Moving forward
Modified sheds to house evacuees; state gives county $12M for response efforts
Index
ABOVE: In a heavy downpour
Thursday, Hawaii National Guard
workers and volunteers build the first
set of temporary housing units that
will consist of 20 modules, each
120 square feet.
RIGHT: From left, HI-EMA
Administrator Tom Travis, FEMA
Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer
Willie Nunn and Gov. David Ige stand
with Mayor Harry Kim during a media
briefing Thursday at Hawaii County
Civil Defense.
Photos: HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald
Big Isle History B5
Classified B6
Comics A8
Commentary A6
By MICHAEL BRESTOVANSKY
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Temporary housing for
those displaced by Kilauea
volcano will be built later
this week, with eligible
evacuees to move in soon.
Brandee Menino, Hope
Services CEO, said the first
set of temporary housing
units will consist of 20
modules 120 square feet
in area. Construction on
some of the units began
Thursday, but most of them
will be built by volunteers
and Hawaii National Guard
workers on Saturday.
The units were donated
by HPM Building Supply
and are effectively modified
sheds, Menino said.
“The original sketch was
just a shed; we made modifications
at HPM,” Menino said, adding
that the changes include
adjustments for human habitation
Although the units
will not have electrical or
water utilities, a hygiene
trailer equipped with three
shower units and three
bathroom units will arrive
Tuesday on the Big Island.
The units will be set up at
Pahoa Sacred Heart Church,
on land offered by the church
to aid evacuees, with five other
churches in line to provide
similar services. However,
Menino said only evacuees
ages 60 or older will be able
Issue No. 159
22 Pages in
2 Sections
Today’s
weather
Page A2
Community A9
Crossword B5
Cryptoquote B5
Dear Abby B5
Horoscope B5
Letters A6
Nation A5
Religion A7
Sports B1
State A3
Surf Report A2
World A5
Friday, June 8, 2018
Internet
Visit us on the Web at:
www.hawaiitribune-herald.com
KILAUEA ERUPTION
with their design team
such as windows.
See FORWARD Page A4
INSIDE
>>> Evacuee recalls shooting at
Leilani Estates Subdivision. A10
>>> Pride of America to return
to Big Island next week. A10
>>> Rumbling Kilauea giving
scientists plenty of data to study. A11
ONLINE
• Get the latest information about the
ongoing eruption in lower Puna at
www.hawaiitribune-herald.com and
on our Facebook page. You also can
find videos related to the eruption at
the Tribune-Herald’s YouTube page.
Council fails to OK
amended budget
Absentee mail precincts created
After almost 12 hours
of haggling over a volcano
torched budget,
a contentious County
Council session ended
Wednesday night with
the council unable to
pass a spending plan.
The 2-7 vote means
Mayor Harry Kim’s $518
million plan goes into
effect, even though loss
of property taxes from
Puna lands consumed
by lava leaves a crater of
at least $5 million. The
council’s action means
property tax increases
are extremely unlikely
this year, as the charter
requires property tax
rates to be set by June 20
after a public hearing.
Only North Kona
Councilwoman
Karen Eoff and
South Kona/Ka‘u
State elections officials hope
to avoid a repeat of 2014, when
a natural disaster wreaked
havoc on Puna elections and
sent a candidate in a tight election
to court. That year it was
Tropical Storm Iselle. This
year it’s Kilauea volcano.
A proclamation signed
Thursday by Chief Election
Officer Scott Nago
designates polling
places 04-03, Pahoa
Community Center,
and 04-04, Pahoa
High/Intermediate
School, as absentee
mail precincts
for the primary election. This
means there will be no physical
polling places for those voters.
“Delaying a decision regarding
the conduct of the primary
election in District Precincts
04-03 and 04-04 may cause
confusion and disrupt the election,”
the proclamation states.
In 2014, then-Congresswoman
Colleen Hanabusa unsuccessfully
sued the state Elections
Office after two precincts were
closed because of storm damage.
Hanabusa, who was trailing
Brian Schatz by 1,635 votes
in the Democratic primary for
a U.S. Senate seat, sued after
the state changed the method
and time of election three
times in a three-day period.
Nago first indicated the state
would conduct a three-week
election by absentee ballots and
then scheduled a makeup election
at a physical polling place
Puna plan in place;
residents urged to
change mailing address
NAGO
By NANCY COOK LAUER
West Hawaii Today
See VOTING Page A4
By NANCY COOK LAUER
West Hawaii Today
See BUDGET Page A4
Rosario’s
resolve
never failed
Warriors
SPORTS, B1
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