This Day in History: Truman Announces Hiroshima Bombing
1853 Hawaiian Mission to Marquesan Cannibals
Another Public Defender Becomes a Judge
Maui Mineral-based sunscreen ordinance goes into effect October 1
Maui Disposable Bodyboard Ban takes effect
Bribery Convict Ty Cullen Funds Two Candidates
AP: … The campaign committee of former Hawaii Democratic state Rep. Ty Cullen, who pleaded guilty earlier this year after taking bribes, donated to two candidates for the state House of Representatives last month.
State Campaign Spending Commission data says Friends of Ty Cullen has donated $2,000 to the campaign of Jamaica Cullen on July 26. She is running in the Democratic primary for parts of Waipahu and Hoopili, the area Ty Cullen used to represent.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Jamaica Cullen is Ty Cullen's sister-in-law and worked in his office during the past four legislative sessions.
Campaign Spending Commission data shows Friends of Ty Cullen on July 8 donated $2,000 to Rachele Lamosao, who is running in the Democratic primary to represent central Waipahu….
Friends of Ty Cullen had a balance of more than $135,000 as of Dec. 31, according to commission data….
read … Hawaii ex-lawmaker in bribery case donates to campaigns
Big Island Deputy Prosecutor and ‘Massage Therapist Known as Isis’ Ordered To Stop Alleged Harassment
CB: … A court has ordered a deputy prosecutor in Hilo to stop allegedly harassing his neighbor, a disabled veteran.
District Judge Kanani Laubach issued a temporary restraining order on Wednesday against Randall Winston “Bew” Albright and his wife Nicole Albright, a massage therapist also known as Isis.
According to neighbor Micah Gauthier, Albright has repeatedly harassed and threatened Gauthier on multiple occasions over things like a shed, the property line and the veteran’s outdoor smoking, the odor of which apparently wafts over the yard to the prosecutor’s house….
He said Albright told him he had pulled all the county permits Gauthier and other neighbors have obtained over the years to examine them, and he determined Gauthier’s shed was illegal.
“He also stated that ‘My brother is a cop and he’ll be over here often,’” Gauthier said. “It was definitely a threat and something to intimidate.”…
CB: Hilo Judge Extends TRO Against Deputy Prosecutor
read … Big Island Deputy Prosecutor Ordered To Stop Alleged Harassment
SHOPO Infighting: ‘Fraud, misrepresentation, and deceit’
SA: …In a motion to dismiss filed by Honolulu-based Dentons US LLP attorney Paul Alston, he writes that the claims made in a civil complaint filed May 31 by HPD Sgt. David Leonard “Kawika” Hallums “are deficient for multiple reasons.”
The allegations “must be dismissed because every claim he asserts is grounded, in part, on alleged fraud, misrepresentation, and deceit.” …
According to the transcript of the Dec. 10 SHOPO board meeting, obtained by the Honolulu Star- Advertiser, Hallums expressed shock at the outcome of the elections that put Cavaco and Keogh in the top two spots, and said he planned to make a motion to resign once the new board took over Jan. 5.
He proposed eliminating the stipends paid to SHOPO board members by the union for their work.
Schlapak cautioned Hallums, who supported a separate slate of candidates during the elections, that the new board might try to remove members who won reelection.
“I’m gonna hold my first press conference with *expletive* all the cameras ready watch this,” said Hallums, according to the transcript. “I don’t wanna ruin the whole SHOPO thing but (inaudible) but I worry about these guys coming in after anybody. I mean come on brah.”
Hallums outlined the racial allegations he planned to make against the new board if they removed him, according to the transcript and an audio recording of the meeting heard by the Star-Advertiser.
“That’s the only reason they getting rid of me right now, ’cause I’m a black man,” said Hallums, followed by laughter from other members.
“One black Hawaiian. They (new board) hate Hawaiians and they hate blacks and today they proved that right now (laughing),” reads the transcript. “What (inaudible) rally I’m gonna have, I’m gonna have Steve Favela, Favela, Kirk, Favela all my fricken political guys in on me, coach fricken da kine over here with me all the fricken football coaches, the basketball UH guys with me and that’s a shame, ‘this building is run by a racist! *laughing*.”
Hallums is a former University of Hawaii basketball player who works as an analyst of Rainbow Warrior sports for Spectrum….
The SHOPO board of directors, in a statement to the Star-Advertiser, said that “scheming to make up a scurrilous lie to ruin the reputations of innocent individuals and the organization that protected his career, and then laughing about it, shows the selfish, deceitful and shameful character of Mr. Hallums.”
”Only he can explain the motivation behind trying to inflict reputational damage onto others by making baseless and untrue allegations about race and discrimination. This is a poor loser who cannot accept the fact that the SHOPO membership wanted a new direction. During a tape-recorded SHOPO meeting, Mr. Hallums is heard laughing as he reveals his plan to use his race to attack innocent people. His own words should put an end to any semblance of credibility that Mr. Hallums may have possessed,” read the statement….
June 2, 2022: Ousted police union official sues SHOPO, alleges blackmail and discrimination
read … SHOPO seeks to dismiss suit by ousted board member
Bribery? Maui County Council Advances Investigation Into Developer’s Monster House
CB: … Council member Tamara Paltin, who chairs the committee, said she isn’t planning to launch the investigation until she receives affidavits and other documentation from Maui resident Kamanu Balinbin and others who are alleging that employees of the Planning and Public Works Departments took bribes, allowing developer Greg Brown to build his gigantic structure in violation of various codes and requirements.
Balinin says he has inside knowledge of wrongdoing by county planning officials, but Paltin noted that he has already said publicly that he would get her the documents and still hasn’t.
That prompted Napili Bay Community Association board member and attorney Brad Salter to phone in and testify that all the paperwork is being put together and will be provided to Paltin’s committee as soon as the investigation is formally launched.
“That information is forthcoming once we know this investigation has been approved,” Salter said. “We will submit information that will go to Mr. Brown’s violations. They will be specific. I just think it’s premature to do that until this investigation is launched.”
Paltin said the paperwork should be submitted to her committee by email, and it will not be put on the agenda until the committee sees it. …
read … Maui County Council Advances Investigation Into Developer’s Monster House
Full Text: Ousted Bishop Museum CEO Rips Board
SA: … The Star-Advertiser also obtained a 10-page memo Ide sent to the board July 17 challenging the “growing number of untruths, inaccuracies, blatantly distorted damaging statements the Board is making about my leadership at Bishop Museum and me.”
“In addition, what the board has completely ignored and avoided is of equal concern,” Ide wrote. “I have without exception always had the museum’s best interests at heart.”
Ide questioned why she, Yoon and Oda were placed on administrative leave and not allowed to participate in the probe despite her “unwavering support” for investigations into workplace issues, many of which she inherited, wrote Ide.
The attorney conducting the investigation is a former partner in the law firm advising the board, and Ide questioned her impartiality. The attorney would be “naturally inclined” to “defend the legal advice” of her former colleagues ….
PDF: Letter From Melanie Ide to Museum Board…
read … Bishop Museum board continues probe of allegations
BoE Holds First ‘Community Forum’ Since COVID
SA: … The forum, which was organized to focus on defining problems in communication between schools and parents, and finding solutions, drew a mix of parents and family members, students, community members and board and state Department of Education staff members July 29 to the Pearl City Highlands Elementary School cafeteria.
The meeting was called by the board following recent verbal clashes with people opposed to masking and some other recent COVID-19 measures in the public schools….
Additional dates for community forums have not yet been set. The BOE posts meeting notices and agendas on its website….
read … Communication between schools and parents dominates forum
Man, 31, indicted for producing child pornography and cyberstalking minors in Hawaii, other states
SA: … A man charged by a federal grand jury for allegedly cyberstalking minor girls in Hawaii, Texas, Oklahoma, California and Missouri to produce and distribute child pornography was sent back to Missouri for further prosecution, a U.S. Magistrate Judge ordered this morning.
Gerardo Javier Montes, 31, was arrested in Honolulu by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on July 29.
A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Missouri returned an indictment July 27 charging Montes with with distribution of child pornography, attempted production of child pornography, and cyberstalking….
Montes has an “extensive history involving the sexual exploitation of minor females,” Bateman wrote….
read … Man, 31, indicted for producing child pornography and cyberstalking minors in Hawaii, other states
Efforts ramp up to push out homeless criminals from Waikiki
SA: … That can’t happen fast enough for the Waikiki community, as evidenced by the crowd of about 30 residents who met with state-elected officials, members of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board and Honolulu police on Tuesday at the 7-Eleven at 1901 Kalakaua Ave., site of a violent sword attack June 22….
“As a mental health professional, it was completely predictable that this would happen,” he said. “The windows here get broken about once a month. People gather here and drink and do drugs. The late-night, early-morning hours are a huge part of the problem.”…
Right after the group left 7-Eleven, a homeless man moved onto the sidewalk near the front door. More than an hour later, he was still sleeping there.
Kathleen Hayasaka said vagrancy is a near-daily problem at 7-Eleven at 1901 Kalakaua Ave., as well as the corner of Ala Moana Boulevard and Hobron Lane in front of the McDonald’s, the ABC Store and the bus stop. The parking lot behind the Ilikai and the culvert by Hilton Hawaiian Village along the Ala Wai Canal also are ongoing problems, she said….
Alm said officials also recognize that part of the reason that SUDA-Fast works is that “many of the chronically homeless are not amenable to voluntary efforts and will reject offers for help.”
However, many will make a different choice if the options are SUDA-Fast or jail…
SA Editorial: A safe and sound Waikiki
read … Efforts ramp up to reduce crime in Waikiki
Suspect charged after allegedly sexually assaulting woman at knifepoint--was Domestic Violence Intern
HNN: … Police have charged a 20-year-old man with burglary, sex assault and kidnapping after he allegedly followed a woman into her home and sexually assaulted her at knifepoint.
The suspect has been identified as Xavier Swofford. He’s being held on $750,000 bail….
HPD said the suspect followed the victim into her home on Woolsey Place last month….
LinkedIn: Suspect is former intern at Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence
read … Suspect charged after allegedly sexually assaulting woman at knifepoint
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