SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
HILO — The state Department
of Education is encouraging parents
to discuss with their children “the
seriousness” of school safety threats
following Wednesday’s shooting at a
high school in Florida.
The DOE will send a letter home
with Hawaii Island students Tuesday
that reminds parents all schools
are required to create and update a
A bill is being debated that
would attempt to fix the problem
of substandard roads in private
subdivisions by requiring
Hawaii County to assess and
spend road maintenance fees.
House Bill 2570 would start
safety plan and conduct five emergency
preparedness drills per year,
which include lockdown exercises.
Big Island schools posted the letter
online Friday, which was a no-school
“Institute Day” for those schools.
Monday is Presidents Day, which is a
DOE holiday.
“Across the country, school districts
are dealing with rumors or threats
against school safety that is spread
via social media … (the DOE) is no
exception,” said the letter, signed by
a three-year pilot program
that would involve the county
and state Department of
Transportation identifying
roads that are in such disrepair
that emergency vehicles experience
unreasonable delays.
The county would then collect
fees from lot owners in
the subdivisions to pay for
Cyclist hospitalized after
Kuakini Highway collision
A cyclist sustained head injuries after colliding with a vehicle on Kuakini Highway Friday
afternoon. LAURA RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII TODAY
road improvements
and
maintenance.
Rep. Joy San
Buenaventura,
who introduced
the bill, said it’s
intended to
stop infighting
within the large
808-464-6277
Tax &
Accounting
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private subdivisions regarding
who to pay fees to and provide
additional oversight. She
said the county should take the
responsibility since it approved
the subdivisions.
“The Hawaii Supreme Court
already said in these infrastructure
less subdivisions, there
is a duty to contribute toward
infrastructure,” she said. “But it
never said who to do it.”
The House committees on
Housing and Water and Land
amended the bill Wednesday
to try this approach as a pilot
first.
County Planning Director
KAILUA-KONA — Mauna
Loa continues to show signs
of unrest, but activity at the
world’s largest active volcano
appears to be slowing down.
Two years ago, scientists at the
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
upped the Volcano Alert Level
for Mauna Loa from “normal”
to “advisory” after seeing
increased seismicity within the
volcano and deformation across
its flanks.
Today, those levels have
diminished some, but not
enough to reduce the alert level,
said Frank Trusdell, a geologist
with the U.S. Geological Survey
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
with a lengthy history of
studying Hawaii Island volcanoes,
particularly Mauna Loa.
Deformation — or ground surface
changes that can indicate
movement of magma within the
volcano — has also shown signs
of tapering off.
“That says Mauna Loa is not
sleeping yet,” Trusdell told dozens
of attendees of the monthly
West Hawaii Forum Series presented
by Community Forums
Thursday night. Many came
out to the meeting, which was
scheduled in part in the wake
of a newspaper article containing
incorrect information about
where lava could reach, just to
get the latest update on Mauna
Loa and Hualalai.
“The gentleman that
explained everything is fantastic
because he was doing very
complicated things and explaining
— not talking down to us
— but making us understand. I
thought it was excellent,” Edgar
Frame, of Kailua-Kona, said
after the presentation.
Last week, Trusdell said, 11
earthquakes were measured at
Mauna Loa, which covers 51
percent of Hawaii Island. The
current HVO weekly update for
Mauna Loa said those earthquakes
occurred at shallow
depths of 8 miles or less.
“At the highest point, when we
changed the level, it was about
40 earthquakes per week,” he
said. Normal background levels
are about one to three per week.
Prior to eruptions in 1975
and 1984, about 100 earthquakes
were recorded each day.
Increased activity persisted for
about a year prior to the 1975
episode and 18 months before
the 1984 eruption.
“We’re missing the intermediate
depth earthquakes and the
larger magnitudes. We have to
Superintendent Christina Kishimoto.
“When a school administrator
becomes aware of a threat, police are
immediately notified and an investigation
is launched.”
The department also partners with
county police departments to conduct
active-shooter drills, the letter
said. The DOE considers terroristic
threats to be Class A student conduct
offenses, which can result in penalties
KAILUA-KONA — A cyclist
is in critical condition after a collision
with a motorist on Kuakini
Highway late Friday morning.
The crash occurred at 11:30
a.m. The cyclist, a 65-year-old
man, was traveling north in
the southbound bicycle lane
on Kuakini Highway when he
broadsided a vehicle exiting the
Honda dealership, according to
Hawaii Police. Alcohol is not a
factor in the incident.
Police say the cyclist wasn’t
wearing a helmet and suffered
injuries to the head. He was
taken to Kona Community
Hospital then flown to Queen’s
Medical Center on Oahu.
The driver of the vehicle, a
37-year-old woman, was uninjured
in the collision.
The crash is under
investigation.
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VOL. 50, NO. 48 16 PAGES
BY TIFFANY DEMASTERS
WEST HAWAII TODAY
tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com
A Honolulu police officer stands on the campus
of Kapolei Middle School after a lockdown at
the school was lifted, Friday in Kapolei. CALEB
JONES/AP PHOTO
HAWAII SCHOOLS PREPPING FOR SAFETY
DOE SENDS LETTER TO PARENTS IN LIGHT OF SHOOTING; THREAT ISSUED ON OAHU
BY KIRSTEN JOHNSON
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
SEE SCHOOLS PAGE 6A
Not sleeping yet
MAUNA LOA STILL SHOWING SIGNS OF
UNREST BUT SLOWING DOWN OF LATE
BY CHELSEA JENSEN
WEST HAWAII TODAY
cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com
SEE VOLCANO PAGE 5A
Rough road ahead for county
BILL 2570 WOULD QUASH SUBDIVISON SHIRKING BY MAKING COUNTY ASSESS FEES
BY TOM CALLIS
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
SEE ROADS PAGE 6A
San
Buenaventura
/www.kona.tax
link
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