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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?
Extraordinary indictment
DLNR seeks hearing officer for TMT sublease
13 Russians charged with meddling in 2016 presidential election
FLORES SIMONS
Photos by HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald
and cyclist use the section of the Hilo Bayfront Trails near the soccer fields on Kamehameha Avenue on
Hilo.
DOE taking threats seriously
Index
Big Isle History B4
Calendar A4
Classified B6
Comics B5
SUBDIVISION ROADS
Bill calls
for upkeep
fees from
lot owners
Issue No. 48
18 Pages in
2 Sections
‘Hawaii
is home’
Today’s
weather
Page A2
Commentary A6
Community A8
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
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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 17, 2018
SAN
BUENAVENTURA
YEE
Activists delay rebuild of Kauai hotel with Elvis ties
By JENNIFER
SINCO KELLEHER
Associated Press
HONOLULU —
Developers rebuilding a
storied, hurricane-ravaged
Kauai hotel with a
Hollywood connection
were looking forward to
the Coco Palms’ rebirth
when two men showed
up last year, claiming
to own the property
because they descend
from King Kaumualii, the
last ruler of the island.
The men set up camp
in tents and at the old
tennis pro shop of the
shuttered resort, where
Elvis Presley’s character
got married in the 1961
film “Blue Hawaii.”
Hurricane Iniki forced
its closure in 1992.
“They simply just
showed up and started
squatting,” said Chad
Waters, one of the partners
of Coco Palms Hui,
the company leading
the redevelopment.
Police were called,
trespassing citations
were written and a judge
last month issued an
order to evict them.
Since then, a stream
of protesters has come
Dozens of people
supporting the
occupants of the
Coco Palms property
in Wailua, Kauai, link
hands in solidarity
as the deadline for a
court-imposed order
vacating the property
approaches Jan. 28.
DENNIS FUJIMOTO/
The Garden Island
via AP, File
See HOTEL Page A9
By ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — In an
extraordinary indictment, special
counsel Robert Mueller
accused 13 Russians on
Friday of an elaborate plot to
disrupt the 2016 presidential
election, charging them with
running a huge but hidden
social media
trolling campaign
aimed in
part at helping
Republican
Donald Trump
defeat Democrat
Hillary Clinton.
The federal indictment,
brought by Mueller, represents
the most detailed allegations
to date of illegal
Russian
meddling
during the campaign
that sent
Trump to the
White House.
It also marks
the first criminal charges
against Russians thought
to have secretly worked to
influence the outcome.
The Russian organization
was funded by Yevgeny
Prigozhin, the indictment
says. He is a wealthy St.
Petersburg businessman with
ties to the Russian government
and President Vladimir Putin.
Trump quickly claimed
vindication Friday, noting in a
tweet that the alleged interference
efforts began in 2014 —
“long before I announced that
I would run for President.”
“The results of the election
Read the indictment
• Visit www.documentcloud.org/
documents/4380517-Russiaprobe
indictments.html.
MUELLER TRUMP
See RUSSIANS Page A9
By TOM CALLIS
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
A bill would attempt to fix the
problem of substandard roads in
private subdivisions by requiring
Hawaii County to assess and
spend road maintenance fees.
House Bill 2570
would start a threeyear
pilot program
that would involve
the county and
state Department
of Transportation
identifying roads that
are in such disrepair
that emergency
vehicles experience
unreasonable delays.
The county
would then collect
fees from
lot owners in the
subdivisions to pay for road
improvements and maintenance.
Rep. Joy San Buenaventura,
who introduced the bill, said
it’s intended to stop infighting
within the large private subdivisions
regarding who to pay fees
to and provide additional oversight.
She said the county should
take the responsibility since it
approved the subdivisions.
See UPKEEP Page A9
A Honolulu
police officer
stands on the
Kapolei Middle
School campus
in Kapolei,
Oahu, after a
lockdown at
the school was
lifted Friday.
Associated Press
By KIRSTEN JOHNSON
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
The state Department of
Education is encouraging
parents to discuss with their
children “the seriousness” of
school safety threats in the
wake of Wednesday’s shooting
at a Florida high school.
The DOE will send a
letter home with Hawaii
Island students Tuesday
that reminds parents that
all schools are required to
create and update a safety
plan and conduct five
emergency preparedness
drills per year,
which include
lockdown
exercises.
Big Island
schools
posted the
letter online
Friday, which was a
no-school “Institute Day”
for those schools. Monday
is Presidents Day, which
is a DOE holiday.
“Across the country,
school districts are dealing
with rumors or threats
against school safety that is
spread via social media …
(the DOE) is no exception,”
says the letter, signed by
Letter
reiterates
steps taken
to ensure
state’s schools
are safe
KISHIMOTO
Get online
• Read the letter, which is
attached to this story at www.
hawaiitribune-herald.com.
See LETTER Page A9
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