MONDAY, APRIL 16, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
MORE MARKED POLICE CARS SOUGHT
DECADE SINCE LAST NEW RIGS RECEIVED
KAILUA-KONA — About a decade
ago, the Hawaii Police Department
acquired its first fleet of marked police
vehicles, costing around $2 million.
Today, 29 of those 35 model year
2008 sedans and sport-utility vehicles
remain operational, with each averaging
200,000 miles after being used 24/7
over the past 10 years.
“There are some vehicles that are
just hanging on, on the outside outer
districts, but in Hilo, Puna and Kona,
the vehicles are down to nothing, basically,”
said HPD administrative bureau
Assistant Chief Marshall Kanehailua.
That’s why the department is seeking
to add new rides to its fleet.
“We’re at a critical point where we
need to get some of these vehicles either
repaired or replaced,” Kanehailua said.
Most of the vehicles, 21, are located in
the department’s larger districts, Kona,
Hilo and Puna, while the outer districts
have one to two each that are typically in
better condition. In the larger districts,
and in some of the medium-sized districts,
the marked vehicles continue to
be assigned to a patrol officer on every
watch while other “spare” vehicles are
used to transport custodies or when
needed.
Purchasing new vehicles is preferred
Locally owned since 1979
because repair costs are escalating and
concerns over safety and liability should
a vehicle have an issue, such as the
brakes failing. The police department
does not have its own maintenance facility
and instead contracts repair work.
“Liability is beyond what we are budgeting
for these vehicles should something
happen to an officer, bystander or
other vehicle,” Kanehailua said.
That money referred to is $600,000
allocated in this year’s budget to purchase
10 marked police cars, a mix of
sedans and small SUVs.
“It’s not going to replace a whole lot,
but we’re hoping the bids come in and
we get the maximum amount of vehicles,”
said Kanehailua.
An invitation for bids, posted March
19, was to be opened today, however,
Airline rolls out
effort to speak
Hawaiian on flights
SEE LANGUAGE PAGE4A
HILO — Lawmakers have performed
CPR on a lifeguard liability
bill that was all but sunk in the legislative
session.
The bill protecting county lifeguards
from lawsuits is heading to
a conference committee, after the
House on Thursday disagreed with
changes the Senate made to the bill.
The state contracts with counties
to provide lifeguard protection at
the state’s busiest beaches.
But the roughly 350 county lifeguards
lost their liability protection
last June, when a law expired that
had protected them for the past 15
years. Gov. David Ige earlier vetoed
a bill extending their protections
because he was concerned the bill
went too far, putting the state on
the hook even if the lifeguards were
negligent in their duties.
The protections are now included
in HB 2097, a gut-and-replace
amendment to an appropriations
bill giving the state Department of
Land and Natural Resources money
to staff state and county beaches
statewide with lifeguards.
Rep. Nicole Lowen, D-North
Kona, was one of the sponsors of
the original bill. She said Friday she
supports the lifeguard protection as
well as funding that could be used to
put lifeguards at Kua Bay.
The Hawaii State Association of
Counties and the Hawaii Council
of Mayors both listed making the
protection permanent one of their
PFI RUBBISH SeRvIce
808-329-3440
PFIRUBBISH.cOM
INDEX Annie’s Mailbox . . . . . . 4B Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5B Nation & World . . . . . . . . .3A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4A Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B
STONE TILE, STONE SLABS, PORCELAIN TILE, POOL TILE, LATICRETE MATERIALS, GLASS TILE, MOSAICS, AND MORE
2865 Koapaka Street
Honolulu, HI 96819
(808) 840-8855 tel
(808) 840-8858 fax
www.tilewarehousehawaii.com
73-4076 Hulikoa Drive
Kailua Kona, HI 96740
(808) 329-8855 tel
(808) 329-5585 fax
Featuring: Rondine
INSIDE
DELICIOUS
DREAMS
Kamuela Kitchen
opens in Waimea
NHN, 5B
▼
THE
PRICE OF
PARADISE
Paltry paychecks
possibly proving
problematic
BIZ, 5A
▼
HI 83 LO 74 WEATHER, PAGE 3A
VOL. 50, NO. 106 18 PAGES
BY CHELSEA JENSEN
WEST HAWAII TODAY
cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com
Lifeguard protection bill still afloat
GUT-AND-REPLACE BILL BREATHES NEW LIFE INTO STRUGGLING MEASURE
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
Hawaii County lifeguard Ben Fisher patrols
Hapuna Beach on an ATV. LAURA RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII
TODAY FILE PHOTO
Outlook:
drought-free
BY ELIZABETH PITTS
WEST HAWAII TODAY
epitts@westhawaiitoday.com
KAILUA-KONA — Hawaii has been
drought-free since Feb. 27, the longest
the state has gone without a drought
since February of 2016.
According to a National Weather
Service report, gauges across the Big
Island posted a wide range of conditions,
but monthly totals were in the
near-average range.
Still, North Kona, South Kona and
South Kohala’s year-to-date totals
remained in the below-average range
for rainfall due to significant dryness in
January.
Kevin Kodama, senior hydrologist at
the National Weather Service weather
forecast office in Honolulu, said conditions
on Hawaii Island should continue
improving.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONOLULU — Passengers flying
Hawaiian Airlines may soon get a complimentary
language lesson as the company
amplifies efforts to preserve traditional
Hawaiian by incorporating it into
everyday business.
Cabin announcements and crew
instructions were given in English and
the traditional Hawaiian language on
a Las Vegas-bound flight on Friday,
marking the first time the language was
utilized on a flight headed to the mainland,
Hawaii News Now reported .
The mission is for flight attendants to
provide a “one-of-a-kind cultural experience
by engaging with guests in both
olelo Hawaii and English” as preservation
of the Hawaiian language continues
to be a hot issue on the islands, the
company said via email.
The idea was tested earlier this month
on four flights to Hilo.
SEE RAIN PAGE 4A
Hawaii County Police have a presence at Konawaena High School with a marked vehicle after a social media
threat of gun violence was reported. LAURA RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII TODAY
“We’re at a critical point where we
need to get some of these vehicles
either repaired or replaced.”
MARSHALL KANEHAILUA
HPD ADMINISTRATIVE BUREAU ASSISTANT CHIEF
SEE VEHICLES PAGE 4A
SEE LIFEGUARDS PAGE 3A
/www.tilewarehousehawaii.com
link
link
link