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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?
The embodiment of aloha
DLNR seeks hearing officer for TMT sublease
Former Sen. Daniel Akaka dies at 93
spring 1990. Akaka won election
that fall for the rest of Matsunaga’s
term, and voters FLORES sent him back SIMONS
for
consecutive terms until 2012, when
he chose not to seek re-election.
His legislative style was
described as low-key, a characterization
he embraced.
“I have a Hawaiian style of dealing
with my colleagues,” he said.
Akaka developed a reputation as a
congenial legislator who made many
friends while making few waves in
pressing the interests of the 50th state.
Photos by HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald
By CALEB JONES
Associated Press
HONOLULU — Former Sen.
Daniel Kahikina Akaka, the first
Native Hawaiian elected to Congress
who served for more than three
decades, died Friday. He was 93.
Akaka died in Honolulu after
being hospitalized for several months,
said Jon Yoshimura, the senator’s
former communications director.
The Democrat served 14 years
in the U.S. House before he was
appointed to replace Sen. Spark
Matsunaga, who died of cancer in
and cyclist use the section of the Hilo Bayfront Trails near the soccer fields on Kamehameha Avenue on
Hilo.
HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald
Halau O Ka Ua Kani Lehua of Hilo, under the direction of kumu hula Johnny Lum Ho, performs during the 2018 Merrie
Monarch Festival group hula kahiko competition Friday night at Edith Kanaka‘ole Multi-Purpose Stadium in Hilo. For
a schedule of the festival’s final day of events, see page A10.
Group hula kahiko competition features 29 performances
Index
Big Isle History B4
Calendar A4
Classified B6
Comics B5
Efficiency
advisers
assemble
Cost of Government
Commission faces challenge
By NANCY COOK LAUER
West Hawaii Today
They formerly worked in banking,
education, tourism, small
business and government.
But regardless of their backgrounds,
they came together Thursday with
one common goal: to explore county
government and find ways to make
government function more efficiently.
The Cost of Government
Commission, required by charter to
be convened every four
years, has its work cut
out for it considering
almost three-quarters
of the county
budget is tied up
in county employees’
salary and benefits
set statewide, in payments on
bond debt made years previously
and other uncontrollable costs.
But it’s ready to give it a try.
“We’ve all had to make course
corrections in business because
that’s what we had to do,” said
Commissioner Jenipher Jones, a
former pest control company manager
who now owns a dog kennel.
“I’d like to see progress.”
David Buehler, former Bank
of Hawaii senior vice president
and manager for American Samoa
District, said he had to make some
See CHALLENGE Page A7
Issue No. 97
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
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, April 7, 2018
Merrie Monarch Week
Sen. Daniel
Akaka,
center, poses
for a photo
with Ka‘u
residents
Bobby and
Phobe
Gomes
after the
County of
Hawaii 2008
inauguration
ceremonies
in Hilo.
Photo by
TIM WRIGHT
See AKAKA Page A7
DLNR wants to update forest reserve regulations
By TOM CALLIS
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
The state Department of
Land and Natural Resources
is proposing changes to
rules regulating activity in
the state’s forest reserves.
In a rule change guide,
the department’s Division of
Forestry and Wildlife
says the changes,
which would impact
678,000 acres statewide
and 473,956
acres on Hawaii
Island, are needed to
address new technologies,
such as unmanned aerial
vehicles, or drones, and
provide more options
for enforcement. The
last comparable update
was done in 1993,
according to DLNR.
Major proposed changes
it highlights are establishing
parking fees in high use
and developed recreational
areas, authorizing sustainable
forestry or ecotourism
with a permit and requiring
permits for use of drones.
The changes also include
a new section that would
allow the state Land Board
chairperson to close parts of
a forest reserve for up to 90
days in the event of an emergency
or when deemed necessary
for protection of the environment
and cultural resources,
public safety, property
See UPDATE Page A10
An ancient art
By JOHN BURNETT
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
The dances of Hawaii’s
past were brought
to life Friday night
during the group hula kahiko
(ancient hula) competition
during the 55th Annual
Merrie Monarch Festival.
The competition, which
featured 29 performances
— kane (men) and wahine
(women) groups — of the
20 participating hula halau,
concluded later than the
Tribune-Herald’s print deadline.
On Thursday evening,
Shalia Kapuau‘ionalani
Kikuyo Kamakaokalani won
Miss Aloha Hula 2018, hula’s
most prestigious solo title.
See KAHIKO Page A10
/www.hawaiitribune-herald.com