HONOLULU — The U.S. Navy
agreed to limit its use of sonar
and other training that inadver-
tently harms whales, dolphins and
other marine mammals off Hawaii
and California in a settlement with
environmental groups approved
Monday.
A centerpiece of the agree-
ment signed by a federal judge in
Honolulu includes limits or bans
on mid-frequency active sonar and
explosives in specified areas around
the Hawaiian Islands and Southern
California, Earthjustice attorney
David Henkin said. But some of the
training will continue.
Sonar at a great distance can
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INDEX
VOL. 47, NO. 258
18 PAGES
49ERS TOP
VIKINGS 20-3
SPORTS, 1B
Hawaii County to
pay $115K, change
urinalysis policy
Hawaii County will pay
$115,000 and cease the
requirement of urinal-
yses and other medical
screenings as a condition
of employment for most
positions.
The county, however,
will continue screening
employees defined as
“safety-sensitive,” such
as police officers, and
positions regulated by
the federal Department
of Transportation. That
equates to about 3 per-
cent of county employees.
The change in poli-
cy follows a settlement
between the county and
Rebekah Taylor-Failor,
a Kailua-Kona woman
whom the county had
previously tendered a
conditional job offer.
The federal lawsuit was
filed in March on behalf
of Taylor-Failor by the
ACLU and the law firm
of Peiffer Rosca Wolf
Abdullah Kane & Carr.
Taylor-Failor
had
moved from Oregon to
Kona to accept the job
as a legal clerk within
the county Prosecutor’s
Office, according to
a statement from the
ACLU. After giving
Taylor-Failor a condition-
al job offer, the county
required her to complete
a detailed, personal ques-
tionnaire about her med-
ical history and give a
urine sample for analysis.
Hawaii County required
the screenings of all its
prospective employees.
Taylor-Failor asked
the court in her initial
suit that she be per-
mitted to start working
WEST HAWAII TODAY
New laws and
$80,000 settle
panhandling suit
Hawaii County has
agreed to pay $80,000
and rewrite its panhan-
dling laws to settle a civil
rights lawsuit filed by a
Kailua-Kona man.
The settlement agree-
ment filed Monday by
U.S. District Court Judge
Susan Oki Mollway was
approved by the Hawaii
County Council in exec-
utive session in January
and follows changes to
two county ordinances
signed into law June 12
by Mayor Billy Kenoi.
The American Civil
Liberties
Union
of
Hawaii Foundation and
the law firm of Davis
Levin Livingston, who
represented Justin Guy,
praised the agreement.
Guy was cited in June
2014, while holding a
sign off Kaiwi Street in
Kailua-Kona saying, ”
Homeless Need Help.”
The citation was later
dropped.
“The County of Hawaii
should treat homeless
people with dignity, and
recognize that we have
constitutional rights —
including the right to free
speech — just like every-
one else,” Guy said in a
statement.
As part of the settle-
ment of the case, Hawaii
County repealed code
provisions that criminal-
ized solicitation and beg-
ging. So called “offensive”
speech, by itself, is no
longer a crime unless the
speech is “likely to pro-
voke a violent response,”
which is not protected
by the First Amendment.
Solicitation of support
and donations has also
been decriminalized.
“This lawsuit and set-
tlement are important,
because they show that
the law must be applied
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
County GMO law playing
out in federal court
As lawyers defending
Hawaii County’s ordi-
nance regulating geneti-
cally modified crops work
toward an Oct. 1 deadline
to file their final brief, a
key attorney challenging
the new law is scheduled
to speak about the issue
at a national gathering
today in Kailua-Kona.
Former
Hawaii
AttorneyGeneralMargery
Bronster, now represent-
ing a coalition of agri-
cultural producers suing
three Hawaii counties,
is scheduled to speak at
the National Association
of State Departments
of Agriculture’s annual
meeting, being held this
year at the Sheraton Kona
Resort & Spa at Keauhou
Bay. The conference,
which started Sunday and
runs through Wednesday,
is hosted by NASDA
President and Hawaii
Chairman of Agriculture
Scott Enright.
“Ms. Bronster will no
doubt speak on the hor-
rors of having local gov-
ernments
attempting
to govern,” said Kauai
County Councilman and
former state Sen. Gary
Hooser in a Wednesday
blog post. “At the mini-
mum the (NASDA) in its
wisdom or political acu-
men should have invited
an opposing viewpoint
and balanced the con-
versation with a presen-
tation on the benefits of
local control and local
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
Navy to limit some training
that harms whales in Pacific
BY JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dolphins swim along the side of a boat off the coast of San Pedro, Calif., Oct. 15, 2014. The Navy
agreed to limit its use of sonar and other training that inadvertently harms whales, dolphins
and other marine mammals off Hawaii and California in a settlement with environmental groups
approved Monday. A centerpiece of the agreement signed by a federal judge in Honolulu includes
limits or bans on mid-frequency active sonar and explosives in specified areas around the Hawaiian
Islands and Southern California, Earthjustice attorney David Henkin said.
RICHARD VOGEL/
THE ASSOCIATED
PRESS
Justin Guy’s arrest on
panhandling charges
spurred a civil rights
lawsuit against the
county.
COURTESY PHOTO
A humpback whale breaches in Hawaiian waters.
NOAA PHOTO
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GMO
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NAVY
PAGE 5A
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PANHANDLING
PAGE 6A
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LAWSUIT
PAGE 6A
NATIONAL CONFERENCE IN KONA ALSO FOCUSES ON ISSUE
