Specializing in
Weight Loss & Family Practice
LaRae Barnes, MSN, APRN
Board Certifi ed in Family Practice
Accepting New Patients
Debra Kettleson, MSN, APRN
Board Certifi ed in Family Practice
Board Certifi ed in Geriatric Practice
365-5988 670 Ponahawai St. Suite 207 Hilo
From performances to classes and so
much more, there’s defi nitely something
fun to get you up and out the door
CHECK OUT THIS WEEK’S CALENDAR ON PAGE A4 TO GET MORE DETAILS
Contested case hana hou?
“It doesn’t feel real because this has been a goal of mine since I first joined.
… And (being the first female) is incredible. That’s an extra plus, of course.”
DLNR seeks hearing officer for TMT sublease
SAM MARRACK, Civil Air Patrol Cadet Colonel and Hilo High School junior
FLORES SIMONS
The sky’s Photos by HOLLYN the JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald
limit
Civil Air Patrol
cadet flyin’ high
and cyclist use the section of the Hilo Bayfront Trails near the soccer fields on Kamehameha Avenue on
Hilo.
Index
Big Isle History B4
Calendar A4
Classified B6
Comics B5
Gunman, woman
sought after incident
ABANDONED VEHICLES
Issue No. 41
18 Pages in
2 Sections
‘Hawaii
is home’
Today’s
weather
Page A2
Commentary A6
Community A7
Crossword B4
Cryptoquote B4
Dear Abby B4
Horoscope B4
Letters A6
Nation A3
Obituaries A2
Sports B1
State A3
Surf Report A2
Internet
March 11, 2017
Visit us on the Web at:
www.hawaiitribune-herald.com
IVY ASHE
Tribune-Herald
the Hilo
Trails continues
unexpected
grant cycle
organizers
priorities.
phase of the
last October
new multiuse
Mooheau
Banyan
well as a path
the soccer
Kamehameha
Pauahi Street.
second phase
to extend
Wailoa River State
Area, but when
went to apply for
they learned
parks division
Department of Land
Resources could
is the agency
of the land.
The Hilo Bayfront
Trails group now is applying
for grant funding for
a different segment of
the master trails plan in
order to keep momentum
going, said Roy Takemoto,
executive assistant for
Mayor Harry Kim.
“The idea is to do
another segment along the
Waiolama Canal so that
walkers could loop back
around the (soccer field)
parking lot and restroom
area,” he said.
A second segment would
connect the parking lot
area with downtown Hilo,
TOM CALLIS
Tribune-Herald
Department of
Natural Resources
first step toward
contested case
the Thirty Meter
sublease on
by seeking applicants
hearing officer.
remains unclear
the quasi-judicial
— the third
be held.
The lower court ruling
requiring a hearing for the
sublease with the University
of Hawaii at Hilo is under
appeal, and the department’s
solicitation for applicants is
noncommittal. The deadline to
apply was Friday afternoon.
The job notice says the agency
seeks qualified applicants
“in the event it is decided to
hold a contested case hearing
and use a hearing
officer.”
“This solicitation
is made
for the purpose
of identifying
qualified candidates
if and as
necessary,” the notice says.
A hearing officer would
need to devote a “substantial
amount of time in the next six
to (12) months,”
according to the
department.
Supporters
and opponents
of building the
large observatory
on the
mountain said Friday they
had not received instructions
from the department on how
to proceed. No additional
information was available from
the department by deadline.
The hearing, if scheduled,
would be separate from the
contested case covering the
$1.4 billion project’s conservation
district use permit.
That hearing, a replay of a
previous contested case from
2011, concluded witness testimony
March 2. A decision
from hearing officer Riki May
Amano could be months away.
Index
Big Isle History B4
Calendar A6
Classified B6
Comics B5
Issue No. 70
16 Pages in
2 Sections
Today’s
weather
Page A2
Commentary A4
Community A5
Crossword B4
Cryptoquote B4
Dear Abby B4
Horoscope B4
Nation A2
Obituaries A2
Sports B1
Stocks A2
Surf Report A2
World A2
Internet
the Web at:
hawaiitribune-herald.com
GET OUT AND GO!
From performances to classes, magic camps
and more, there’s defi nitely something fun
to get you up and out the door
CHECK OUT CALENDAR ON PAGE A6 TO GET MORE DETAILS
State’s few Muslims thrust
into spotlight because of
challenge to travel ban
The beginning of the Hilo Bayfront Trails path on Pauahi Street that connects the
soccer fields off Kamehameha Avenue.
By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
Associated Press
HONOLULU — Hawaii has 5,000
or so Muslims — less than 1 percent
of the state’s population — who are
finding themselves thrust into an international
spotlight after the state’s top
lawyer launched a challenge to President
Donald Trump’s revised travel ban,
saying it contradicts the islands’ welcoming
culture that values diversity.
Named as a plaintiff in the federal
lawsuit fighting the ban is Ismail
Elshikh, the imam of Oahu’s only
mosque — a converted plantation-style
house in a hilly Honolulu neighborhood
a few miles from Waikiki. Muslims
who gather in the prayer room know
they’re facing Mecca when the view of
iconic Diamond Head is at their backs.
Elshikh’s mother-in-law is a Syrian
living in Syria who won’t be able to
visit her relatives in Hawaii because
of the ban, and that will deprive the
rights of Elshikh, his wife and their
children as U.S. citizens, said state
Attorney General Doug Chin.
It was difficult for the shy and
reserved Elshikh to make the decision to
join the lawsuit and he is not speaking
publicly because of legal reasons and
fears for his security in a state that has
Associated Press
Literature is seen inside the prayer room
Thursday at the Muslim Association
of Hawaii building in Manoa Valley in
Honolulu. The mosque has been serving
Hawaii for nearly 50 years, according to
the group.
UNFORESEEN TURN
Funding twist alters plans for next phase of Hilo Bayfront Trails
See TMT Page A3
See SPOTLIGHT Page A3
See TRAILS Page A8
Saturday, February 10, 2018
Shot
fired at
officer
in Puna
By JOHN BURNETT
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Police were still seeking leads late
Friday about the identity of a gunman
who allegedly shot at a Puna patrol officer
who was responding to a report of
gunshots in Tiki Gardens subdivision.
“We have a few people we’re
looking at as possibilities but nothing
definitive,” said Capt. Randall
Medeiros of Hilo
Criminal Investigation
Division on Friday.
Police say the gunshots,
reported at 6
a.m. in the small Puna
subdivision off Ainaloa
Boulevard, was followed
by the sound of a woman yelling.
ANO
Medeiros said there were multiple
calls to report the disturbance.
“There were several neighbors that
called in because the residences are fairly
close together in that area,” he said.
One of the responding officers
encountered a man attempting to
leave the area on a dirt bike. Police
said the bike hit the ground and
the rider stood, pointed a long gun
and fired a shot at the officer. The
man then ran into nearby bushes.
The officer wasn’t struck by the bullet
and didn’t return fire, police said.
Officers searched unsuccessfully for
the suspect and police released a photo
of the motorcycle, a white Suzuki
with a purple seat with several stickers,
including a yellow “recycle” sticker,
a green and yellow John Deere logo
and what appears to be a vertical strip
of red duct tape above the headlight.
“There’s some unique stickers on
it. I’m hoping someone will come forward
and say, ‘Oh, that’s so and so’s
bike,’” Medeiros said. “We have nothing
See INCIDENT Page A8
HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald
Civil Air Patrol Cadet Col. Sam Marrack, 17, is the first female in Hawaii to receive the General Carl A. Spaatz Award,
which is awarded to an average of just five cadets per 1,000 nationally.
AHilo teenager has
earned the Civil
Air Patrol’s highest
cadet honor.
Sam Marrack, a 17-yearold
Hilo High School junior,
is the first female in Hawaii
to receive the General Carl A.
Spaatz Award, which is given
to an average of just five
cadets per 1,000 nationally.
Marrack was presented
with the award during a ceremony
Wednesday, in which
she also was promoted to
the cadet rank of colonel.
“It hasn’t really settled in
yet,” Marrack said before the
ceremony began. “It doesn’t
feel real because this has been
a goal of mine since I first
joined. … And (being the first
female) is incredible. That’s
an extra plus, of course.”
The Spaatz Award was
established in 1964. It’s named
after Gen. Carl “Tooey” Spaatz,
who was the first chief of
staff of the U.S. Air Force.
To qualify, youth must spend
an average of five years progressing
through 16 levels of
after receiving
national award
By KIRSTEN JOHNSON
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
See CADET Page A9
Flu season still getting worse
By MIKE STOBBE
Associated Press
NEW YORK — The
flu has tightened its
grip on the U.S. further.
This season now is as
bad as the swine flu epidemic
nine years ago.
A government report
out Friday shows 1 of
every 13 visits to the
doctor last week was
for fever, cough and
other symptoms of the
flu. That ties the highest
level seen in the U.S.
during swine flu in 2009.
And it surpasses
every winter flu season
since 2003, when the
government changed the
way it measures flu.
“I wish that there
were better news this
week, but almost everything
we’re looking at
is bad news,” said Dr.
Anne Schuchat, acting
director of the Centers
Associated Press
Henry Beverly, 73, battles the flu while tended
to by nurse Kathleen Burks on Friday at Upson
Regional Medical Center in Thomaston, Ga.
Now as bad as
2009 swine flu
See FLU Page A9
Time frame in bill
raises some concern
By CAMERON MICULKA
West Hawaii Today
KAILUA-KONA —
A bill aimed at getting
abandoned vehicles
off public roads quicker
in Hawaii passed a
state Senate committee
this week with overwhelming
support.
But some Hawaii
County officials tasked
with removing ditched
cars said the issue isn’t
that simple. Department
of Environmental
Management Director
William Kucharski said
the proposal conflicts
with other state law and
could jeopardize a vehicle
owner’s ability to
get his or her car back.
The Senate measure
and its companion
See CONCERN Page A9
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