Sep 6, 2010 | Community
Hawaii voters increasingly are taking advantage of early voting by mail or at absentee voting sites. In the 2008 General Election, 35 percent of all Maui voters were early voters—18,229 absentees to 33,810 at the polls. Statewide, 38.5 percent of voters turned in absentee ballots.
Beginning this year, there’s an option for Hawaii voters to receive a mail-in ballot for all elections as long as they maintain their current voting address. Applications for a Permanent Absentee Voter Ballot can be picked up at the Elections Office of the Maui County Clerk, 7th floor, Kalana O Maui, 200 S. High St., or downloaded from the State Elections Office website: http://hawaii.gov/elections/voters
Information and applications for regular mail-in voting also are on the site: http://hawaii.gov/elections/voters/voteabsentee.htm
Applications for mail-in ballots are being accepted through Sept. 11. Mail-in ballots must be delivered to the Maui County Clerk’s office by 6 p.m. on Primary Election Day. County Clerk Jeff Kuwada urged early voters to be that: Get your ballots in early.
Voters who already have decided on their choices can begin walk-in voting on Friday, Sept. 3, through Sept. 11. Walk-in voting will be held:
- Maui County Elections Office, 7th floor/Kalana O Maui, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- On Molokai, Mitchell Pauole Center.
Jul 1, 2010 | Community
In the 1920s a select few well-heeled visitors came to vacation in the two or three grand hotels at Waikiki Beach. Some flew in small amphibian airplanes to see the volcanoes on the Big Island, but Maui was seldom on their itinerary.
Inter-Island Airways, Ltd., (which eventually became Hawaiian Airlines), a subsidiary of Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company, landed its first Sikorsky plane on Maui on November 11, 1929. The following year Maui’s first official airport opened at Ma’alaea, and Inter-Island Airways began a daily passenger service to Maui, carrying passengers aboard Sikorsky planes with a 75- minute flight time from Honolulu. In early 1938, construction began on a new Maui airport near Camp 6 in Pu’unene. And during the early 1940’s, the military completed construction of air bases on Maui, including the Pu’unene Naval Air Station. During WWII, as Maui became an important training, staging, and rest area for U. S. military forces in the Pacific, that station was no longer big enough, and the Naval Air Station at Kahului (NASKA) was established in the cane fields and beaches around Kahului. After the war, the site at NASKA was described as the “most potentially ideal commercial airport site,” and in August, 1950, work began on Maui’s new commercial air terminal. The Kahului Airport became Maui’s main commercial and passenger air terminal on June 24, 1952, when Hawaiian Airlines and Trans-Pacific Airlines flights landed. By August, 1959, the year Hawai’i became a state, Maui had committed to developing its own visitor niche and work began at Ka’anapali, Hawaii’s first planned resort. The early 1980’s brought direct service from the mainland to Maui when United Air Lines’ first flight from Los Angeles landed at the Kahului Airport carrying 180 passengers.
Last month, inter-island, domestic, and international flights brought 160,121 visitors to Maui’s expanding Kahului Airport.
Question Of The Week:
How many air flights did you take last year ?
Leave a comment here or post it on the Focus Maui Nui Facebook Page. Mahalo!
Jun 18, 2010 | Community
A telling indicator of economic duress is local residents leaving Hawaii for good.
At the airport, departing family members or friends look no different than other people. There is no way of knowing their reasons for pulling up stakes and leaving Hawaii. The census eventually tells us what happened. During the 1990s, 118,201 more people left Hawaii to reside in the mainland U.S. than all the people who migrated to Hawaii from other states. The most recent exodus of islanders to the mainland began as a trickle in 1990, gaining momentum during 1995 to 2000, when out-migrants totaled 201,293, a number greater than the population of Maui County today.
A Census Bureau report released in 2003 stated that from 1995-2000, “among all states, the highest net out-migration rate was in Hawaii.” The pace of out-migration lessened after 2000 as the economy improved. However, the exodus resumed two years later. In 2006-2007, there was net out-migration of 11,849, and the trend continued the following year with the onset of the current recession.
Today there is evidence of a new population flight from Hawaii. As Hawaii’s annual unemployment rate jumped from 4% to 7% in 2009, Maui County’s climbed to over 9%, and total net out-migration from July, 2008 to July, 2009 was 5,298 people. But the sheer numbers of departing residents do not tell the whole story. Not all departures from Hawaii result from economic hardship.
Many local students leave to attend colleges on the mainland. Seniors are attracted to more affordable retirement locations. Some who leave are not native-born at all, but mainlanders who, after sampling life in Hawaii, return to their homes of origin. For others, leaving home is a consequence of falling in love, or wanderlust. And our transient military population adds to the count of mainland relocations. Population loss is a sensitive social issue, especially with the out-migration of youth and a skilled workforce. Although Americans are notoriously mobile people with an ongoing saga of population movement, a state or county that is aiming for economic stability and Sustainability must address these trends.
Question Of The Week:
Has a family member left Maui Nui for work?
Leave a comment here or post it on the Focus Maui Nui Facebook Page. Mahalo!
Nov 25, 2009 | Community
Na Huihui o Makali’i is a cluster of stars also known as the Pleaides or the Seven Sisters and is much revered in Hawaiian tradition as the place from where the first Hawaiian people came to Earth. In November the appearance of the Makali’i cluster signifies the beginning of Makahiki, the most important season of the year set aside to honor and give thanks to Lono, a fertility and music god who, in agriculture and planting tradition, was identified with rain and food plants. He was one of the four gods (with Kū, Kāne, and his twin brother Kanaloa) who existed before the world was created. It was the celebration of the harvest and a time of personal rest and spiritual and cultural renewal. It was a time when all wars and battles were ceased, tributes and taxes paid by each district to the ruling chief, sporting competitions and contests between villages were organized, and festive events were commenced. Several of the rigid kapu (laws) were eased or temporarily set aside to allow more freedom of activity and easy celebration.
“Here is your nourishment, o gods of Wakea’s descendants. Increase the growth of the land. It is freed, it is freed, it is freed.”
Nov 18, 2009 | Community
There are 3,140 counties in the United States. 21% (673) are classified as coastal. More than half of the U.S. population lives in a coastal county. The entire state of Hawaii is now included in the coastal zone (previously state forest reserve lands were exempt).
Coastal areas are home to a wealth of natural resources, and they also sustain a wealth of economic activity. They are home to some of the most developed areas in the nation. Although population increase and coastal development produce numerous economic benefits, they also may result in the loss of critical habitat, green space, and biodiversity. In 2003, 23 of the 25 most densely populated U.S. counties were coastal.
The nation’s coastal population is expected to increase by more than 12 million by 2015. Coastal population growth is generally the same rate as the entire nation, but in the limited space of coastal counties. This increasing density makes the task of managing coastal resources increasingly difficult. Public policymakers in coastal counties are confronted with the task of finding a balance between benefiting from economic growth while mitigating the effects of this growth on coastal environments. Population Trends Along the Coastal United States: 1980-2008 ~US Department of Commerce, NOAA
All of Hawaii’s counties are coastal counties.
Nov 5, 2009 | Community
The General Plan is a term for a series of planning documents that will guide future growth and policy creation in the County. The Countywide Policy Plan acts as an overarching values statement and is an umbrella policy document for the Island and Community Plans. The Maui Island Plan will function as a regional plan and address the unique problems and needs of the Island of Maui and establish specific policies relating to regional systems such as transportation, utilities, and growth management for the Island of Maui. The Community Plans will reflect the unique characteristics of each Community Plan area and enable residents and stakeholders within those areas to address location specific challenges. In addition to the General Plan, Maui County also maintains a variety of other plans, each designed to meet specific administrative, funding or policy goals. The General Plan is intended to support, not supplant, these ongoing planning efforts. Moreover, the General Plan encourages the development of additional functional plans for various county systems or specific area plans. One of the greatest challenges in the development of this plan was avoiding duplication of efforts and ensuring that the plan would complement, rather than compete with other county and State Plans.
Excerpt from DRAFT MAUI ISLAND PLAN, Introduction.
Oct 29, 2009 | Community
In the 18th year of Tenmon (A.D. 1549) when Francisco Xavier landed in Japan from Europe the crew of his ship had carried a set of Hombre, 48-card Portuguese playing cards, which became extremely popular with the Japanese. Through a colorful history of being banned and declared illegal (which did not diminish cardplaying and gambling by the populace) the game of Hanafuda, which combined traditional Japanese games with Western-style playing cards, was developed in the late 1800s.
Entertaining and highly addictive the Hanafuda cards contain no numbers. Instead the 48 cards in the deck use pictures of flowers and plants. The deck is organized into 12 suites, one for each month of the year, and the types of plants represent the months in which they bloom. Hanafuda is commonly played in Hawaii and South Korea, though under different names. In Hawaii it is called Sakura, Hanafura, and Higobana.
Just ask any local or longtime resident about this card game and you will likely invoke wonderful memories of fun that could go on for hours, and hours, and hours.
The colorful ‘flower cards’ are thicker than Westernstyle cards and players enjoy the “smacking” sound they make when slapped together.
Oct 15, 2009 | Community
Water questions everywhere…
Water resources and water usage are critical issues for Maui County.
FOCUS MAUI NUI is a voice and a vision for Maui Nui’s future created for and by the people who live here. People like you.
FOCUS MAUI NUI continues a series of Community Conversations on critical matters in our county and we appreciate your input!
What is the greatest challenge we face in Maui Nui when it comes to water?
What do you want to know about water in our community?
Focus Maui Nui cordially invites you to participate in a community conversation about water. Share your thoughts on the Focus Maui Nui Facebook page.
Hawaii voters increasingly are taking advantage of early voting by mail or at absentee voting sites. In the 2008 General Election, 35 percent of all Maui voters were early voters—18,229 absentees to 33,810 at the polls. Statewide, 38.5 percent of voters turned in absentee ballots.
