mtanji@mauinews.com
A stack of Young Brothers containers sits atop a barge in Kahului Harbor in July. Businesses on Lanai faced a shortage of produce and goods after weather delayed a regularly scheduled Young Brothers barge last Wednesday and a ârecovery bargeâ from Honolulu to Lanai days later. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Pine Isle Market ran out of milk, and the Blue Ginger Cafe shut down its dinner service as a Young Brothers barge did not arrive as expected last week due to inclement weather and rough seas.
A “recovery barge” to make up for the lost trip last Wednesday also didn’t arrive on Lanai several days later as the weather forecast throughout the weekend indicated high surge and strong swells, Young Brothers said Monday.
mtanji@mauinews.com
Axis deer run within 20 yards of a Wailea house in December 2019. Officials are debating the best response to the overabundance of deer, which have caused damage to farms, ranches and other properties, a situation made worse by ongoing drought conditions. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Community members are considering how hunting on private land could help control the overpopulation of deer that has been damaging crops and causing traffic accidents in Maui County.
Wildlife experts and government officials gathered for a virtual meeting Wednesday evening to discuss the longtime issue that’s recently grown worse with parts of Maui County under drought conditions.
kcerizo@mauinews.com
Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, through his company Pulama Lana’i, is proposing to develop 150 rental homes for Lanai with 49 percent slated for market rates and the other 51 percent scheduled for affordable rents under a state fast-track process for affordable housing.
Although the Hokuao project is still in the planning stages, some Maui County Council members are already questioning the number of affordable units in the project, with one saying it should be 100 percent affordable.
The Hokuao project would build 76 affordable and 74 market-rate rental homes on about 76 acres of former pineapple fields neighboring Lanai City.
The plan includes a one-acre public park, a 1,500-square-foot public community center and 60 parking stalls for Hokuao residents, according to its draft environmental assessment published last week in the state Office of Environmental Quality Control’s “The Environmental Notice.”