Thursday, February 15, 2018
Life sentence
in Hilo murder
By JOHN BURNETT
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
The daughter of a 49-yearold
woman who was stabbed
to death 2 1/2 years ago in
downtown Hilo said she is counseling
other people who are
family of homicide victims.
“Although I have suffered
and endured the worst possible
thing that can happen, I plan to
use this pain and help people,”
Chloe Caron wrote
in a letter to Hilo
Circuit Judge
Greg Nakamura.
“… For the fact
that my mother,
weighing 110
pounds and just
under 5 feet tall
was attacked in the night, by
someone she had never seen.
Fought for her life, and then was
raped and stabbed in the throat
multiple times is beyond words.”
Caron is the daughter of
Danielle Caron, who was
stabbed to death Aug. 14, 2015,
in an alcove at
76 Kamehameha
Ave., fronting the
Koehnen Building.
Danielle Caron
had been living
in Pahoa but
became homeless
shortly before she
was murdered.
On Wednesday, Nakamura
sentenced Curtis Q. Hodges of
Greener Healing Ways
Jim Berg, MD
Seeing Patients In
Hilo and Kona
Call for an Appointment:
(808)889-1822
Index
Big Isle History B4
Classified B6
Comics B5
Commentary A6
Eoff: Ethics Board should
rule on possible conflict
Issue No. 46
20 Pages in
2 Sections
Today’s
weather
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Community A9
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Dear Abby B4
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JOHN BURNETT/Tribune-Herald
Curtis Q. Hodges, left, stands with his court-appointed
attorney, Stanton Oshiro, on Wednesday in Hilo Circuit
Court.
Daughter of woman stabbed to death
decries ruling in letter to Circuit judge
See MURDER Page A7
CHLOE
CARON
DANIELLE
CARON
EOFF
Tougher penalties sought for patients who assault health care workers
By JEFF HANSEL
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
The work environment
is becoming increasingly
dangerous for health care
providers in the state.
“I have been spit on, hit,
kicked and abused verbally
by patients when my only
goal is to provide a safe
environment and medical
interventions as appropriate
to each case,” a member of
the Hilo Medical Center ER
staff said recently in testimony
to the state Legislature.
State lawmakers
are
seeking tougher
criminal
penalties for
people who
assault health
care workers.
There were 1,075 assaults
against health care workers
in Hawaii hospitals, nursing
homes and patients’ homes —
during in-home health care —
in 2017, legislators were told.
And according to testimony
from the Hawaii Nurses
Association, 84 percent of
nurses who have served
21-plus years have been physically
threatened by patients.
“There are rising rates
of assault and violence
against health care workers
Nurse Nelson
Vo talks about
when he
witnessed a
fellow nurse
get physically
attacked by a
patient while
working at Hilo
Medical Center.
HOLLYN
JOHNSON/
Tribune-Herald
BUSHEME
See PENALTIES Page A8
Vacation
rentals
measure
on hold
By NANCY COOK LAUER
West Hawaii Today
A bill regulating vacation
rentals has been pulled from
consideration until the Board
of Ethics can
determine whether
North Kona
Councilwoman
Karen Eoff has a
conflict of interest
in co-sponsoring it.
The county
Ethics Board, which next meets
March 19, likely will consider
Eoff’s request for an opinion as
well as a complaint from vacation
rental owner Rob Guzman.
In a letter Tuesday to the
council, Eoff asked that Bill 108
be withheld from referral to a
committee until after the
See ETHICS Page A8
More than 15 people killed in
Florida high school shooting
By TERRY SPENCER
and KELLI KENNEDY
Associated Press
PARKLAND, Fla. —
A former student opened
fire with a semi-automatic
rifle Wednesday
at a Florida high school,
killing at least 17 people
and sending hundreds
of students fleeing into
the streets in the nation’s
deadliest school shooting
since a gunman attacked
an elementary school
in Newtown, Conn.
The shooter, who
was equipped with a
gas mask and smoke
grenades, set off a fire
alarm to draw students
out of classrooms shortly
before the day ended at
one of the state’s largest
schools, officials said.
Authorities offered
no immediate details
about the 19-year-old
suspect or any possible
motive, except
to say he had been
kicked out of Marjory
Stoneman Douglas
High School, which has
about 3,000 students.
Students who knew
the shooter, identified
as Nikolas Cruz,
described a volatile
teenager whose strange
behavior caused others
to end friendships
with him, particularly
after the fight that led
to his expulsion.
Frantic parents
rushed to the school
to find SWAT team
members and ambulances
surrounding
the huge campus. Associated Press
Parents wait for news after reports of a shooting Wednesday at
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
‘Horri c
situation’
See SHOOTING Page A8
TODAY IN
ISLAND BEAT,
PAGE A10
‘Black Panther’ hits theaters this weekend
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