Jeremy T. Ringfield's Blog, page 372

Pro Soccer: Union stumble in falling on the road in Miami

MIAMI — This could not have been what management for Monterey Bay F.C. envisioned when it cleared out its coaching staff five weeks ago.

There will be some — or at least there should be — soul searching on the flight back from Florida Saturday after the Union were shut out 1-0, enabling Miami FC to end a 17-game winless streak.

Since the abrupt firing of Frank Yallop and his staff, Monterey Bay F.C. is 0-2-2 under Jordan Stewart, stretching its winless streak to seven matches, two off the franchise record of nine.

The loss was crippling for the Union (7-12-7), who have dropped to 10th — top eight teams in each conference reach the playoffs — in the Western Conference with 28 points.

Yet, despite having not won a match on the pitch since July 6, the Union are still just two points out of a potential playoff spot with eight matches left in the regular season.

Miami came into the match with the worst record in the United Soccer League Championship at 2-21-2, and all but eliminated from postseason contention in the Eastern Conference.

Frank Lopez produced the matches only goal in the 48th minute for Miami FC, who snapped a nine-game losing streak, evening its overall series with Monterey Bay F.C. at 1-1-1.

The last time Miami FC won a match was on April 27 when it beat San Antonio. While their last win came on the road in Pittsburgh, the Union are just 3-9-1 outside Cardinale Stadium this year.

The Union have now been shutout out in 11 of their 26 matches, including their last two, which have come against franchises that sit at the bottom of their respective conferences.

Monterey Bay F.C. wasted another outstanding effort in goal from Antony Siaha, who leads the USL in saves this season with 98 between the pipes.

The Union were forced to play the match without their leading scorer in Tristan Trager, who was nursing a leg injury. The forward has a team high seven goals.

Monterey Bay F.C. will be without the services of Jerry Ayon for its next match at home against San Antonio, after he picked up two yellow cards.

High School football: Defense lifts Pacific Grove past Marina

MONTEREY — Building confidence and self-esteem in the preseason has been the foundation of a program that brings a lunch pail attitude to practice daily.

Bigger challenges await. Yet, a staple in Pacific Grove for two plus decades was on display Saturday as it limited its mistakes on offense and forced six turnovers on defense in a 38-6 win over Marina at Monterey Peninsula College.

The Breakers, one of only two teams in the Pacific Coast Athletic League to open last season with six straight wins, has scored 80 combine points in their last two season openers.

“Obviously we feel good about where we are right now,” Pacific Grove coach Jeff Gray said. “Our core did a very efficient job at moving the ball, executing and not making mistakes.”

Whether it was viewed as a tune up or a steppingstone, the Breakers will line up on Friday against their first ‘A’ league opponent in five years when they visit Alvarez.

“Coming off last year, I think with the group we have here, we felt it would be a good challenge and opportunity,” Gray said. “I think it’s important to schedule a team that can make us better. Hopefully we can rise up and make it a good game.”

Alvarez, a member of the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Gabilan Division, squandered a 19-point lead on Friday, falling to North County 20-19.

As dynamic as the Breakers offense was in producing points on their first three drives, it was the defense that turn a flame into an inferno with six interceptions. Three of those interceptions lead to 24 unanswered points.

Among those with a pick was Ben Garry, who was also on the receiving end of a 54-yard touchdown pass from Brody Edmonds, while Gideon Llantero stepped in front of a screen pass for an interception.

Having held five opponents to 15 points or less last year, a stingy Breakers defense clamped down on Marina’s running game with linebacker Ryton Harrison flying around the field.

Producing points on their first two drives, the Breakers turned to Llantero on the inside, with sophomore Andrew Nimri coming off sweeps for chuck of yardages.

Pacific Grove racked up nearly 100 yards on the ground on their opening drives, with Llantero and Nimri each crossing into the end zone.

“We actually opened it up a little,” Gray said. “We feel Brody will give us a little more of a deep threat and is a weapon. We feel if you shut down one area, another opens up.”

Garrett Kuska and Nico Tamiz each added 8-yard touchdown runs for Pacific Grove, who built a 38-point lead with 10 plus minutes left in the third quarter. Nathan Appold, Rogan Kuska, Nimri and freshman Northrup Kirk also recorded interceptions.

Noah Heath put Marina on the scoreboard with a touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

King City 24, St. Francis 19: The only snap Junior Manriquez played in on the defensive side of the ball came on the final play of the game.

The quarterback lined up as a safety, where Manriquez intercepted a pass as time expired, enabling the Mustangs to pull out a win in Watsonville.

“We put him in because he’s one of our best athletes,” King City coach Mac Villanueva said.

Despite missing their best defensive player for three quarters of the game, King City’s front seven dictated the tempo in holding St. Francis without a touchdown in the first half.

“We were missing a key player,” said Villanueva, who didn’t go into specifics as to why, other than he’ll file a complaint. “The way the kids rallied when they had to — I don’t know if that happens last year. The boys responded when the game was on the line.”

Sophomore tailback Carson Tidwell carried the Mustangs offense with touchdown runs of 1, 11 and 8 yards, going over 100 yards for the fifth time in nine career games. The three touchdowns are one off his season total from last year.

“I was happy with how our offensive line played,” Villanueva said. “We used Rocky (Villanueva) as an H-back and Johelle Carrillo as a tight end in blocking situations.”

Carrillo also knocked down a 36-yard field goal and sent two kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks for King City, who will visit Palma on Friday at The Pit at Salinas High.

“He outkicked our coverage on a couple of punts,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva also applauded the efforts of sophomore defensive back JC Navarro, who recorded eight tackles in his debut.

“We have to get in a little better shape,” said Villanueva, where temperatures hovered in the 80’s on the St. Francis’ turf. “We looked a little tired in the fourth quarter. It’s something we have to address.”

Trinity 28, San Luis Obispo Academy 26: Daniel Dirkes hit Brady Ramones on a 50-yard scoring strike with 1:39 left in the game, propelling the Warriors to their first win on the field in three years.

For Trinity, it snapped a 16-game losing streak on the field that dated back to 2022. It was also the first win for head coach Andrew Dirkes, who took the job 48 hours before the start of the season.

“I’m just excited for these young men, who bought into a new team culture that focuses on our team motto of ‘Warriors Together’,” Dirkes said. “They have bought in, persevering over the last two years to grow, to get better and go out with a better attitude.”

Ramones put together a highlight reel for the Warriors with three touchdowns three different ways, rushing one and returning a pick six 25 yards.

During its losing skid, Trinity — who visits Coastal Christian of Pismo Beach in two weeks — had given up an average of 48.5 points a game.

“We change the defense to a team focused defense,” Dirkes said. “We’ll keep making adjustments. But it made a difference on the field. The team bought into it.”

Battle tested throughout the second half, Trinity’s defense responded in halting a final drive. Jacob Kim had a game-saving tackle in the fourth quarter.

49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall shot in San Francisco

Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, the 49ers’ first-round draft pick this past spring, is in serious but stable condition after being shot in the chest during a robbery attempt Saturday afternoon near San Francisco’s Union Square, the 49ers confirmed.

In a press conference Saturday evening, San Francisco Chief of Police William Scott said the suspect who allegedly attempted to rob Pearsall is a 17-year-old male from Tracy. Scott said both were injured by the suspect’s gun, and that multiple shots were fired, but would not provide further detail, saying the investigation was ongoing. Scott said the gun was recovered, and the suspect was arrested.

Pearsall walked to an ambulance under his own power while a paramedic applied pressure to his chest and back with a bandage of sorts, as shown on a X/Twitter posted by KTVU’s Zak Sos.

“He’s good. Thank god!!!!” 49ers teammate Deebo Samuel posted on X/Twitter about Pearsall, adding emojis reflecting a prayer and crossed fingers.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed and the District Attorney Brooke Jenkins also spoke at the press conference. “This was a terrible and rare incident in Union Square,” Breed said. “But statistics don’t matter, when incidents like this occur, what matters is supporting the victim and holding those accountable who break our laws and endanger the lives of others,” she said.

Jenkins said her office expects to make a charging decision by the middle of next week. “This is a setback, because a lot of that hard work and the data, you know, goes out the window sometimes when something happens like this, and my hope is that we can demonstrate that this is an isolated incident, one where our officers acted swiftly, and the things that we put into place and how they were designed led to an arrest and will lead to accountability.”

“There will be accountability for those who commit these types of acts in San Francisco,” Jenkins said. She explained that the charges will be filed in the juvenile court system because the suspect is not an adult. “We are not a city that will be tolerant of these of this type of conduct.”

San Francisco police investigate the scene where Ricky Pearsall, the 49ers’ first-round draft pick, was shot on the first block of Geary Street near Union Square, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

Captain Justin Schorr, spokesperson for the San Francisco Fire Department, confirmed that his department transported two patients to the hospital Saturday afternoon for suspected gunshot wounds, but could not speak to the identities or any other information about the patients. Schorr said the first 911 call reporting shots fired at Geary and Grants streets was at 3:38 pm, a block away from Union Square.

“Two people were hurt, we took good care of them, and they’re at the hospital,” said Schorr, noting that one victim is in critical condition and one in stable condition at San Francisco General.

Pearsall’s Rolex watch was targeted in the attempted robbery, KTVU’s Sal Castaneda reported, citing multiple sources.

The 49ers asked the public to respect Pearsall’s privacy, adding: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Ricky and the entire Pearsall family.”

The San Francisco 49ers’ first-round draft pick Ricky Pearsall is introduced at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., Friday, April 26, 2024. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

“I am extremely shocked and saddened about the shooting of 49ers player Ricky Pearsall today in Union Square,” San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said in a statement. “This kind of violence has no place in our city and will never be tolerated. My heart goes out to Mr. Pearsall and his family and I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Earlier Saturday, Pearsall signed autographs at a card show at San Francisco’s Cow Palace.

So far this year in San Francisco, the police department reports 1,400 robberies, down 21% from the same period last year. Police said their investigation into Saturday’s shooting is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact its tip line (1-415-575-4444) or to text TIP411.

Pearsall, 23, is a Phoenix, Arizona native who is entering his first NFL season after playing collegiately at Florida the past two seasons and Arizona State the prior three years.

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A shoulder injury kept Pearsall from practicing the previous three weeks and from playing in the preseason, after an offseason hamstring injury delayed his entry into training camp by a week. His left shoulder has a history of partial dislocations dating back to his junior year in college, and he aggravated it in spring practices as well as on Aug. 6.

He’s done conditioning drills on the side as the 49ers prepare for their regular-season opener Sept. 9 against the New York Jets at Levi’s Stadium.

While Pearsall’s playing availability is uncertain, he figured to contribute in a support role his rookie year for a wide receiver unit led by Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, the latter of whom signed a contract extension Friday after a months-long negotiation.

Liza Horvath, Senior Advocate: Dad’s girlfriends are creating concern

Dear Readers: This column originally ran in 2019 but I received a similar question from a reader so am republishing this previous column. Enjoy!

Question: My dad is super independent but, as he is getting up there in years, he is also becoming kind of a push over – particularly with women. Mom died years ago and he now has some younger women coming by to “visit.” I worry that he is either giving them money or making them loans. In fact, he told me that he made a loan to “a girlfriend” and she has yet to pay him back. That same woman is now driving around a sporty new car! He is resentful and resistant if my sister or I ask to see his bank accounts or otherwise inquire about his finances. He thinks we are only interested in what we will inherit! I love my dad and the fact is that we just do not want him taken advantage of – help!

Answer: This is a difficult position and, unfortunately, not uncommon. You and your sister want to help, but dad still feels independent and, let’s face it, he wants to continue feeling like a man. As caring adult children, you want to be respectful of his independence and manhood, but you also want to be sure that he is not giving away his money – money he may need to live on. You are in a tight spot, indeed.

Sometimes adult children are not the best people to be involved in a parent’s finances. As you point out, he becomes resentful and thinks you are only interested in your eventual inheritance if you express concern about his finances. The remedy, in your case, could come from getting help from outside professionals.

First, contact Adult Protective Services to see if making a report is feasible. The “younger women” may just be friends but once money is loaned or given, it crosses a line and could be deemed elder financial abuse. APS is an excellent organization committed to helping seniors live safely and with dignity. The social workers with APS will contact your dad and attempt to conduct a risk assessment. If your father complies, they will gather information and, if a crime has been or is being committed, they will cross report to law enforcement. APS will also develop a plan to help your dad remove himself from situations that are potentially detrimental. Finally, APS has information on resources available in our community that may be helpful to your dad. Your report to APS can remain confidential and APS will not disclose who made the report.

Once the immediate risk is addressed, you may want to find a professional through your attorney, tax preparer or a trusted money manager who will work with your dad to evaluate his finances on a regular basis. The professional can watch over his accounts to be sure he is not recklessly giving away or “lending” money and the professional can also be sure that there are resources in place so your dad can continue to comfortably support himself.

We walk a fine line in trying to help our parents as they age. It is important to support them in their continued independence, but it is imperative that we prevent or stop any financial abuse.

Liza Horvath has more than 30 years of experience in the estate planning and trust fields and is the president of Monterey Trust Management, a financial and trust management company. This is not intended to be legal or tax advice. Questions? Email liza@montereytrust.com or call (831)646-5262

A mission to inspire and educate: Julie Packard reflects on Monterey Bay Aquarium’s 40 years

EDITOR’S NOTE: As the Monterey Bay Aquarium counts down its 40th anniversary in October, The Herald will be doing a series of stories taking a closer look at the history, research work and behind-the-scenes management of the region’s most popular attraction. Recently, aquarium co-founder and Executive Director Julie Packard sat down with The Herald’s Arianna Nalbach to talk about the aquarium’s beginnings and the ongoing mission of the organization. 

MONTEREY – The brainchild of a group of young marine biologists, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has always had a focus on our local marine life and was at one time expected to be “just” a public educational institute. But over the past 40 years, it has evolved to emphasize the importance of ocean conservation – something deeply important to seaweed biologist turned aquarium co-founder and Executive Director Julie Packard.

Julie Packard. (Photo courtesy of Monterey Bay Aquarium)

The idea of building an aquarium near Monterey Bay had been talked about since at least the 1920s. But the vision that would eventually become the Monterey Bay Aquarium came from a group of scientists and students at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove in the 1970s. That included Packard, her sister Nancy and her brother-in-law, Robin Burnett, Looking at the neighboring Hovden Cannery, which was no longer in business but had been purchased by Stanford to prevent development, they could imagine it being the perfect spot for an aquarium.

“The inspiration for us was that we had all gone to college and worked on our graduate degrees here (at Hopkins),” Packard said. “We were all marine biologists. We had spent a lot of time in this amazing piece of nature that we have right here, and we wanted to share it.”

The aquarium has become a world-class attraction, bringing in visitors from all over. Packard envisioned the reach of the aquarium’s reputation to be broader than just the Monterey community, but not worldwide. She was wrong.

“We didn’t have any idea that the aquarium would develop such a reputation,” Packard said. “Well, first of all, that we would have such a strong visitor response. Our first year, we had over two million people, which is about twice what we were anticipating. And then through word of mouth, we just developed such a following worldwide, which was fantastic.”

Packard said their first big media splash was being featured on the cover of Sunset Magazine. Now the aquarium can reach audiences like never before thanks to social media.

“It’s so exciting because we have a lot of followers who have never been to the aquarium and who never will come to the aquarium, for that matter. Either they live far away, or maybe they have a disability, they’re homebound, or, who knows, many, many issues,” Packard said. “And it’s just such an amazing way to extend the message and extend our reach.”

The early days

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has worked to put an emphasis on telling stories Packard says, “there’s so many crazy and curious stories to tell about the ocean and so many different habitats here in Monterey Bay,  you just never run out of stories.”

Over the past 40 years, some of Packard’s favorite stories come from the early days of the aquarium, working with architects, engineers and their steering committee of biologists.

They had many ideas of what animals they wanted to show, because as scientists they knew the animal’s stories were engaging. However, their potential as an exhibit that the public would want to see was a challenge.

“There was just a lot of creative tension among the planning team, because we had the founding group biologists, we had all these stories to tell,” Packard said. “We were pretty naive about what the public would be interested in, at first. We had some amazing aquarium professionals that knew animal care and what the public would be interested in. We had my father (David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard), who was a powerful, brilliant businessman and really didn’t have a lot of familiarity with a lot of aquariums. He was very practical.

“There was a lot of that, which was fun and, well, it wasn’t always fun, but it was memorable experiences,” Packard said.

Packard and her team took a very hands-on approach to building the Monterey Bay Aquarium, with heavy involvement from their founding planning committee, composed of their marine biology founders, David and Lucille Packard, who were the funders, a director of husbandry and consultants.

“We originally naively thought we could just remodel a lot of this building, which shows how much we knew about doing building project,” she said. “It was a very steep learning curve for everyone.”

From the start, the founders’ idea was for the aquarium to be a community resource.

“On opening day, when my father made the opening speech and we opened the doors for people to come in, his words were ‘come enjoy your aquarium’ when all those thousands  of people were out in Cannery Row in the street and had been waiting for years to be able to experience this new aquarium,” said Packard. “So that idea of just the extent to which the aquarium was so embraced by the community, it’s just been amazing.”

A focus on ocean conservation

From the beginning, the aquarium has held the notion that very few people have the opportunity to see what’s under the ocean surface. Many in the aquarium’s leadership saw the  opportunity to inform visitors of the need to protect the ocean, changing their mission statement in the late 1990s, “to inspire conservation of the ocean.”

“Over time, we really put a lot more focus on bringing people into the picture and our relationship with the ocean and our impacts, and most importantly, what we can do to all work toward a healthy ocean for the future,” Packard said.

The aquarium has also shared stories to help convey its message, taking on topics such as overfishing or the sea otter population. “They were hunted nearly to extinction, so close, and have made a slow comeback over time,” Packard said.

“Monterey Bay had over 100 years of resource extraction,” Packard said. “The amazing ocean life bounty that was here drew people throughout the generations to do whaling and (hunt) sea otters and fish, sardines and all of that, and that all really took a toll.”

The aquarium has been focusing on a few critical ocean threats over the past several years, including unsustainable fishing and farming – which they have helped to combat with the Seafood Watch program, something Packard said she was particularly proud of.

“California has always been a leader in environmental policy, and so along with our national and international work, we’ve always had a big focus on California, which we intend to continue,” Packard said. “We have the only integrated statewide network of marine-protected areas and state waters. We have our National Marine Sanctuary, which has been expanded several times, and hopefully it’s going to be expanded again with the new Chumash Sanctuary down further south.”

Kayakers out in the Monterey Bay. (Arianna Nalbach – Monterey Herald)

More recently, the aquarium has become more involved with plastic pollution in the ocean because of the global ocean plastic treaty. The aquarium’s chief conservation officer, Margaret Spring, chaired a National Academy of Sciences study on the U.S. ocean plastic pollution and has been called on for the U.N. treaty.

Packard also highlighted Assembly Bill 5454 passing as a big win in California. It is  currently the most progressive single-use plastic law in the U.S. “Basically it’s to move to an extended producer responsibility scheme and reduce, or hopefully eliminate the plastic trash and single-use plastic problem that we have.

“Global climate change is the mother of all conservation issues,” Packard stressed. “Everything is connected to it and unless we slow that down and get things turned around, all the other efforts are not going to get very far.”

While global climate change can be a daunting concept, Packard and the aquarium continue to work to inform their audience about the connection between a healthy ocean and success in the climate change battle.

“I think a lot of the public, when they think about ocean conservation, they’re thinking about saving animals, saving whales and ocean wildlife, which is important to do, of course, but at an even more foundational level that affects us so directly, the ocean absorbs a huge amount of the heat that we’ve generated since the Industrial Revolution,” Packard explained. “It has a huge impact that’s making things a lot better than they would otherwise be.”

When the conservation movement began in the 1970s, it was always about the land Packard said. “We’re land-based mammals, and we are focused on what goes on in our habitat,” Packard said.

The ocean covers 71% of the planet, but in terms of volume, makes up over 95% of the living space, with all the plankton and photosynthesizing organisms needing to be there and be healthy for the ocean to do its job combating climate change.

“The ocean is our best friend in terms of solving climate change,” Packard said.

Packard will be receiving the John Laird Lifetime Achievement Award on Oct. 12 to recognize her global impact to ocean conservation and environmental protection.

High School football: PCAL standings

Pacific Coast Athletic League

Gabilan Division

Aptos (1-0), 0-0

Hollister (1-0), 0-0

Palma (1-0), 0-0

Monterey (1-0), 0-0

Salinas (0-0), 0-0

Alvarez (0-1), 0-0

Soquel (0-1), 0-0

Thursday’s games

Hollister 27, Branham 21

Aptos 34, King’s Academy 7

Friday’s games

Palma 34, Live Oak 0

Monterey 40, Alisal 14

North County 20, Alvarez 19

Los Gatos 14, Soquel 7

Bye: Salinas.

Mission Division North

North County (1-0), 0-0

Scotts Valley (1-0), 0-0

Alisal (0-1), 0-0

Monte Vista (0-1), 0-0

Seaside (0-1), 0-0

St. Francis (0-1), 0-0

Watsonville (0-1), 0-0

Friday’s games

Monterey 40, Alisal 14

Greenfield 14, Watsonville 7

Sacred Heart Prep 38, Seaside 6

North County 20, Alvarez 19

Piedmont Hills 49, Monte Vista 28

Scotts Valley 40, Santa Cruz 20

Saturday’s game

King City 24, St. Francis, Watsonville 19

Mission Division South

Carmel (1-0), 0-0

Greenfield (1-0), 0-0

King City (1-0), 0-0

Pacific Grove (1-0), 0-0

North Salinas (0-1), 0-0

Rancho San Juan (0-1), 0-0

Soledad (0-1), 0-0

Thursday’s games

Gonzales 14, Rancho San Juan 0

Carmel 35, Christopher 31

Friday’s games

Greenfield 14, Watsonville 7

North Salinas 21, Sobrato 6

Sacred Heart Cath. 43, Soledad 0

Saturday’s games

King City 24, St. Francis, Watsonville 19

Pacific Grove 38, Marina 6

Santa Lucia Division

Gonzales (1-0), 0-0

Pajaro Valley (1-0), 0-0

San Lorenzo Valley (1-0), 0-0

Stevenson (0-0), 0-0

Harbor (0-1), 0-0

Marina (0-1), 0-0

Santa Cruz (0-1), 0-0

Thursday’s game

Gonzales 14, Rancho San Juan 0

Friday’s game

Scotts Valley 40, Santa Cruz 20

Saturday’s games

Pajaro Valley 57, Lynbrook 7

San Lorenzo Valley 39, South San Francisco 14

Pacific Grove 38, Marina 6

Del Mar 34, Harbor 12

Bye: Stevenson.

Preseason Top 10 girls flag football rankings

Preseason Top 10 girls flag football rankings

1. Salinas:

2. Aptos:

3. Scotts Valley:

4. Hollister:

5. Monterey:

6. St. Francis:

7. Carmel:

8. Palma:

9. King City:

10. Santa Cruz:

On the bubble: Soquel, Alisal, Watsonville, Soledad, Rancho San Juan.

What it’s like to travel to Maui right now — a year after the catastrophic wildfires

Christopher Reynolds | (TNS) Los Angeles Times

Five hundred feet outside the Lahaina burn zone, the tourists receive their leis.

As the torches of the Old Lahaina Luau flicker, bartenders mix mai tais and hula dancers get ready. After dinner, dancer and emcee Niki Rickard gathers the performers in a circle and asks the audience for “a moment of silence … to acknowledge all we have lost.”

A year after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century, which killed at least 102 people and leveled 2,200 structures, this is what passes for business as usual in West Maui. Though 98% of the island carries no visible signs of the fire, most of the city of Lahaina was leveled and remains behind roadblocks as crews begin the transition from cleanup to reconstruction.

In the first two weeks after the fire, most of the city’s 12,700 residents moved into hotels, with FEMA footing many bills. Since then, amid ferocious debate about the island housing shortage and how to rebuild, most fire survivors have moved to longer-term housing or left the island. Many are back at work now, tending to tourists.

This tangle of mourning, recovery and tourism has many travelers wondering if it’s possible or respectful to spend a vacation on Maui now.

The answer is yes, according to every resident, worker and visitor I asked in three days on the island. But tourism lags about 25% behind pre-fire levels, and the situation can seem as layered as a Maui onion. While the average hotel room rents for more than $500 per night, residents scramble for housing and equilibrium.

It’s easy to spend a week on the island in full vacation mode without setting foot in Lahaina. Conversely, the island’s recovery campaign includes a variety of “voluntourism” options (detailed below) for those who want to dedicate half a day or more to pitching in.

But some curious visitors fall between those extremes. Tourism workers say this can lead to hard feelings, especially when visitors try to photograph damage or ask intrusively about lost homes and loved ones. That’s when many Mauians turn away, get angry or post signs at the end of their block reading, “Locals still grieving. Show Respect. No tourists.”

A cautionary sign hangs near a residential neighborhood in Lahaina, Maui, where cleanup and reconstruction continue. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

“Be sensitive,” said Siobhan Wilson, co-owner of the Maui Butterfly Farm in Olowalu. “Don’t go up and ask people, ‘What did you see and what happened?’ If people want to talk, they will.”

“Come with aloha. Leave with aloha,” said longtime resident George Pali, sitting at a Wahikuli Wayside Park picnic table near some long-term tents. “You guys (in California) have wildfires all the time, right? So you have some idea.”

Here’s an update for anyone considering travel to Maui, including reasons why you might or might not want to include a stop in Lahaina.

What’s open in Lahaina, and what’s gone

Most of Front Street, Lahaina’s commercial backbone, is no more. Little remains to remind a visitor that this was the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom in the early 19th century under King Kamehameha II. But the flames didn’t claim everything.

At the north end of the street, a handful of restaurants and a dive shop were left largely intact, including the Old Lahaina Luau, despite its thatched roofs. It reopened in March and attracts up to 350 guests nightly, many of them happy to be adding dollars to the diminished local economy.

When Niki Rickard takes the microphone before those luau audiences, she doesn’t mention her own story. But it’s a potent one, and it hints at the experiences of many survivors.

Both of her parents are longtime employees of the luau, which started in 1986. Beginning about age 4, Rickard dreamed of dancing there, then landed a job doing just that. Now 30, she also handles sales and emcee duties, summarizing the island’s history of migration, colonization, whaling, plantations and resilience in diplomatically measured tones.

Last August, she had just returned from maternity leave when the fire broke out.

Neither Rickard, her husband or their daughter was injured, but their home burned.

“My daughter was 3 months old,” Rickard said in an interview.

Since the fire, Rickard has been among the thousands of residents dealing with temporary housing, an island-wide child-care shortage and plenty of government and insurance red tape.

“A lot of people in the community are not so happy with the government,” she said carefully.

The luau’s director of public and cultural relations, Kawika Freitas, also acknowledged “a lot of negative feelings” from those who believe the island reopened to tourism too soon. But people need work, Freitas said, and the luau employs about 160 people.

On the same block, the Mala Ocean Tavern reopened in February. Aloha Mixed Plate and Star Noodle (siblings of the luau under the same owner) reopened in March and Aug. 1, respectively. Honu Oceanside is to follow in late summer or fall.

Many more reopenings are expected in the coming weeks and months, giving visitors more reasons to stop and perhaps spend. Meanwhile, because of Maui’s layout, many others will be driving through on their way north.

The drive along Lahaina Bypass highwayA view of the Lahaina foothills after roads reopened to the public about a week after the fire. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

The August fire, which began near downed utility poles amid drought conditions and gusting winds, blackened 6,721 acres in Lahaina and the up-country area near Kula. It didn’t reach Maui’s east coast (which includes the famed road to Hana) or the southwest coast (which includes the city of Kihei and the Wailea resort area) or the northern coast (which includes Kahului airport).

Nor did flames get to the west coast hotels and condos that begin with Ka’anapali, just a mile north of Lahaina.

But to reach those resorts, visitors do drive the Lahaina Bypass highway. Just before the highway passes over Lahainaluna Road, those visitors see a sobering roadside shrine on their right — scores of crosses and photos, strewn with leis. (Having been warned that many residents see the memorial as a place for victims’ families and survivors only, I didn’t approach on foot.)

In the next mile, as drivers transition from the highway to Keawe Street and Honapiilani Highway, several signs thank first responders, exhort the community to be strong and call for tourists to show respect. Only a few charred ruins are visible from the road. Six-foot-high roadside screens shield many properties from view.

Visitors won’t see Waiola Church, Lahaina Hongwanji Mission, the historic Baldwin Home or popular restaurants like Kimo’s, Fleetwood’s on Front Street or Cheeseburger in Paradise, all burned. The city’s iconic banyan tree, damaged but recuperating, remains off-limits.

FEMA reports that by July 31, cleanup crews had cleared 319,000 tons of fire debris, nearly 34 tons of asbestos and 3,000 fire-damaged cars, with 47 rebuilding permits issued by Maui County.

Recently, utility company Hawaiian Electric, the state of Hawaii and five other defendants announced a $4 billion settlement agreement with fire victims, pending court approval. Total damages have been estimated at $5.5 billion or more.

One Maui resident, asking to be unnamed, told me he’d just finished a six-month job in the burn zone, wearing a Tyvek suit and respirator, waiting for blessings before stepping onto home sites, scraping ash and asbestos, finding class rings, guns, jewels and puddles of melted aluminum.

Yet just north of Lahaina, a visitor re-enters the Maui seen on postcards and screensavers.

What West Maui’s resorts look like and what they cost

Black Rock Beach, Ka’anapali, West Maui. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

The Outrigger Ka’anapali Beach Resort, in West Maui, is one of many hotels that housed displaced residents after the Lahaina wildfire. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

A catamaran waits near Black Rock Beach, Ka’anapali, West Maui. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Parasailers soar off the Ka’anapali coast near Lahaina, the slopes of West Maui rising in the background. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

The Old Lahaina Luau reopened in March. The luau features dinner and an hourlong performance, including hula dancers, on the waterfront in West Maui. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

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Black Rock Beach, Ka’anapali, West Maui. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

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In the morning, catamarans glide up to the beach, kids line up for surf lessons, and golfers head to the courses at Kapalua. At day’s end, legions gather to watch the sunset as daredevils leap from the Black Rock Beach boulders to the sea.

Though the Royal Lahaina and Outrigger resorts in Ka’anapali housed many fire survivors as recently as early July, state and federal officials say the vast majority have moved on to intermediate or permanent housing.

In June, Hawaii’s state tourism statistics show, visitor arrivals to Maui were down 21.8% from the year before, with spending down 27.1%.

The average Maui County hotel rate that month: $554 per night, down 10.5% from the year before, with a third of rooms empty.

The average vacation rental cost less — $401 per night, with a 44% vacancy rate. But that may soon change. Maui Mayor Richard Bissen has proposed converting 7,000 condo units from short-term use to long-term within three years, creating more housing for residents.

“We’ve been coming here for years, and I have never seen the [Ka’anapali] walkway so clear,” said Russ Hill of Santa Clarita, who has a West Maui timeshare.

A moment later, he strapped into a parasailing rig, zoomed 500 feet above Ka’anapali Beach and saw exactly what he wanted to see: island slopes under clear blue skies, a line of hotels along the beach, a few leaping dolphins and no reminders of the fire except the boat captain’s “Maui Strong” T-shirt.

How visitors become volunteers

Napili Noho, an emergency service hub in Napili Park, stands about three miles north of Ka’anapali. It didn’t exist before the fire. Now it often gets 200 guests in a day.

They browse a free store stocked with food, shoes and hygiene items, sit for meals (prepared with help from other charities) or step into the lomi lomi tent, where masseurs and chiropractors give free treatments.

Most days, at least one short-term volunteer visitor shows up, having signed up online. On the Tuesday I arrived it was Tom Fox, 81, a semiretired real estate agent from Pleasanton.

Lahaina residents and volunteers join hands in prayer at an aid distribution center on Wahinoho Way, Maui, Aug. 14, 2023. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

For years, Fox and his wife have been visiting West Maui to play golf and lie low. They were at their Napili condo when the fire struck and wound up inviting their housekeepers to stay in the condo for several weeks.

Now the housekeepers have moved on, Fox said, and he’s found that he’s not as good as his wife is at keeping busy.

“So I found out about this place and came on down,” Fox said. The day before, he’d bought Mason jars for storing cooking oil. Now he was labeling them for community members who might speak English, Hawaiian, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Tongan or Samoan.

Around him, other workers were breaking down bulk packages of salt, soap and other goods, including another volunteer from off-island, a 38-year-old man who goes by the name Savage.

“I was supposed to be here five days,” he told me.

Until last August, Savage said, he was working as a health-focused life coach in Las Vegas. After the Maui disaster, he joined an island-bound group of volunteers from his church.

Roadside screens are decorated with artwork in Lahaina. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Once he arrived, Savage, who said he has Dakota Sioux heritage and is an Air Force combat veteran, found that “this was very familiar to me.”

Eleven months after arriving, Savage moves from task to task in his flip-flops, walkie-talkie in hand, four days a week, helping displaced residents feed families and cope with makeshift living situations. He’ll be here “until I’m at peace that it’s time to move on.”

The key, Savage said, is offering comfort without giving advice or trying to counsel anyone. That might mean “asking aunties for cooking recipes,” he said. “Just talking story. Our community may not need to shop as much as they need distractions from life. They might not know where they’re going to be next week.”

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If you goWhat to eat

Old Lahaina Luau, 1251 Front St., Lahaina; (808) 667-1998. Lavish dinner al fresco with open bar, followed by an hourlong show with hula, drumming and chanting. Adult admission: $230.37, including gratuity.

Aloha Mixed Plate, 1251 Front St., Lahaina; (808) 661-3322. Patio restaurant (moved down the street since the fire) offering breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Chow Funn noodle bowl (ground pork, bean sprouts, green onions; $15) makes a tasty lunch.

Mala Ocean Tavern,1307 Front St., Lahaina; (808) 667-9394. Brunch and dinner. Perhaps the most elegant restaurant you’ll find with a tin roof and walls. Website includes a link for donations to staff. The signature cocktail is a Makai Tai ($18). Dinner main dishes $28-$61.

Ulu Kitchen, Westin Ka’anapali, 2365 Ka’anapali Pkwy., Lahaina; (808) 868-0081. Breakfast, lunch and dinner on the beach in Ka’anapali. Main dishes $28-$69.

Where to stay

Outrigger Kaanapali Beach Resort, 2525 Ka’anapali Pkwy., Lahaina; (808) 661-0111. A three-star hotel on a coastline of mostly four-star resorts, its location impeccable, with a whale-shaped pool. Rates start at about $370, plus a $35 daily resort fee.

The Outrigger Kaanapali Beach Resort, in West Maui.

Things to note

In the high country at the south end of Maui, Haleakala National Park’s popular Crater Road and summit area have been closed periodically because of nearby brushfires. Check the park website before planning a visit.

To volunteer on Maui, don’t rely on last-minute suggestions from your hotel’s concierge or activities desk. Make a plan in advance. Mauinuistrong.info includes many volunteering options, as does the website of the Hawaiian Tourism Authority. Malama Kula operates in the up-country area. Napili Noho runs the emergency services hub in Napili Park. Maui Cultural Lands runs programs to protect cultural resources, plant native vegetation and battle invasive species, with volunteer workdays every Saturday in the Honokowai Valley above Ka’anapali. Similar work happens Wednesdays and Thursdays at Kipuka Olowalu, south of Lahaina.

The Lahaina Cannery and Lahaina Gateway malls are open, and more Lahaina businesses are reopening every month. This website tracks reopenings.

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©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Travel: Pocket-sized gets scaled up with Polly Pocket Airbnb experience

A handful of guests at an Airbnb property in Littleton, Mass. will get the chance to experience a weekend stay at a life-sized model of the classic Polly Pocket Playhouse toy from the 1990s.

The 42-foot-tall, two-story compact brings a toy that a child could carry in their pocket to a much larger scale, modeled after the “Slumber Party Fun” version of the toy. Guests who booked a stay will sleep in the Action Park Tent at the end of a pink stone walkway leading from the main structure.

The structure sits in a clear field surrounded by trees, against which it distinctly contrasts with the same bright pastel colors found in the pocket-sized version. Guests will find life-sized versions of the accessories found in the actual toy, including Polly Pocket clothes that they can actually try on.

“This stay is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for 3 groups of four guests to step into the super-sized doll life as Polly Pocket’s friends in her vintage-inspired compact, and have the home exclusively to themselves,” an Airbnb spokesperson said by email. “Because the compact has never been open to the public, the host was limited in the number of stays she was able to offer.”

The location of the scaled-up toy is intentional. In the universe of Polly Pocket, the character lives in the fictional and aptly named town of Littleton, making it fit right in with the slightly larger Massachusetts town of the same name.

Though only a few groups were able to register for one of three overnight stays from Sept. 12-14 at $89 per person, they also offered registrations for 21 groups of up to 12 guests each to rent the compact for the day between Sept. 16 and Oct 6. The registration period for both experiences closed Wednesday night.

The Polly Pocket toy was first produced in 1989 by Bluebird Toys, making this the 35th year of the franchise, which has been owned by Mattel since 1998. The property in Littleton is being offered on Airbnb in partnership with Mattel as part of the short-term rental company’s Icon Series featuring exclusive stays in places like a model of the floating house from “Up” in Abiquiu, New Mexico, to a recreation of the X-Mansion from Marvel’s X-Men in Westchester, New York.

Horoscopes Aug. 31, 2024: Sara Ramirez, concentrate on what’s possible

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Sara Ramirez, 49; Chris Tucker, 53; Zack Ward, 54; Richard Gere, 75.

Happy Birthday: Take precautions, enforce discipline and do whatever makes your life easier. Excess and impulses are the enemy, and learning and making positive lifestyle adjustments are the road to a better future. Don’t limit what you can do when complementing your life with better choices will enhance outcomes. Concentrate on what’s possible and let go of lofty alternatives, temptations and people who are poor influences. Your numbers are 8, 16, 21, 27, 30, 35, 42.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Look at the possibilities and do something enjoyable. An unexpected opportunity will lead to adventure and a chance to try something that can influence how you think and what you do next. Follow your instincts, talk to experts and embark on something that improves your life. 5 stars

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Stay within your boundaries. If you speak up, you’ll regret the outcome. Bide your time and let everyone fend for themselves. Focus on keeping the peace and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Take care of unfinished business and avoid paying unnecessary fees. Don’t ignore uncertainty; it’s a warning sign. 2 stars

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Stick close to home or visit a place that puts you at ease. An event that gives you a break from the toils of everyday living is the best remedy for what ails you. Don’t let uncertainty take over. Distancing yourself from situations will give you a better perspective. 4 stars

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Refuse to labor over unnecessary change. Enjoy and live in the moment. Be grateful for what you have; don’t feel you must buy into someone else’s dream. Lighten the load instead of adding more to your to-do list. Stick to the rules and take care of what’s pending. 3 stars

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Get together with friends or do something with family. The information you gather will help you make a financial decision, encouraging you to save or build equity safely. Charity begins at home, so don’t rush to invest in someone else’s desires. Love and romance are priorities. 3 stars

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Don’t let impulse take over when dealing with institutions or making medical or financial choices. Pay attention to detail and take a pass if something doesn’t feel right. Gauge your time and budget wisely, and share personal information or intentions only with good reason. Scams are prevalent. 3 stars

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Connect with people with something to contribute. Attend a reunion, seminar or conference that motivates you to stretch your mind and reinvent how you use your skills. Promoting what you can offer will turn you into a pathfinder and go-to person. A passionate plea will harness results. 4 stars

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Keep an open mind, listen and use any information to benefit yourself. Walk away from pressure tactics and people eager to take advantage of you. Keep your assets locked up and your thoughts and intentions a secret. Personal growth is the road to a better future. 2 stars

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Enjoy conversations jam-packed with exciting trivia that offers insight into new possibilities. Get together with someone you haven’t seen in a long time, or travel to a place that helps you put your life in perspective and encourages positive lifestyle changes. Romance is favored. 5 stars

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Create a financial plan or budget to pursue your goals. You can achieve your goals if you are organized and implement common sense. A change will help you put your life and aspirations in perspective and encourage you to put yourself first. Trust your instincts. 3 stars

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Impatience will set you back if you spend in haste. Don’t let your emotions lead to trouble or to promises you won’t want to fulfill. Set boundaries and a budget before you enter a situation that moves too fast to control. Know your limitations and stick to your plan. 3 stars

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Don’t feel bad opting to sit out and be a spectator. It’s in your best interest to refrain from engaging in something you know little about or have no control over. What you observe will be enough of a learning experience. Relax, and exercise your right to say no. 3 stars

Birthday Baby: You are proactive, kind and generous. You are impatient and indecisive.

1 star: Avoid conflicts; work behind the scenes. 2 stars: You can accomplish, but don’t rely on others. 3 stars: Focus and you’ll reach your goals. 4 stars: Aim high; start new projects. 5 stars: Nothing can stop you; go for gold.

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