INSIDE
‘The fire followed us out’
Water damage in the first floor office is seen after a fire ripped through the second floor manager’s residence at Great
American Self Storage. LAURA RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII TODAY
Hawaii Fire
Department
personnel
investigate a
fire at Great
American
Self Storage
on Tuesday
morning.
Above, the
second story
manager’s
residence is
destroyed
by fire. LAURA
RUMINSKI/WEST
HAWAII TODAY
School shooting threats circulate
INCREASED POLICE PRESENCE AT KONAWAENA, PAHOA TODAY
BY CHELSEA JENSEN
WEST HAWAII TODAY
cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com
KAILUA-KONA — Pahoa
and Konawaena high schools
will see increased police presence
today after postings
on social media threatened
school shootings.
Hawaii Police Department
STILL
MOVING
Bill that would
bring lifeguards
to Kua Bay
remains alive
PAGE 5A
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
Maj. Robert Wagner told West
Hawaii Today late Tuesday
that police received a report
at about 11:30 a.m. of a posting
on social media by a male
party that made a reference to
“shooting up local schools.”
Although the posting did
not contain a specific school,
the juvenile was found to be
FUTURE
PLANS
Four Wildcats
sign to play
college football
SPORTS, 1B
▼
5 ESCAPE STRUCTURE BLAZE
AT AMERICAN SELF STORAGE
BY TIFFANY DEMASTERS
WEST HAWAII TODAY
tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com
KAILUA-KONA — A morning structure fire at
American Self Storage on Loloku Street has left the
onsite manager and her husband homeless.
“You never think it’s gonna happen to you,” said
manager Kat Rauch Tuesday morning. “Never in a
million years did I think I would go through a house
fire.”
The fire occurred on the
second floor of the two-story
structure at the storage
facility in Kailua-Kona. The
Rauchs, who live on the
second floor of the building,
were sound asleep when
they were awoken by a fire
alarm about 1:30 a.m.
“When I opened the bedroom
“Everything we
own just went
up in flames”
KAT RAUCH, WHOSE HOME
BURNED DOWN EARLY
TUESDAY MORNING
door I got hit with heat and smoke,” said John
Rauch, Kat’s husband.
At that point, John recalls yelling: “Get out!”
“We ran out with just the clothes on our backs,”
John said. “We were making it down the stairs as the
fire followed us out.”
Kat and John had relatives staying with them
at the time – two adults and a 13-month-old baby.
Everyone made it out safely, including the couple’s
two dogs.
“If we hadn’t woken up or hesitated, we would’ve
been trapped in the back,” Kat said.
After calling 911, Kat and John said it felt like
SEE FIRE PAGE 7A SEE AMENDMENT PAGE 7A
connected with Konawaena
High School. Wagner said
“police will have a noticeable
presence at Konawaena” today.
At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, a
17-year-old boy was taken
into custody by Ka’u police
officers. He was subsequently
charged with second-degree
terroristic threatening.
Wagner said the boy was
subsequently released to his
parents as he did not qualify
for further detention.
Attempts to reach the
Department of Education
West Hawaii Area Complex
Superintendent Art Souza,
Konawaena High School
Principal Shawn Suzuki
and Kealakehe High School
Principal Wil Murakami
were unsuccessful as of late
Tuesday.
Police said late Tuesday
they were aware of comment
Say over
salary
pitch
advances
BALLOT INITIATIVE
REQUIRES MORE
PUBLIC INPUT,
PRIOR RAISES
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
HILO — A charter amendment
on the Nov. 6 ballot adding
more transparency to how
top county officials get raises
took its first step forward
Tuesday when the County
Council Finance Committee
voted 9-0 to advance the measure
to the first of three council
votes.
“It gives the checks and
balances to
the people to
give meaningful
comment
to the Salary
Commission,
who will hopefully
take those
Lee Loy
comments and
readjust,” said Sue Lee Loy.
“They’re the ones who are
going to pay the bills and they
need a seat at the table.”
Lee Loy’s proposed amendment,
Bill 98, slows down
the approval process to provide
safeguards for the public
by requiring, at least 30
days prior to the approval of
any salary adjustment, public
notice of the proposals in at
least two daily newspapers in
the county, a public hearing
videoconferenced so both east
and west Hawaii residents can
participate and a “detailed
report” of how the commission
reached its recommendations,
which would be open for
public inspection.
In addition, any proposed
increase or decrease of more
than 10 percent would be subject
to a two-thirds affirmative
by juvenile referencing bring
a gun to Pahoa High School.
Police said the responsible
juvenile has been contacted
and police presence will be
increased at the school.
The threats comes in the
wake of a Feb. 14 school shooting
that left 17 students and
teachers dead in Parkland,
Florida. On Feb. 16, Hawaii
News Now reported a social
media post threatening violence
at Kapolei Middle that
prompted an increased police
presence at the school.
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