mtanji@mauinews.com
Na Poâe Kokua, a Maui-based Native Hawaiian housing advocacy group, filed a whistleblower complaint Thursday against Bank of America, calling it a âlast warningâ for the bank to uphold its commitment to make $150 million in home loans available on Hawaiian Home Lands. Na Poâe Kokua said the next step would be a federal lawsuit. AP file photo
A Maui-based Native Hawaiian housing advocacy organization on Thursday filed a whistleblower complaint that it called the “last warning” for Bank of America to uphold a long-standing commitment to make $150 million in home loans available on Hawaiian Home Lands.
kcerizo@mauinews.com
Affordable housing is planned for a 14.75-acre parcel (right) along Kuikahi Drive in Wailuku. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
On the heels of a Maui County Council-backed workforce housing project in Kihei, local construction company Betsill Brothers is planning another 100 percent affordable development, this time in Wailuku.
A $66-million, 204-unit development is slated for nearly 15 acres off the mauka end of Kuikahi Drive in Wailuku. Designed as a mixed neighborhood, the project will comprise single-family, duplex, multifamily, live-work and tiny home units. A draft environmental assessment will be submitted in the next few months, and the project is about two to three years from having homes available, according to Doyle Betsill, Alaula Builders LLC president.
The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
First photo: Kula paniolo Eugene DeRego, 73, stretches at Oskie Rice Arena in Olinda before competing in an American Cowboy Team Roping Association calf roping event Saturday morning. Alongside is his grandson’s roping horse, Whitey. The retired truck driver said he may be the eldest competitor in the arena, but that doesn’t hold him back. His advice? “Exercise and keep active, don’t become a couch potato. We’ve got to live life the best we can in the honest way.” DeRego said he started driving trucks in 1972 and continued for 52 years. After being an avid drag racer, he took up rodeo in the 1980s.