SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM $1.50
KAILUA-KONA — Back in
the days before cucumber sours
and bourbon-barrel-aged stouts
hit Hawaii Island’s shores, Kona
was, as Fred Housel put it, “beer
challenged.”
“If you wanted to enjoy good
beer, you had to make your
own,” he lamented.
As a homebrewer, Housel has
been doing just that since 2005.
And for the last eight years,
he’s held the enviable position
of being a judge at the Kona
Homebrew Competition, held in
the days leading up to Saturday’s
Kona Brewers Festival, now in
its 23rd year. Housel has also
competed in the event for the
last 10 years.
This year’s competition
drew more than 100 entries
from near and far, spanning
numerous styles of beer, cider
and mead. About half of the
entries came from throughout
Hawaii, said Kona Homebrew
Competition director Mike
Jeffress. They also received
entries from up and down
Above: Tanner Davies (left) and Jay
Niimi share a toast during the 23rd
annual Kona Brewers Festival on
Saturday.
Right: Joey Keller shares a toast with
his girlfriend Hannah Estey at the 23rd
annual Kona Brewers Festival on Saturday.
PHOTOS BY RICK WINTERS/WEST HAWAII TODAY
the West Coast as well as
Alaska, Arizona, Missouri and
Montana.
This time around, it was
Alaska resident Paul Escamilla’s
Pale Ale TB1 that took home
“best of show” for beer. Kona resident
Shawn Crawford’s “Cider
House Rules,” meanwhile, was
named “best of show” in the
cider and mead contest.
Crawford’s winning cider is
a straightforward take on the
drink: “Apples and yeast and
that’s it,” he said.
“It’s a refreshing drink,” he
said. “It’s a good alternative to
beer. Beers are a little heavy and
stuff, but cider’s more crisp.”
His rationale for making his
own cider is practical enough.
KAILUA-KONA — Trial gets
underway this week in the case of
a South Kohala developer seeking
tens of millions of dollars from
the state for damages it says were
incurred as the result of a 2011
Land Use Commission decision
that was ultimately overturned.
The federal takings case is headed
for jury trial on Tuesday after
a settlement payout agreement
between the state and developer
Bridge Aina Lea fell through last
year.
The developer and state had
agreed to the state paying $1 million
to settle the case rather than
go to trial; however, legislators cut
out the money in the final 2017
appropriations bill that was signed
by Gov. David Ige.
Bridge Aina Lea, one of the
developers of 3,000-acre The
Villages at Aina Lea, says in its
suit that the commission’s decision
seven years ago to revert zoning
on a 1,060-acre tract to its original
classification of agricultural from
urban was a constitutional taking
of Bridge’s property without just
compensation because of the loss
of the use of the land after it had
already invested millions of dollars
into the project.
The developer says damages
incurred from the decision —
which was ultimately overturned
in the courts — were not less than
$37.5 million.
Attorneys for Bridge Aina Lea
and the Attorney General’s office
on Tuesday will appear before
Judge Susan Oki Mollway in U.S.
District Court in Honolulu for jury
selection and opening statements
in the case.
In addition to the multimillion-dollar
figure named in the court filing,
Bridge Aina Lea also wants four additional
orders: a temporary restraining
order preventing the commission
from taking additional action regarding
the land, a permanent injunction
from reclassifying the land, an order
declaring the commission’s decision
to reclassify the land was “egregious,
illegal, invalid, unconstitutional,
arbitrary, capricious” and an order
stopping the commission from interfering
with “Bridge’s rights to develop
the property.”
Yes, no, maybe so
AS COUNTY PROJECTS
BUDGET SHRINKS, ANE K
EXTENSION STILL LIKELY
SLATED FOR 2020
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
HILO — The pace of public projects
has slowed as the county nears its prudent
borrowing limits and seeks other
revenue sources to build needed roads,
wastewater systems, workforce housing
and fire stations.
Mayor Harry Kim’s capital improvement
budget released last week listed
39 projects costing $190.9 million next
year. That’s a significant decrease from
the 85 projects costing $231.9 million
in the 2013 budget released by former
Mayor Billy Kenoi.
The county’s bond debt ratio, based
on all debt approved by the County
Council, is at 12.43 percent of general
expenditures, close to the 15 percent ceiling
recommended by the Government
Finance Officers Association.
SEE ROADS PAGE 9A
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VOL. 50, NO. 70 28 PAGES
INSIDE
PUTIN DOESN’T
CARE ABOUT
INTERFERENCE
Says it wasn’t
his people, isn’t
his problem
PAGE 4A
▼
POLO POWER
Teams return
to the pool for
BIIF season
SPORTS, 1B
▼
Oft-delayed project sues state for $37.5M
DEVELOPER OF SOUTH KOHALA’S VILLAGES AT AINA
LEA SAYS COMMISSION RULING BLOCKED PROGRESS
BY CHELSEA JENSEN
WEST HAWAII TODAY
cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com
The Villages at Aina Lea project site is shown.
SEE VILLAGES PAGE 9A DRAFT EIS, 2010/SPECIAL TO WEST HAWAII TODAY
Vehicles line up on Ane
Keohokalole Highway to turn at
Hina-Lani Street in Kailua-Kona.
CHELSEA JENSEN/WEST HAWAII TODAY
Brew-it-yourself
ALASKA RESIDENT,
KONA MAN TAKE
TOP HONORS
IN HOMEBREW
COMPETITION
BY CAMERON MICULKA
WEST HAWAII TODAY
cmiculka@westhawaiitoday.com
Below:
Mugs and
spoons at
the Brewers
Festival.
SEE BREWS PAGE 5A
INSIDE
A first-timer
rates her faves!
Page 8A
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