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Ag Department Slow-Walking Fire Ant Rules
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Keeping Secrets: How Dana Ireland Murder Suspect was Set up for Suicide
SA: … Hawaii County police went beyond FBI and U.S. Department of Justice procedures when a swab was taken from Dana Ireland murder suspect Albert Lauro Jr. when they already had DNA linking him directly to the crimes, according to the former FBI attorney and federal prosecutor who first identified Lauro.
“It’s incredible to me. You just don’t do that,” said Stephen Kramer, whose “genetic genealogy” techniques led to Lauro in February.
Four days after the swab, Lauro killed himself at his home in Hawaiian Paradise Park on July 23 — three decades after Dana Ireland, a 23-year-old visitor from Virginia, was run over on Christmas Eve 1991 while riding a bike, raped and left for dead. Ireland died on Christmas Day, and the case would become one of Hawaii’s most notorious.
On July 19, Lauro, 57, was asked to come in for questioning, and a court-ordered cheek swab was taken. That DNA again linked him to evidence collected in 1991. The interview lasted about an hour until Lauro asked to leave.
But the court-ordered test came after DNA had already matched Lauro to the Ireland case….
On Monday, Hawaii County Police Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz said the statute of limitations had run out to charge Lauro with sexual assault and that police did not have enough probable cause to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Lauro killed Ireland.
But Kramer said taking another DNA sample at the police station July 19 served no additional purpose other than to tip Lauro off that he was a suspect in a serious crime, which can cause suspects to become fugitives, destroy evidence or kill themselves — as Lauro did.
“It’s black and white,” Kramer told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Tuesday. “They had his DNA on the fork that comes back as a perfect match. So they’ve got him and they know it’s him. In every case I’ve done, you go get surreptitious DNA like the fork, and that becomes your probable cause to arrest this person. Why are you then talking to him and swabbing him and don’t arrest him? I can’t think of an investigative reason to swab him for DNA when you’ve already got a match.”…
read … DNA swab in Ireland case was outside recommended procedures
‘Grasping at straws’: Prosecutors re-float theory that 4 men played a role in Dana Ireland’s murder
HNN: … “The only DNA present was from Albert Lauro, Jr.,” said Keith Shigetomi, Shawn Schweitzer’s attorney. Shigetomi added in court, “Ian’s and Shawn’s convictions could no longer stand up to the weight of the overwhelming evidence of innocence. The court believed the science.”
But Shannon Kagawa, a Hawaii County deputy prosecutor, told the court that one theory the office has is that the Schweitzers and a third man, Frank Pauline, might have been in the car that hit Ireland and left her badly injured. Pauline died in prison after being convicted in the case.
“They left Ms. Ireland at the second scene, the Wa’a Wa’a scene to die and that’s when Albert Lauro came across her,” Kagawa said. Prosecutors said Lauro then raped Ireland and left her there to die….
read … ‘Grasping at straws’: Prosecutors re-float theory that 4 men played a role in Dana Ireland’s murder
Lawsuit: Keaau HS Accused Of Mishandling Sexual Assault Case
CB: … The female student had to keep attending class with her attacker, despite repeated requests from her family for assistance, the lawsuit says.
The family of a Big Island high school student is suing the Hawaii Department of Education, claiming administrators failed to protect their granddaughter after she was sexually assaulted by an upperclassman two years ago.
According to the lawsuit filed on Monday, the female student was attacked and sexually assaulted by a junior at Keaau High School in the fall of 2022. After the girl reported the incident to the police, other students retaliated by sending her threats over social media and physically attacking her, causing a concussion earlier this year.
Attorney Hannah Matsunaga said Keaau High School administrators ignored the girl’s fears for her safety and provided insufficient academic and mental health support, even as bullying and threats against the student escalated….
Early on, Matsunaga said, Keaau High School failed to protect her client. When the student reported that she had been groped and slammed into the bathroom wall by an upperclassman, administrators did not send her home from school or ask her to call her guardians. School camera footage showed the girl and her assailant meeting in an unmonitored bathroom on the day of the incident.
Although Family Court later found the male Keaau High School student guilty of fourth-degree sexual assault, he was not suspended from school. He was instead required by the court to participate in a sex offender treatment program through Catholic Charities Hawaii.
The two students, who are not named in the lawsuit, continued to attend school together for a year and a half after the assault. The boy graduated from Keaau High School this spring and was celebrated for his athletic accomplishments, according to the lawsuit.
Matsunaga said the high school repeatedly denied her client’s requests to move out of the same class period as her assailant and failed to provide mental health services, even as her grades dropped and she developed anxiety and depression. When her client reported that other students were bullying and threatening her because she had pressed charges against her perpetrator, Matsunaga added, a vice principal instructed her to “drop the drama.”…
Athletics, Same School: Influential high school administrator in Hawaii shrugs as boy competes in girls' track and field state championships
PDF: 3ccv-24-0000272
read … Big Island High School Accused Of Mishandling Sexual Assault Case
Enviromental review for TMT extended: Federal report not expected until the end of 2026
HTH: … The decision to delay the process was “influenced by various considerations … including potential environmental impacts and advancements in analytical methods, such as the appropriate incorporation of Indigenous knowledge,” according to the NSF statement.
(TRANSLATION: They are trying to figure out how to do a deal with Hawaiians.)
The delay also allows the NSF to complete an extensive community consultation process with Big Island stakeholders. In 2023, NSF reached out to various Big Island groups to consult in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, and was planning meetings with those groups to take place during the first half of the year.
(TRANSLATION: Since we can’t simply pay off OHA, the negotiations are nearly impossible.)
Those meetings have been delayed, according to the NSF.
TMT Project Manager Fengchuan Liu said Tuesday’s announcement was not unexpected, given that the environmental review had to be completed by this month or be extended.
“We welcome NSF’s continued engagement in Hawaii,” Liu said in a statement. “For our part, we remain committed to listening to, and learning from, community members, building long-term relationships, and co-creating programs that create a brighter future for everyone.”…
(TRANSLATION: The Master Lease must be renewed at a price sufficient to satisfy protesters.)
SA: Thirty Meter Telescope funding review delayed
read … Enviromental review for TMT extended: Federal report not expected until the end of 2026
Maui: Conflict over Makena development
KITV: … Activists have been publicizing through social media a highly-awaited meeting on Tuesday evening for a controversial housing proposal in South Maui.
The Makena Mauka project would involve up to 900 units, up to 100 of them being affordable, on about 1,000 acres of land….
The document called for the development of 5,000 affordable homes within 5 years of its launch in 2021. …
Over the past 3 years, 696 affordable and workforce housing units were built, according to the county's Housing Department.
Franco feels the bill to phase out roughly 7,000 vacation rentals is an opportunity to house locals, but he expects lawsuits over the effort could overwhelm the county.
For Franco, Makena Mauka is yet another example of developments in the area he’s seen over the years that do not prioritize housing the local community….
HNN: Proposed south Maui housing development draws fiery opposition
read … In light of conflict over Makena development, leaders weigh in on 'housing crisis'
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