LAVA VENDORS TOLD TO SCRAM
COUNTY SAYS UNPERMITTED ROADSIDE PRESENCE A DANGER
Kahakai Elementary School exchange participants Sean Thornton, left, Emmanuella Rogers, Victoria Quiros,
Barbra Kaimuloa-Bates, Kaylin Wehrsig, Tehya Kahoonei, Payton McCafferty, Margaret Leander, Cole Clark and
Joseph Soderlund pose in costume in front of Mount Fuji in March. COURTESY PHOTOS
KAILUA-KONA —
Nine Kahakai Elementary
School fifth-graders recently
returned from a trip to Japan
with stories, cultural appreciation,
experiences and memories
that will last a lifetime.
The trip this March marked
the third year Linda Nagai,
Japanese after school program
director, has taken her
students to Tokyo through an
exchange program with Seisa
Group, a private early education
through post-graduate
school. Nagai teaches her
students language, culture,
etiquette and designated
places to prepare them for
the immersion.
“Japanese culture is not
the same as other cultures,”
student Joseph Soderlund
said Tuesday. “The way they
do things is not what we’re
accustomed to.”
“Japan is more different
than the U.S.,” added classmate
Sean Thornton. “It’s a
HILO — Hawaii County is clamping
down on vendors near its designated
lava viewing area at the end of
Highway 130 in Kalapana.
The vendors, which range from
bike rentals to hot dog sellers, set
up shop along the side of the road
shortly after the Kamokuna lava
ocean entry began in July 2016 in
order to cater to the hundreds of
people who pass through there each
day.
But Talmadge Magno, county
Civil Defense administrator, said
vending is not allowed on road setbacks
and the county is giving them
until July 1 to leave.
Magno told County Council
members during a budget meeting
Thursday that the enforcement is in
response to safety concerns about
customers crowding the road. He
said the county has received complaints
from residents who live past
the viewing area.
The county will host a meeting
with vendors about the decision at
6 p.m. Wednesday at the Pahoa
Community Center.
“We’ll give them the information
they need to run a viable, legal business,”
Magno told council members.
Mayor Harry Kim said he has
been reviewing the issue for the past
several months. A “working group”
looked at different options for the
vendors, he said.
“It was brought to my attention by
residents some time ago,” Kim said.
Magno said the county will allow
them to operate on private property
with the proper permits. Allowing
them to operate on nearby state land
was considered, but the approval
process for that option was considered
too cumbersome, he said.
About a dozen vendors are present
on any given day, Magno estimated.
Kim said he is aware of at least
one vendor that is securing access to
private property.
SEE CESSPOOLS PAGE 10A
INDEX Annie’s Mailbox . . . . . . 4B Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5B Nation & World . . . . . . . . .3A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6A Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B
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CUBA MINUS
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BIIF D-II
SEMIFINALS
Wildcats take
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HI 82 LO 72 WEATHER, PAGE 4A
VOL. 50, NO. 110 18 PAGES
BY TOM CALLIS
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
A group of birds eat some birdseed Thursday
by vendors near Hawaii County’s designated
lava viewing area at the end of Highway 130 in
SEE SCRAM PAGE 10A Kalapana. HOLLYN JOHNSON/TRIBUNE-HERALD
‘This keeps me
awake at night’
LOGISTICS OF CESSPOOL
CONVERSION BRING
FINANCIAL BURDEN
BY MAX DIBLE
WEST HAWAII TODAY
mdible@westhawaiitoday.com
KAILUA-KONA — Last year, legislators
passed a law requiring Hawaii
homeowners do away with the state’s
estimated 88,000 cesspools by 2050.
This year, lawmakers are trying to
figure out how to make that feasible, as
affected residents stare down the barrel
of a cost that could eclipse $1 billion on
Hawaii Island alone.
The Legislature is examining the creation
of a working group within the
Department of Health comprised of
legislators, state and county officials,
scientists and financial experts to determine
how to absorb the cost and meet
timelines that could be accelerated for
priority areas.
Establishing such a group is at the
center of two measures currently in
conference committee, House Bill 2626
and Senate Bill 2567, which through the
amendment process would now each
achieve essentially the same outcome.
The group would offer up a report to
the Legislature no later than the final
day of 2019.
WEST HAWAII SHERIFF
LIEUTENANT CLOSE
TO REALITY
BY TIFFANY DEMASTERS
WEST HAWAII TODAY
tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com
KAILUA-KONA — A second lieutenant
will soon join the ranks of
the Kona unit of the Department
of Public Safety’s Sheriff Division,
pending the governor’s approval of
the state’s budget.
SEE SHERIFF PAGE 9A
Trip of a lifetime
KAHAKAI ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS RETURN FROM JAPAN
BY LAURA RUMINSKI
WEST HAWAII TODAY
lruminski@westhawaiitoday.com
Kahakai students Victoria Quiros, left, Margaret Leander
and Tehya Kahoonei are immersed in Japanese culture
and food through an exchange program in Tokyo.
INSIDE
Draft social studies
standards up for review,
Page 8A
SEE JAPAN PAGE 8A
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