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Pumping iron
Isaiah Wong begins to lift 500 pounds during Saturday’s Special Olympics West Hawaii Full Power Powerlifting
Meet at Imua Iron in Kailua-Kona. See story and more photos on page 7A. CHELSEA JENSEN/WEST HAWAII TODAY
KAILUA-KONA — Seven Hawaii
Police Officers waited 45 seconds
before driving up to a residence in
Hawaiian Homes to execute a search
warrant for animal cruelty.
“Anything can happen when you’re
out on a search warrant,” said Sgt.
Edwin Buyten as he drove slowly up
to the home Thursday afternoon.
After parking, authorities proceeded
to the front door cautiously,
knocked and identified themselves:
“Police. We have a search warrant.”
“Anytime we present a search
warrant we have to announce it,”
Buyten said, supervisor of the Special
Enforcement Unit.
No one answered the door. Officers
walked in the house and came out
minutes later indicating the home
was clear. After that, a search of the
property began.
Officers along with two Hawaii
Island Humane Society officers
walked about the vicinity. Eventually,
Charyse Emmons, lead humane
officer, walked out of the house with
an emaciated female pit bull.
With assistance from Roxy O’Neal,
shelter manager, Emmons loaded
the skeletal dog into the back of the
Humane Society truck.
Emmons said the Humane Society
first received information from a good
Samaritan about a starving dog last
September. She has been actively
working on the case since that time
to December.
During that time frame, Emmons
KAILUA-KONA — Hawaii
has not only its tropical beauty
to boast about, but also
the nation’s lowest unemployment
rate at 2.1 percent.
Even so, there are drawbacks
to this seemingly rosy
situation.
A recently released report
for the first 2018 quarterly
report from Hawaii’s
Department of Businesses,
Economic Development and
Tourism (DBEDT), showed
the Big Island’s unemployment
rate has been steadily
declining since 2009, when
Grade:
Incomplete
KEALAKEKUA BAY STATE
HISTORICAL PARK MASTER
PLAN’S DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT STATEMENT FOUND
WANTING BY SOME
BY CAMERON MICULKA
WEST HAWAII TODAY
cmiculka@westhawaiitoday.com
KAILUA-KONA — Several residents
who spoke out on a draft environmental
impact statement connected to a master
plan at Kealakekua Bay State Historical
Park said many of the document’s elements
don’t pass muster.
“Incomplete,” is how Tony Casciato
summed up the biological resource survey
report, which assessed plants and
animals at the park site. “If I turned this
in to my school, they would have given
me an ‘incomplete.’”
Casciato referenced the endangered
species in the bay area, such as the
Hawaiian hoary bat. The survey says the
chances of any adverse impacts to bats
“are likely small,” but, Casciato noted,
the resources survey explicitly states that
“surveys for Hawaiian hoary bats were
not conducted.”
And while he agreed with plans to
restore native habitats and control invasive
species, he said, the means to accomplish
those ends must be made clear.
Casciato was one of about five dozen
people to attend a public comment meeting
for the draft environmental impact
statement connected to the master plan
for Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park,
a South Kona site the state Department
of Land and Natural Resources and the
Division of State Parks have been trying
to develop for decades.
Curt Cottrell, administrator for the
Division of State Parks, said he wanted
attendees to come away with some
closure on the planning process that
involves what he said is one of the most
iconic parks in the state, both culturally
and for natural resources.
Social media, he said, is driving more
and more visitors to the area, so it’s
crucial to develop a way to mitigate the
impact of people and ensure adequate
infrastructure.
“I don’t think we can turn the clock
SEE INCOMPLETE PAGE 9A
Annie’s Mailbox . . . . . . 6B Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . .INDEX 1D Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1C Nation & World . . . . . 3A-4A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6A Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B
HI 84 LO 74 WEATHER, PAGE 6A
7
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899 Ululani Street
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Dr. Eugene Ng, Board Certi ed Ophalmologist, a Johns Hopkins
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VOL. 50, NO. 105 28 PAGES
INSIDE
DEFIANT
SPIRITS
Syrians take to the
streets to show
they’re unfazed by
Western attack
PAGE 3A
▼
TACTICAL
TENNIS
TAKEDOWN
Strategy and
a pinch of luck
win the day for
Waiakea girls,
HPA boys
SPORTS, 1B
▼
HIRING HEADACHES
BIG ISLAND BUSINESSES EXPERIENCE
DRAWBACKS TRYING TO FILL STAFF
DURING ROBUST ECONOMY
BY GITA HOWARD
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ghoward@westhawaiitoday.com
Hilo Hattie employee Fe Bacawag rings up a customer
Friday at the Kona Inn Shopping Village store. LAURA
SEE HIRING PAGE 8A RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII TODAY
Ride along in West Hawaii
SEU ASSISTS IN ANIMAL CRUELTY SEARCH WARRANT
BY TIFFANY DEMASTERS
WEST HAWAII TODAY
tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com
Hawaii Island Humane Society lead humane
officer Charyse Emmons removes a neglected
dog from a Hawaiian Homes house after police
executed a search warrant on Thursday. LAURA
RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII TODAY SEE NEGLECT PAGE 9A
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