SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
Students charged in pot brownie bust
BY WEST HAWAII TODAY STAFF
Dane Alani at his snack shop in the West Hawaii Civic Center. LAURA RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII TODAY
KAILUA-KONA — As the door
chimes open to a modestly stocked
snack shop at the West Hawaii Civic
Center, customers are greeted by its
unique shopkeeper.
“Hi. How are you?” Dane Alani said
to a customer who walked in with her
small child Tuesday morning.
After making her selection, the woman
placed her items on the counter in front
of the blind business vendor.
“What you get here?” Alani asked, as
he used his hands to feel the products.
“Sunny D and a bag of chips.”
He quoted her a price and the customer
passed him some cash. Without
skipping a beat, Alani slipped the corner
of the bill inside a square device known
as a money reader. A few seconds later a
recorded voice said, “10.”
Opening his till, Alani gave the woman
her change. He then thanked the customer
and told her to have a good day.
The 64-year-old Waimea man has
been running the snack shop, known as
Dane’s Place, at the West Hawaii Civic
Center for about two and a half years.
His experience as a vendor started in
the early 2000s while attending the
Vocational Rehabilitation Center for the
Blind on Oahu.
“My eyes have been going bad ever
since I was young,” Alani recalled. “That
wasn’t going to stop me. I’m not going to
be homeless and collect welfare. That’s
no life.”
Alani suffers from a hereditary eye
condition called retinitis pigmentosa,
which causes vision loss. He said he still
sees light perception.
Alani recalled his eyesight starting
to decline in the 1980s. At that time he
worked on a family farm where they
raised pigs and cattle.
KAILUA-KONA — Two boys
were charged in connection with
selling suspected pot brownies
at a Kailua-Kona school.
A 14-year-old juvenile is facing
three charges from the incident
that caused a pair of female
classmates at Kealakehe High
School to go to the hospital after
ingesting the reportedly laced
dessert.
Both victims have since been
treated and released.
The 14-year-old is facing one
count of promoting a controlled
substance on school property,
a class C felony that is punishable
by up to five years of
incarceration. He’s also facing
two misdemeanor counts of
third-degree assault, one for
each female victim.
The suspect was flown to
Oahu Friday morning and is in
custody at the Kapolei Juvenile
Detention Facility — Hale
Ho’omalu.
Hawaii Island police responded
to Kealakehe High School at
12:15 p.m. Thursday to a report
of a female juvenile being transported
to the Kona Community
Hospital by medics after eating
a brownie, passing out and
experiencing convulsions.
Upon investigation, it was
determined that another student
had sold her a brownie
believed to contain marijuana,
according to a Hawaii
Police Department press
release. The boy was brought
to the office, and additional
brownies were located upon
search of his backpack by
school officials.
A second student was also
located in possession of a
brownie on Thursday and
had additional marijuana in
his backpack, which was also
located upon search by school
officials.
Hawaii Police Lt. Thomas
Shopay said on Friday the
15-year-old was considered an
associate of the main suspect
and was arrested for misdemeanor
promotion of a detrimental
drug. He was released to
the custody of his parents.
As officers were processing
the two suspects on Thursday
at the Kealakehe Police Station,
a second female juvenile at the
school experienced a medical
emergency related to the ingestion
of a brownie.
She was also transported to
the Kona Community Hospital
by medics, where she was
admitted for observation after
an elevated heart rate that was
not subsiding.
Shopay said the second girl,
16, was kept overnight at the
hospital for observation but was
released Friday.
The first female juvenile, 15,
was treated and released on
Thursday.
Police weren’t releasing
details on the quantity of the
drug seized. But Shopay said
the department wasn’t aware
how many more could be out
there, and asked
parents to be on
guard that some
could still be
circulating.
“We just want
to be sure the
public is aware,”
he said. “If
you’re a parent
of a student, keep an eye out.”
He said the victims did purchase
the edibles, but didn’t
know whether the victims knew
exactly what they were buying.
BY WEST HAWAII TODAY STAFF
INDEX Annie’s Mailbox . . . . . . 4B Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5B Nation & World . . . . . . . . .3A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4A Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B
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INSIDE
GUN MONEY
UNDER FIRE
Schools taking
NRA money
unlikely to
give it up
PAGE 3A
▼
LANDING
WITH THE
LUTES
Oshiro signs
to swim with
Pacific Lutheran
SPORTS, 1B
▼
HI 80 LO 66 WEATHER, PAGE 6A
VOL. 50, NO. 69 16 PAGES
Souza
SEE BROWNIES PAGE 7A
‘Good to keep going’
BLIND MAN WHO RUNS CONVENIENCE STORE AT CIVIC CENTER MOVING ON TO OAHU
BY TIFFANY DEMASTERS
WEST HAWAII TODAY
tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com
“My eyes have been going bad
ever since I was young. That
wasn’t going to stop me. I’m
not going to be homeless and
collect welfare. That’s no life.”
DANE ALANI
DANE’S PLACE
SEE ALANI PAGE 6A
Public asked to
report discarded
syringes, needles
KAILUA-KONA — The County of
Hawaii is asking the public to report discarded
syringes or needles to the Hawaii
Police Department — while avoiding
touching or handling the hazardous
waste items.
A form to report discarded syringes
and needles has been created, to facilitate
safe retrieval.
The form is posted on the county’s
website at http://www.hawaiicounty.
gov/report-discarded-syringes. People
who find syringes or needles may also
call the police non-emergency number
at 935-3311.
Mayor Harry Kim recently comprised
a task force to tackle the issue of drug use
in public parks. The form is one of the
first steps in an attempt to crackdown.
No one besides trained staff should
touch or handle this hazardous waste,
which could be drug-laced or infected.
The county is also developing a
program involving the installation of
“amnesty sharps disposal bins,” which
are tamper-proof boxes for the disposal
of syringes or needles.
The bins will be installed at public
restrooms at parks and other facilities.
Info: Leilani Maxera of the CHOW
Project at 852-3273.
Revamped Medicare
cards coming
BY JEFF HANSEL
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
HILO — For the first time in its
history, the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services plans to replace
all Medicare cards.
“This is a huge effort,” said Dr. Ashby
Wolfe, chief medical officer for the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services in the western region, who
was in Hilo on Wednesday. “There are
SEE MEDICARE PAGE 6A
link
link
/www.hawaiicounty