Catherine Cluett Pactol
Maui Nui ReporterCatherine Cluett Pactol is Hawaiʻi Public Radio’s Maui Nui reporter. She lives on Molokaʻi and is HPR’s first full-time employee based on a neighbor island. Having served as a contributing HPR reporter on and off since 2008, she officially joined the HPR newsroom in summer 2023.
Previously, she worked at The Molokai Dispatch, Molokaʻi’s only newspaper, for 15 years and served as its editor for more than a decade. During that time, she led the paper’s small team to win more than 30 Excellence in Journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists Hawaiʻi chapter, while also freelancing for magazines and publications across the state. She has a degree in creative writing from Bates College, and her work has been led by a passion for storytelling through community journalism.
Contact her at cpactol@hawaiipublicradio.org.
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The Molokaʻi community has received the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Culture of Health Prize for its work to create a healthy future for its residents and environment. HPR’s Catherine Cluett Pactol reports.
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Molokaʻi critically lacks dental care, and the Molokaʻi Community Health Center is expanding to help address the need this summer. HPR's Catherine Cluett Pactol has the story.
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St. Damien's Catholic Feast Day is May 10, and his legacy in Kalaupapa is remembered by community members there.
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It might seem like the Hawaiian game of ʻulu maika and designing apps have nothing in common. But as HPR’s Catherine Cluett Pactol reports, a Molokaʻi elementary class is incorporating Hawaiian culture and computer science into a project their teacher hopes can become a model for integrative learning.
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Starting March 1, fire survivor households in FEMA’s direct housing program on Maui were required to start paying rent. Now, as HPR’s Catherine Cluett Pactol reports, some of those families are delinquent and facing removal from the program.
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A group of Maui volunteers is on a mission to reduce the volume of unused clothing getting dumped in the landfill, especially in the wake of overflowing wildfire donations. HPR’s Catherine Cluett Pactol joined them as they took a day to weed through the mountain of clothes.
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Lahaina's sewer system is now 100% restored. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been working on the completion of the sewer line along Fleming Road to support FEMA's Kilohana temporary housing site.
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Homes made of recycled surfboards could be one answer to Maui’s housing challenges. HPR’s Catherine Cluett Pactol reports on a Maui company that’s creating locally made building blocks.
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A science, technology, engineering, agriculture and mathematics program geared towards preschoolers on Maui provides themed books, interactive activities and family workbooks.
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The island's newest homestead community in Waikapū will have 91 homes, ranging in size from two to five bedrooms. Construction of Puʻuhona Phase II is slated for completion by February 2026.