Hawaii officials aim to help Lahaina rebuild after wildfires ravaged historic town

Local officials in Hawaii plan to open an office that will speed up Maui County’s notoriously slow processing of building permits to help the town of Lahaina to recover from last year’s deadly wildfire.Keanu Lau Hee, the county’s deputy managing director, told a community meeting in Lahaina that a County Expedited Permitting Center will open in April. She said the county has selected a vendor to it help review applications. “If any of you have had the pleasure of filing a permit with the county – we’re not that quick,” she said at the meeting, which was held on Wednesday and streamed…