13th Annual
Hawai‘i Island Living+Design Show
50 1968 - 2018 A Half-Century of Business Advocacy
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PESTICIDE FIGHT PICKS BACK UP
BILL ON POPULAR CHLORPYRIFOS INSPIRES PASSIONATE DEBATE ON BOTH SIDES
KAILUA-KONA — A controversial
measure to institute across
Hawaii a blanket ban on the manufacturing,
distribution and use
of chlorpyrifos — once the most
widely utilized pesticide in the
United States — continues to gain
traction as it moves through the
state House of Representatives.
Rep. Richard Creagan (D-South
Kona, portions of North Kona
Saturday, Feb. 17
9am - 5pm
Sunday, Feb. 18
9am - 3pm
Sheraton Kona
Resort & Spa
at Keauhou Bay
and Ka’u) who introduced House
Bill 1756, said a similar measure
was nixed last session because
legislators assumed the United
States Environmental Protection
Agency was poised to ban the
pesticide for use on agricultural
products nationwide.
But as a new administration
took control of the White House,
President Donald Trump shook
up leadership at the EPA and priorities
changed.
“The EPA didn’t do it because
Trump appointed (Scott) Pruitt,
who immediately stuffed it,” said
Creagan, who has described the
current construction of the EPA
as “compromised.”
Creagan hasn’t been shy about
trumpeting the dangers he says
chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate
pesticide related to the nerve agent
sarin, poses to the most vulnerable
members of the population.
“It causes brain damage in
fetuses,” Creagan said.
“We are treating our babies like
the Syrian dictator Assad is treating
his own civilians,” he added in
a press release Feb. 8. “It is time
we stop bowing to the dictates of
the chemical companies. We need
to draw our own line in the sand
that surrounds our islands.”
Not everyone agrees, however,
as farmer advocacy groups and
Hawaii’s own Department of
Agriculture have voiced publicly
their opposition to HB 1756.
Some changes are planned for a bill
creating a new management authority
for Maunakea, but the legislation is still
likely to face resistance from astronomers
and Native Hawaiian cultural
practitioners alike.
Sen. Kai Kahele, one
of the co-sponsors of
Senate Bill 3090, said
the new proposal would
require two cultural
experts and an astronomer
to sit on the authority’s
board, in addition
to requiring four of the
seven seats be filled by
Hawaii Island residents.
People on both sides of the debate
over future telescope development on
the mountain criticized the initial proposal
for lacking those positions and
appearing too Oahu-centric. The bill
was panned almost universally by the
University of Hawaii, cultural practitioners
and astronomers at a hearing
earlier this week.
The bill cleared the Senate Higher
Education and Water and Land committees
on Wednesday.
Criticism of the bill goes beyond
board composition.
Kealoha Pisciotta, who is involved in
the appeal of the Thirty
Meter Telescope land
use permit, said she
wants a new management
authority but is
against this bill.
She said the
Legislature should wait
for the state Supreme
Court to rule on issues
like TMT and build community support
before proposing changes.
“This is not really helping,” Pisciotta
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Fraud suspect pleads guilty
KAILUA-KONA MAN ACCUSED OF DOZENS OF CHARGES COULD SERVE 1 YEAR
KEALAKEKUA — A Kailua-
Kona man accused of 55 forgery,
fraud and identity theft charges
pleaded guilty to five class C felonies
Thursday morning in 3rd
Circuit Court.
Todd Owen Brogdon, 48,
pleaded guilty to three counts of
unauthorized possession of confidential
personal information
and two counts of fraudulent
use of a credit card exceeding
$300.
Third Circuit Court Judge
Robert D.S. Kim read each
count aloud in court. After
each charge, the judge asked
Brogdon if the accusations were
correct.
“Yes, your Honor,” he
answered. “Yes, your Honor.
That is correct information.”
Charges stem from a January
investigation led by the Hawaii
Police Department’s Special
Enforcement Unit. Brogdon
was identified through surveillance
video at local businesses
as using a stolen debit card and
two stolen credit cards.
Three other individuals were
taken into custody in connection
to the SEU investigation.
After reviewing the charges,
Kim looked over the plea agreement
reached between the state
and defense.
If the judge agreed to the
agreement, the remaining 50
counts would be dismissed with
prejudice. Brogdon would serve
one year in jail with early release
into a residential drug treatment
program.
During the drafting of the plea
agreement, Deputy Prosecutor
Stephen Frye explained after
the hearing that he looked at
charges that would have merged
under Hawaii State Statute
709-109.
The defendant could only be
convicted of offenses that were
separate and distinct, according
to statute.
“What I was trying to do
was have him plead to distinct
victims and distinct separate
acts,” Frye said in Brogdon’s plea
agreement. “He pleaded to five
felony counts where the doctrine
of merger was not an issue.”
The plea agreement still
leaves Brogdon exposed to the
maximum penalty of 25 years
in prison.
A class C felony carries a prison
sentence of five years. Frye
said the judge could decide to
have Brogdon serve each fiveyear
prison term consecutively.
During the hearing, Kim
asked Deputy Prosecutor
Kauanoe Jackson, who was
representing the state, why a
PSI (pre-sentence investigative
report) wasn’t requested. A PSI
report provides
a summary of
the offense. It
also includes
prior rehabilitation,
PSI unit
interview, family
and education
backgrounds,
risk assessment and prior criminal
history.
Jackson told the court that
the state was already asking for
the maximum penalty related to
a class C felony — a one-year jail
term with probation.
“The PSI would give nothing
more,” she said.
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
INSIDE
HI 82 LO 70 WEATHER, PAGE 5A
VOL. 50, NO. 47 58 PAGES
BY TIFFANY DEMASTERS
WEST HAWAII TODAY
tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com
Single-car accident
reported at harbor
WEST HAWAII TODAY
A vehicle rolled over in
Honokohau Small Boat
Harbor’s parking lot in
a single vehicle accident,
Thursday afternoon.
Jim Williams said when
he and his wife were passing
the area between 1:30
p.m. and 2 p.m., paramedics
had already arrived
on the scene. Williams
described the vehicle as a
Honda sedan.
Hawaii Police
Department Maj. Robert
Wagner said the vehicle’s
female driver was taken
to Kona Community
Hospital. He didn’t have
details about the circumstances
of the incident,
but said it didn’t seem the
injuries were serious.
A vehicle rolled over in Honokohau Small Boat
Harbor’s parking lot Thursday afternoon. CAROL
WILLIAMS / SPECIAL TO WEST HAWAII TODAY
Brogdon
SEE PLEA PAGE 5A
Conflicted future
HAWAIIANS, ASTRONOMERS, OTHERS OPPOSE BILL
TO CREATE MAUNAKEA MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY
BY TOM CALLIS
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
BY MAX DIBLE
WEST HAWAII TODAY
mdible@westhawaiitoday.com
SEE PESTICIDE PAGE 8A
Kahele Pisciotta
SEE MAUNAKEA PAGE 9A
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