Native Hawaiian Girls LESS Likely to be 'Missing'
Lawsuit: Police False Arrest Victim to Cover for Informant
HTH: … Honolulu attorney Joseph Rosenbaum filed the civil lawsuit Wednesday in Hilo Circuit Court on behalf of 44-year-old Christopher Kagawa, who co-owned Infinity Concrete Pumping in Hilo for more than a decade.
The two officers named in the lawsuit are Sgt. Michael Santos and Officer Alric Dalere, both assigned to South Hilo Patrol Division.
The suit seeks monetary damages, a judgment that Kagawa’s rights were violated and an injunction ordering HPD “to prohibit further excessive force and civil rights violations on its citizens.”….
According to the suit, Kagawa hired Llewellyn Kaui in 2018 as a laborer and concrete pump operator. Over a period of about three years, the suit alleges Kaui threatened to kill Kagawa and his family, sent threatening text messages to Kagawa, choked a co-worker, pulled a gun and shot a bird while on “a side job,” and drove a company truck so erratically co-workers thought he might run them over.
The truck was damaged, according to the complaint, and a fuel credit card was stolen from the truck with an unauthorized charge of $6,177.82.
The suit claims Kagawa called HPD on July 14, 2021, to report the truck intentionally damaged and the fuel card stolen and used by Kaui, but was told he didn’t have enough information to file a police report.
A week later, Kaui showed up at Kagawa’s house, blocked Kagawa’s driveway with his car, and walked toward the house while stripping down to his underwear as Kagawa, who was home alone, repeatedly yelled at Kaui to leave, the suit alleges.
At that point, police arrived without Kagawa having called them, according to the complaint.
The suit claims Dalere approached Kagawa and pointed an assault rifle at him. When Kagawa identified himself as the homeowner, he was handcuffed by Dalere, the suit alleges. Kagawa’s house was then searched, and officers confiscated his firearms, all lawfully registered, according to the suit.
When officers asked if he was on any medication, he told them yes and where it was located, according to the complaint, but officers returned with Kagawa’s wife’s medication instead.
The lawsuit claims that on the day of the incident, Kaui trespassed onto Kagawa’s property and that Kagawa’s firearms were inside while Kagawa was outside, but Kagawa was accused of pointing a firearm at Kaui. It also alleges that Dalere ignored Kagawa when he told Dalere that Kagawa and his family had been threatened by Kaui.
According to the suit, Dalere is friends with Kaui on Facebook and possibly related to him. The complaint also alleges Kaui was an HPD informant….
RELATED: Why We Left Hawaii: Police Misconduct Threatens My Wife and Daughter
PDF: Complaint (must read)
read … Lawsuit alleges bad behavior by Hilo police
Arizona prison that houses Hawaii inmates could influence design of long-stalled Oahu jail
HNN: … A private prison in the middle of the Arizona desert could offer some design solutions for the state ― should a new jail be built on Oahu.
Saguaro Correctional Center currently houses about 1,000 Hawaii inmates with long sentences.
Christin Johnson, of the state Correctional Oversight Committee, said the set-up of Saguaro was ideal for the movement of prisoners, which helps corrections officers, too.
“It was really well laid out,” Johnson said….
The Oahu Community Correctional Center is in desperate need of an upgrade, but there has been no progress in years. “Everything is on hold for now,” said Tommy Johnson, director of the Department of Public Safety.
Johnson said DPS asked for $15 million for planning and design, but lawmakers denied the request last legislative session. Meanwhile, the projected cost of a new OCCC grows every year.
In 2017, the estimate was $500 million. The new estimate is nearly $600 million….
(IDEA: Let CCA build a prison for free at Halawa and then pay CCA to run it.)
read … Arizona prison that houses Hawaii inmates could influence design of long-stalled Oahu jail
Stadium authority says they can pull off redevelopment plan. Not everyone agrees
HNN: … Aloha Stadium Authority Vice Chair Brennon Morioka says the unusual and complex project is part of why the public and even government leaders have so many questions and misconceptions.
“It is a very complicated project,” he told Hawaii News Now. “There are a lot of moving pieces and the fact that it is two different procurements.”
Morioka said many do not understand that there will be separate developers: One to design, build and maintain the stadium and another to develop commercial and retail, residential and recreational facilities in line with the authority’s master plan.
Morioka said the real estate development, which will collect lease rents from the developers, will generate revenue for the stadium special fund.
That provides a buffer against cost overruns on the stadium and eventually finance expansion or improvements to the state facility….
read … Stadium authority says they can pull off redevelopment plan. Not everyone agrees
Hawaii Island preschool to remain closed as legal wrangling over lead continues
HNN: … From the beginning, Judge Peter Kubota made it clear he wanted the state to work with the school in hopes it could reopen due to the extreme need for early childhood education in Hilo.
So he ordered both sides to work together in an effort to get the preschool its license ― even appointing a mediator to help.
But that license has yet to be issued.
At a status conference earlier this week, the judge did say some headway had been made on one of the issues.
“The certification of teachers, Ms. Pierce has made some progress and is working with the DHS about certifying the teachers,” he said.
The other issue is lead.
DHS continues to seek more proof contamination on the buildings themselves and in the soil has been properly dealt with. To date, the school says it’s spent $40,000 on lead remediation services.
Instead of dealing directly with the school’s executive director on the issue, the state is now working with the property owner as well after the school’s lease came into question.
“We are looking to see the extent of the DOH remediation plan,” said attorney Gary Zamber.
He added an environmental firm has visited the property and hopes to have a plan by early January….
read … Hawaii Island preschool to remain closed as legal wrangling over lead continues
‘Everything is dead:’ Suit claims Parker Ranch was responsible for massive 2021 wildfire
HNN: … Fourteen Big Island cattle ranchers and farmers are suing the Parker Ranch over last year’s massive fire, which turned their once lush pasturelands and farms into a dust bowl.
“It’s very bad here. Everything is dead still. Lots of dust,” said Joshua Kihe, whose home was destroyed by the fire.
“I lost everything I owned. I lost the house. I lost my cars, family heirlooms, everything.”
The July 2021 wildfire burned more than 40,000 acres of land, making it one of the largest ever in Hawaii….
According to the Hawaii County Fire Department, the wildfire was caused by a contractor who was making a fence line for Parker Ranch. While sawing a metal post, fire officials said, the contractor created sparks that first burned a 20-by-20 foot parcel and then quickly spread in the dry and windy conditions….
Attorneys Jim Bickerton and Bridget Morgan said Parker Ranch and its contractor didn’t have an adequate water supply to douse the initial flames, which they said is required by law.
They also said the big landowner could have dug trenches or ditches to stop the fire from spreading from their land, but didn’t….
read … ‘Everything is dead:’ Suit claims Parker Ranch was responsible for massive 2021 wildfire
Medical transport flight with 3 crew on board missing off Maui
SA: … The U.S. Coast Guard continued its search this morning for a Hawaii Life Flight aircraft operated by Global Medical Response that went off radar while enroute to pick up a patient on Hawaii island Thursday night.
The medical transport flight with three crew members reportedly went off radar at 9:27 p.m. There were no patients onboard at the time.
“Global Medical Response can confirm that one of our Hawaii Life Flight emergency fixed-wing airplanes based in Maui, went off radar while enroute to pick up a patient in Waimea, Big Island,” a company spokesperson said in a statement this morning….
The company has temporarily halted all Hawaii Life Flight transports….
read … Medical transport flight with 3 crew on board missing off Maui
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