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west hawaii today | friday, august 7, 2015
GEICO wins claim against driver
in fatal traffic accident
An insurance compa-
ny has won a six-figure
civil judgment against
a 33-year-old Honokaa
man accused of causing a
traffic collision that killed
two women in Hamakua
almost three years ago.
Hilo Circuit Judge
Glenn Hara on July 29
granted
Government
Employees
Insurance
Co. a $100,000 default
judgment against Alfred
Berdon III, plus $415 in
fees and costs.
Court records indicate
neither Berdon, who is
incarcerated, nor a legal
representative, showed
up for a court hearing on
that date.
According to GEICO’s
suit, the insurer paid
$100,000 to the estate
of Josefina Visaya. The
61-year-old
Keaau
woman was killed, as was
54-year-old Patrocinia
Cadang, in a traffic crash
on Hawaii Belt Road
(Highway 19) on Sept. 10,
2012.
The
women
were
landscapers from Puna
Certified Nursery return-
ing home from a job
in Waikoloa. Police say
Berdon was driving a
pickup truck and collided
with the van they were
riding in while attempt-
ing to pass. The van was
run off the road and went
down a 15-foot embank-
ment. In addition to the
two women killed, three
other women were criti-
cally injured in the crash,
and four other people
sustained less serious
injuries, police said.
The
driver of
the
van,
Efren
Chavez,
sustained
minor
injuries.
Berdon,
whom police said was
driving after his license
had been suspended and
without insurance, wasn’t
injured in the crash.
Berdon is charged
with two counts each of
first-degree
negligent
homicide, first-degree
negligent injury and sec-
ond-degree
negligent
injury. He is in custody
at Hawaii Community
Correctional
Center
after his family surren-
dered his $32,000 bail in
November 2014.
Deputy
Prosecutor
Rick Damerville said in
September 2012 Berdon
tested positive the day
after the crash for THC,
the psychoactive ingre-
dient in marijuana, and
oxycodone, a semi-syn-
thetic opioid painkiller
marketed as Oxycontin.
“That is only based on
a urine test,” Damerville
cautioned at the time.
“That’s a presumptive
test; it’s not a lab test.”
County
Prosecutor
Mitch Roth declined
to disclose the results
of Berdon’s toxicology
reports when Berdon was
indicted by a Hilo grand
jury in May 2014.
No trial date has been
set for Berdon, but Hilo
Circuit
Judge
Greg
Nakamura on Wednesday
set a status hearing for 8
a.m. Sept. 25.
Visaya’s family endured
a second tragedy when
her 66-year-old husband,
Cenon Visaya, was killed
on Sept. 27, 2013, when
a pickup truck driven
by a man witnesses say
was racing with another
pickup crossed the medi-
an of Volcano Highway
(Highway 11) in Keaau
and smashed into the
bicycle the elderly man
was riding.
The truck’s driver,
Siaiku Lucky Aholelei,
was
sentenced
in
October 2014 to 10 years
in prison after pleading
no contest to negligent
homicide.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@
hawaiitribune-herald.com.
By JOHN BURNETT
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Berdon
Big Isle mac nuts recalled
The federal Food and
Drug Administration has
ordered a recall for Big
Island-grown macadamia
nuts that tested positive
for salmonella.
All mac nuts and mac
nut products fromMahina
Mele Farms labeled with
Lot No. 016 are included
in the recall, which was
announced by the FDA on
Wednesday.
“To date, no illness-
es have been reported in
connection with these
products,” reads the FDA
media release. “In the
interest of public health
and safety, we are recall-
ing all products processed
from this batch of maca-
damia nuts.”
The small, family-run
Captain Cook farm, which
also produces coffee,
experienced trouble with
its dehydration machine,
explained owner Kollette
Stith.
“All ag products have
some form of salmonel-
la in them,” she said. “In
processing, there are dif-
ferent things you have to
do as far as cleaning and
preparing. … We needed
to increase the heat in our
dehydration machine. The
heat was fluctuating, and
it fluctuated below 140
degrees.”
Because the heat was
too low, salmonella taint-
ed all the organic mac
nuts in Lot 016, which was
delivered to customers
along the East Coast on
the mainland, as well as in
Hawaii.
“We have contacted
everyone who bought
them,” Stith said.
Healthy people infect-
ed by salmonella often
experience fever, diarrhea,
nausea, vomiting and
abdominal pain. In rare
circumstances, infection
with salmonella can result
in the organism getting
into the bloodstream and
producing more severe
illnesses such as arterial
infections, encocarditis
and arthritis.
The following products
are involved in the recall.
They were distributed to
retail stores from May 26
to 29:
—
Izzie
Macs!
Macadamia Nuts, UPC#
689076792677, Lot No.
016, 6 ounces (salted)
—
Izzie
Macs!
Macadamia Nuts, UPC#
689076793575, Lot No.
016, 6 ounces (unsalted)
—
Izzie
Macs!
Macadamia Nuts, UPC#
689076792776, Lot No.
016, 16 ounces (unsalted)
—
Izzie
Macs!
Macadamia Nuts, UPC#
689076792974, Lot No.
016, 16 ounces (salted)
— Bulk Macadamia
nuts (salted and unsalted;
wholes and pieces), Lot
No. 016, 5-pound bag
— Baby Bruddah’s
Mac Nut Buttah, UPC#
753182242019, Lot No.
016, 12 ounces
— Baby Bruddah’s
ChocolateMacNutButtah,
UPC# 735182242040, Lot
No. 016, 12oz
Customers who have
purchased the above prod-
ucts should not consume
them and should return
them to the store where
they were purchased for a
full refund or replacement.
Mahina Mele Farm will
reimburse the wholesaler
for any returned products,
according to the FDA.
Email Colin M. Stewart at
cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.
com.
By COLIN M. STEWART
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
The FDA has ordered a recall for macadamia nuts
produced by Mahina Mele Farm in Captain Cook.
Funds released for airport terminal modifications
Gov. David Ige has
released $2.7 million
to begin creating the
designs to modify
and expand the
Kona International
Airport terminal.
The modifications
to improve capacity,
efficiency and security
at the airport are
part of a $70 million
initiative, with work
set to begin in
May 2016 and be
completed in 2018.
The project will
include a centralized
security checkpoint,
baggage handling
system and improved
connectivity of the
north and south
holding rooms.
Other capital
improvement projects
funding released
Thursday include:
• $550,000 for repair
of a termite-damaged
gym floor, and showers
and lockers replacement
at Ka‘u High School.
• $680,000 for
construction on
Mamalahoa Highway of
drainage box culverts
and raising the roadway
in the vicinity of Kawa
to minimize flooding.
• $20,000 for
design of intersection
improvements
at Mamalahoa
Highway and Mud
Lane in Waimea.
• $15,000 for safety
improvements from
Laupahoehoe Gulch
to Kaawalii Gulch on
Hawaii Belt Road.
“The airport projects
will enhance the
operation and safety
of the major gateways
to our islands, and the
highway improvements
are necessary for the
safety of all who travel
on our roadways,” Ige
said in a statement.
“Airports and highways
must be maintained
not only for our
residents, but also for
our visitors, as they are
the welcoming face to
our island state and
help support Hawaii’s
economic vitality.”
West Hawaii TodaY
