TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2015 | WEST HAWAII TODAY
BIG ISLAND & STATE
6A
Captain Cook man
reported missing
Hawaii Island police are
search-
ing for a
20-year-
old
Captain
Cook
man
who was
report-
ed miss-
ing.
Tristan
Postadan
was last seen in Captain
Cook on Friday. His fami-
ly is concerned about his
welfare, according to the
Hawaii Police Department.
He is described as
Caucasian, 6-foot-2, 180
pounds with brown hair
and brown eyes.
Anyone with information
on his whereabouts should
call the department’s
nonemergency line at 935-
3311.
Those who prefer to
remain anonymous may
call the islandwide Crime
Stoppers number at 961-
8300 and may be eligi-
ble for a reward of up to
$1,000. All Crime Stoppers
information is kept confi-
dential.
Hawi man dies from
apparent accidental
gunshot wound
A 32-year-old Hawi man
died Saturday of an appar-
ent accidental gunshot
wound.
He has been identified
as Aaron Kondo, accord-
ing to the Hawaii Police
Department.
At 8:30 p.m. Saturday,
North
Kohala
police
responded to a report of
an unconscious man with a
hole in his chest in Kapaau.
Responding officers arrived
to find Fire Department
personnel attempting car-
dio-pulmonary resuscita-
tion. Kondo was taken to
Kohala Hospital, where he
was pronounced dead at
8:55 p.m.
Police learned that he
had driven a pickup truck
to go check pig traps on
private property off Kekoa
Uhane Road. When he
failed to return home, fam-
ily members went to check
on his welfare and found
him next to the truck and
unresponsive with a wound
to the left side of his chest.
Detectives from the Area
II Criminal Investigation
Section determined that a
rifle had been stored in the
cab of Kondo’s truck and
that when Kondo attempt-
ed to pull it out of the
truck by the barrel, an item
inside the truck caught on
the gun’s trigger, causing it
to discharge.
An autopsy has been
scheduled to determine
the exact cause of death.
The case is classified as
a coroner’s inquest.
Police arrest 29
motorists for
suspected DUI
Hawaii Island police
arrested 29 motorists for
driving under the influence
of an intoxicant between
Aug. 3 to Sunday. Twelve of
those drivers were involved
in an accident. Three driv-
ers were underage.
Kona officers arrested
11 drivers, Puna officers
seven, South Hilo officers
five and South Kohala offi-
cers three, according to the
Hawaii Police Department.
Hamakua officers arrested
two motorists while North
Kohala officers arrested
one.
So far this year, there
have been 628 DUI arrests
compared with 724 during
the same period last year.
The 916 major accidents
so far this year compare
with 962 during the same
period last year.
There have been 14 fatal-
ities so far this year on the
island, compared to eight
last year. This is a 75 per-
cent increase.
To date, five fatalities
have been blamed on drugs
and three on a combination
of drugs and alcohol.
Police seek man
considered armed
and dangerous
Police are searching for a
Kurtisville man considered
armed
and
dan-
gerous
after
a bur-
glary.
At
7:45
p.m.
Friday,
William
Chase,
50, went to a home on
Uau Road in Kurtistown.
He reportedly “brandished
a firearm” at a 19-year-old
male acquaintance who
answered the door. He then
allegedly forced his way
into the house. Police said
he threatened a 44-year-
old woman, a teenage boy
and a teenage girl with the
weapon and then left in a
gray Toyota pickup truck.
He was reportedly armed
with a handgun during his
departure from the home.
He is described as 5-foot-
8 inches tall, weighing 200
pounds with short, gray,
balding hair. He may have a
mustache and beard.
Police
said
people
should not approach him,
as he is considered armed
and dangerous.
Instead, anyone with
information about his
whereabouts is asked
to call the department’s
nonemergency line at 935-
3311 or contact Detective
Todd Pataray at 961-2382
or todd.pataray@hawaii-
county.gov.
Those who prefer to
remain anonymous may
call the islandwide Crime
Stoppers number at 961-
8300 and may be eligi-
ble for a reward of up to
$1,000. All Crime Stoppers
information is kept confi-
dential.
State consumer
advocate against
NextEra-HEI merger
Hawaii’s
consumer
advocate on Monday rec-
ommended the Public
Utilities Commission reject
the $4.3 billion sale of
Hawaii Electric Industries
to Florida-based NextEra
Energy.
Consumer
Advocate
Jeffrey Ono said he believes
the current proposal is
not in the public interest,
because NextEra has not
met its burden of proving
that the merger will result
in significant quantifiable
benefits to consumers.
Among many question-
able claims, NextEra offers
flawed and broad specu-
lative savings estimates,
repeatedly touting bene-
fits of millions of dollars
in savings for customers,
Ono said. The company’s
filings do not clearly or
consistently explain how
these savings will mate-
rialize to the full extent
they have been claimed.
This includes, for example,
millions of dollars in pur-
ported savings resulting
from broad reductions in
operations and mainte-
nance expenses that have
not been clearly laid out
despite the company hav-
ing ample opportunity to
clarify these and other
benefits during the discov-
ery period.
“These kinds of assert-
ed savings based on
NextEra’s faulty calcula-
tions effectively overstate
the potential benefits of
the proposed merger,
thereby creating an illusory
benefit,” said Ono. “Since
our mission is to protect
and advance the interests
of Hawaii’s consumers,
we have serious concerns
about this proposed merg-
er.”
If the PUC plans to
approve the merger, Ono
recommends several con-
ditions be adopted to pro-
tect consumers and imme-
diately return merger syn-
ergy savings to consum-
ers. Details of the recom-
mendations were neither
released nor posted on the
PUC’s website.
Gov. David Ige said July
21 that he did not sup-
port the sale of Hawaiian
Electric to Florida-based
NextEra Energy. At the
time, Ige said he support-
ed capital investment in
Hawaii, but he joined critics
saying he’s concerned that
NextEra may not be able
to fulfill Hawaii’s goal that
its utilities use 100 percent
renewable energy by 2045.
The
merger
was
approved by Hawaiian
Electric’s shareholders in
June but still needs approv-
al from the state PUC.
The companies valued
the deal at $2.6 billion in
December, or $4.3 billion
including the assumption
of Hawaiian Electric’s debt.
NextEra owns one of the
country’s largest electrical
utilities, Florida Power &
Light Co., and a major wind
and solar energy company.
Meth trafficking
arrest in
downtown Kona
A man was arrested on
suspicion of meth traffick-
ing and other drug charges
Friday
after-
noon in
down-
town
Kailua-
Kona.
Vice
Section
officers
served
a search
warrant
against James Busche,
54, of Kailua-Kona. They
searched his person and
property on Alii Drive,
according to police reports.
Officers found “92.7
grams of a crystalline sub-
stance, 7.8 grams of a dried
green leafy substance, par-
aphernalia associated with
methamphetamine
use
and $632 in cash,” accord-
ing to the release.
Busche was taken to the
Kona cellblock while detec-
tives continued the inves-
tigation.
At 10:30 a.m. Saturday,
he was charged with
first-degree meth traffick-
ing, promoting a detrimen-
tal drug in the third degree
and possessing drug para-
phernalia. His bail was set
at $261,000.
On Monday he appeared
in District Court, with
Judge Margaret Masunaga
presiding.
He was represented by
public defender Joanna
Sokolow, while prosecution
was undertaken by Alicia
Mears.
Busche’s next court
appearance is a prelimi-
nary hearing at 2:30 p.m.
Tuesday.
Missing Hilo man
may be heading to
Kona
Police are searching for a
missing Hilo man who may
have headed to Kona.
William G. Quintana,
58, is 5 feet, 11 inches tall,
weights 158 pounds and
was last seen Thursday. He
is described as a Caucasian
with white hair and a goa-
tee. He
was last
seen
with an
oxygen
tank.
Police
ask any-
one with
infor-
mation
on his
whereabouts to call the
department’s nonemer-
gency line at 935-3311.
People who prefer to
remain anonymous may
call the islandwide Crime
Stoppers number at 961-
8300 and may be eligi-
ble for a reward of up to
$1,000. All Crime Stoppers
information is kept confi-
dential.
Judge OKs $9M for
Honolulu military
hospital lawsuit
HONOLULU — Attorneys
representing a Virginia
family in a lawsuit over a
Hawaii military hospital
birth that left the child
with cerebral palsy contin-
ue to prepare for trial, even
though a federal judge on
Monday approved a $9
million settlement.
That’s because the case
has been in “settlement
limbo,” since the same
amount was agreed upon
last year but later reject-
ed by the Department
of
Justice,
Michael
Livingston, one of the
Honolulu attorneys repre-
senting the family, said in
court.
Richard Whitney, who is
in the Coast Guard, and
his wife sued the govern-
ment after their son Noah
was born in 2010 at Tripler
Army Medical Center. He
was born with catastroph-
ic brain injury because of
medical negligence, the
lawsuit said.
The all-cash settlement
still needs final approval by
the Department of Justice.
Because last year’s deal
— with terms including $5
million cash and $4 mil-
lion paid over Noah’s life
— was rejected, attorneys
for the family continue to
prepare for trial in case
it doesn’t get approved
again. They’re hopeful but
“gun-shy,” Livingston said.
He told the judge refus-
ing to give up next month’s
trial date is “leverage,” to
help ensure the settlement
is approved. There are
experts on the mainland
who would testify at trial,
and litigation costs will
increase if there are any
delays in approving the
settlement, he said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney
Harry Yee said he can’t
estimate how long it will
take the associate attor-
ney general to approve it.
Allegations in the lawsuit
include failing to respond
appropriately to signs and
symptoms of uterine rup-
ture and taking too long to
perform a cesarean sec-
tion. Laura Whitney arrived
at the hospital with severe
lower abdominal pain at
about 35 weeks of preg-
nancy. The pregnancy was
closely monitored because
of previous miscarriages
and the complicated birth
of her first child.
The mother “was at
risk for uterine rupture
in connection with future
pregnancies,
including
her pregnancy with Noah,”
according to the lawsuit
filed in July 2012. The
lawsuit alleges that there
was a “failure to prompt-
ly notify and consult the
obstetrician who had been
managing” the pregnancy.
Government attorneys
say the United States
doesn’t admit any liability
or fault by settling.
By West Hawaii Today staff and
wire sources
IN BRIEF |
BIG ISLAND & STATE
Postadan
Chase
Busche
Quintana
HONOLULU—Hawaii
is at risk of losing fed-
eral water infrastructure
improvement funds if the
state doesn’t start lend-
ing the money to counties
more efficiently.
The state projects repair
costs over the next 20
years at about $1 billion,
while about $100 mil-
lion in federally matched
funds went unspent by
the end of last year, the
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
reported.
Water mains break
almost daily, wasting mil-
lions of gallons of drinking
water and leaking enough
to shut down traffic on
Oahu streets.
Environmental
Protection Agency Region
9 water division director
Michael Montgomery said
it’s a lost economic oppor-
tunity when the state fails
to allocate federal dollars
that it automatically gets.
“If they can’t, frankly,
get it together and begin
running the program in
a way that’s making good
use of the money, then
we have the capability of
taking money back and
giving it to another state,”
he said.
An EPA review found
the fund wasn’t ade-
quately staffed by the
Department of Health,
and Montgomery says
the state ranks among the
worst nationally in utiliz-
ing the money.
The health depart-
ment is working to retain
funding by implementing
EPA-approved corrective
actions over the next two
years.
Joanna Seto heads the
Health Department’s Safe
Drinking Water Branch
and says the agency plans
to expand the eight loans
that were finalized last
year to 11 worth $69.8
million in 2016.
Funds for water
infrastructure
improvements go
unspent
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The state Department
of Transportation’s $4.8
million roundabout proj-
ect in Pahoa was off to
a subtle start Monday,
with the DOT and
Isemoto Contracting on
hand to survey the site.
Construction crews
have not yet begun work,
district engineer Julann
Sonomura said.
The project is expected
to last nine months, and
will replace the inter-
section of Highway 130
and Pahoa Village Road
with a three-exit round-
about. Construction of
the roundabout itself
will not begin until a
detour — moving cars
through the intersection
of Kahakai Boulevard
and Pahoa Village Road
via a temporary traffic
signal — is complete.
The detour is expected
to take about six weeks
to complete.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@
hawaiitribune-herald.com.
BY IVYASHE
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
Crews survey site of future
Pahoa roundabout
State Department of Transportation and
Isemoto Contracting trucks at the site of the
new Pahoa roundabout on Monday.
IVY ASHE/
HAWAII
TRIBUNE-HERALD
The planned detour route for the Pahoa roundabout project.
