation from Molokai to Maui. There should be consistent updates from start to finish with the project. With technology today, the ferry should be able to provide high quality resources such as equipment, services and good paying jobs for locals. …

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Mokulele Temporarily Grounded, Wins Lanai EAS Bid

Thursday, August 29th, 2024

Mokulele Temporarily Grounded, Wins Lanai EAS Bid

Last weekend, Mokulele Airlines grounded most of its fleet of planes, canceling flights for up to four days and stranding passengers across Hawaii. On Aug. 17, a letter to customers from Louis Saint-Cyr, president of Hawaii operations for Mokulele’s new managing company Surf Air Mobility, explained the cause of the service disruption as due to “potential discrepancies in the documentation of a recent landing gear servicing on one of our aircraft.”

A precautionary decision was made on Aug. 17 to halt most of its flights across the state while Mokulele conducted “thorough inspections” of its fleet. As the flights slowed, Molokai social media buzzed with residents desperately looking for flights and seeking boat rides to or from Maui – an increasingly popular method of transportation for increasingly frustrated Molokai residents.…

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Alaska-Hawaiian Merger Won’t Solve Molokai Flight Issues

Thursday, April 11th, 2024

Molokai residents who were hoping the proposed Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines merger could help the flight crisis on Molokai, will unfortunately be disappointed. Representatives from Alaska Airlines were clear that they will not be flying to Molokai, officially partnering with Mokulele or bringing in an additional Molokai airline.

“We knew this was going to be a little bit of an unusual visit…We knew we didn’t have a solution,” explained Joe Sprague, Alaska Airlines regional president of Hawaii, at a meeting with representatives from Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines, the U.S. Congress and Molokai community members on March 28.

Airline representatives sighted “significant airport limitations” of the Ho’olehua airport for their current decision.…

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Disappointing Services

Wednesday, July 19th, 2023

To recap a previous community letter, we, the people of Molokai, used to have a ferry that traveled to/from Maui twice daily, and we used to have services from three different airlines. Since February 2021, our only means of off island travel is via Mokulele Airlines/Southern Airways for medical, business, family, recreation travels.  (And some have access to private boats.)

It’s with great disappointment that Mokulele Airlines has not been dependable in providing reliable and consistent services.  We travel frequently each month for the reasons mentioned above, and we have a corporate account.  Too often our flights have been delayed, changed, or canceled. …

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Tokuda Pledges Air Assistance

Wednesday, May 10th, 2023

Tokuda Pledges Air Assistance

By Jack Kiyonaga, Reporter 

Congressman Jill Tokuda, the U.S. Representative for Hawaii’s Second District, is in the process of writing a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding Molokai’s airline crisis. 

“I’d like to create a thoughtful letter that really lays out the transportation crisis and vulnerability that exists,” said Tokuda. “Right now, the only constant is that it is inconsistent,” she added. 

Tokuda explained to Molokai residents gathered at her town hall meeting held at Mitchell Pauole Center last Thursday that the FAA needs data on flight delays and cancelations along with personal testimony to make a difference. 

Molokai community members related horror stories of family members passing away without loved ones and surgeries cancelled – all due to flight expense and unreliability. …

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Resolving Transportation Issues

Wednesday, March 8th, 2023

I recently wrote to Senator DeCoite and Mayor Bissen to address state and county issues regarding transportation for Molokai residents to neighbor islands. And, to kindly ask their help in finding solutions for better service.

As you are aware, Molokai no longer has a ferry offering transportation to Maui. As you are also aware, there is now only one airline, Mokulele, servicing Molokai. When the ferry went out of business, a major factor was price competition with the three airlines that served Molokai at that time. Now there is only one airline, Mokulele.

There is a serious problem with only having one method of transportation to and from Molokai. …

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Farming Keeps Social Worker Grounded

Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

Farming Keeps Social Worker Grounded

By Paul Hanley, Community Reporter

Brent Nakihei has been working on the ‘aina since he was a child. The youngest of 12, he used to do chores for his grandparents Albert and Agnes Ne on their piggery farm in Kalama’ula. Now 53, he has started farming again on the same land, originally leased by his great grandfather John Pua’a in 1923, the fifth Hawaiian Homestead on the Hawaiian Islands.

Molokai farmers like Kekama Helm inspired Nakihei to get back into farming and to do it sustainably. His initial venture is a 1.6-acre field planted into avocado, soursop, white guava, lichee, ulu, and different types of mangoes — about 50 trees in all.…

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Planning for Managed Tourism

Wednesday, December 14th, 2022

By Sage Yamashita, Intern Reporter

On a small, rural island like Molokai, whose residents have fought for preservation of their cultural heritage and against overdevelopment, tourism is a controversial subject. Many residents welcomed the lack of visitors brought by the pandemic, while local businesses often suffer from drops in visitor numbers. In an effort to rebuild, redefine and reset the direction of tourism, the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) is making progress with the Molokai Destination Management Action Plan (DMAP). Over a three-year period, the plan’s focus is on the stabilization, recovery and rebuilding of the visitor industry for the island.

 “HTA was getting a lot of heat at the state legislature because in 2019, Hawaii had a record breaking number of tourists, over 10 million that came to Hawaii,” said Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, county councilmember for Molokai, and member of the HTA’s Molokai Task Force.…

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Dwindling Services

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2021

We, the people of Molokai, used to have a ferry that traveled to/from Maui twice daily, and we used to have services from three different airlines.  However, as of February 2021, off-island travel for family visits, doctors’ appointments, medical treatments, or to conduct business or shopping (not only for tourists) means to fly Mokulele Airlines/Southern Airways, only.  Except for an occasional mishap we basically were satisfied with Mokulele’s service.

However, our 20-month-old grandson and his parents were here visiting this past weekend from Oahu (a quick two-day visit and vacay).  Their return flight was delayed 36 hours. The airport was full of passengers, and I’m sure each have their own story to tell. …

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