LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
A thick layer of vog obscures Hualalai on June 4. CHELSEA JENSEN/WEST HAWAII TODAY
DOH ASKS FOR PUBLIC INPUT ON NEW AIR QUALITY MONITORING STATIONS
BY MAX DIBLE
WEST HAWAII TODAY
mdible@westhawaiitoday.com
SEE MONITORS PAGE 5A SEE FEMA PAGE 5A
Benjamin C. Keely leaves behind wife, 2 children
KAILUA-KONA — The hardest
thing Wayne Keely said he’s ever
done in his life was writing his son’s
obituary.
“I called him Benji boy — he
didn’t like that as much as an adult,”
Keely recalled of his 29-year-old
son Ben who died last weekend in a
boating crash. “He was special. He
was just a good young man, a fine
young man.”
Benjamin Charles Keely, of
Hawaiian Acres, was aboard
a 20-foot boat Saturday evening
when it hit a cliff along the shoreline
fronting the Ellison Onizuka Kona
International Airport at Keahole.
He was aboard the vessel with Gary
Witt, who suffered non-life-threatening
injuries.
The crash is currently being
investigated by the Hawaii Police
Department. A cause of death has
not yet been determined.
On Wednesday, the elder Keely
shared stories about Ben and the
special person he was. One that
came to mind was his marriage to
Christina.
“He married his high school
sweetheart — pretty precious,”
Keely said.
Keely said Ben had been working
in Spokane, Washington, when
Christina had gone to visit him in
May 2008.
“They got to talking and they
wanted to get married,” Keely said.
Being a pastor, Ben called his father
and asked him to fly out to the northwestern
state to marry them. Keely
recalled explaining to his son that
his mother and family in Oklahoma
would be furious if he did that.
So, Keely bought the couple
tickets to fly home to marry in
Claremore, Oklahoma.
“I married them here at the
church, on a Wednesday,” Keely said
as he fought back tears. “I still have
a picture of them from that day that
sits on my desk.”
Since Ben and Christina tied the
knot May 14, 2008, they went on to
start their life and family.
Ben got a job in Maui in 2011
with Elcco Electric Inc. The couple
bought a home on Hawaii Island
when Ben started a job at American
Electric in 2013. They had been on
island since.
KAILUA-KONA — The Hawaii
Department of Health announced
Thursday plans to install 10 new
ambient air quality monitoring stations
across Hawaii Island.
Several of the new monitors,
which will measure sulfur dioxide
(SO2) and fine particulate
matter (PM2.5), will be situated
in West Hawaii. Vog produced by
the Kilauea volcano eruption has
taken up more or less permanent
residence throughout the region as
prevailing winds and the island’s
topography trap the irritating haze
up and down the leeward coast.
Dr. Bruce Anderson, DOH director,
has requested the public’s help
in the decision of where precisely to
locate the department’s coming air
quality investment.
“The input we have received from
residents during community meetings
has been invaluable,” he said
in a DOH release. “We want to
encourage ongoing dialogue so we
can better address their concerns
and ensure an effective response.”
Those who wish to submit suggestions
may do so by emailing
DOH’s Clean Air Branch at cab@
doh.hawaii.gov by June 27.
Anderson first mentioned plans
for new air quality monitors at a
public forum that convened last
week at West Hawaii Civic Center.
The meeting came on the heels of
public outcry spurred on by some of
the most unhealthy PM2.5 readings
in the area since DOH began monitoring
here almost a decade ago.
According to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
website Airnow.gov, PM2.5 levels
registered at “unhealthy for sensitive
groups” in Ocean View throughout
much of Thursday, while Kona saw
a couple hours of “unhealthy for
sensitive groups” levels in the late
morning, dipping back to “moderate”
readings into the afternoon.
In Thursday’s release, the department
noted generally the districts
of South Kona, North Kona and
South Kohala as areas relevant to
the coming expansion of its monitoring
network.
But at the forum Lisa Young,
Recovery aid
ready to go
GOV. IGE’S REQUEST FOR
FEDERAL AID APPROVED BY
TRUMP; DISASTER RECOVERY
CENTER OPENS TODAY
BY MICHAEL BRESTOVANSKY
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
HILO — President Donald Trump approved on
Thursday Gov. David Ige’s request for federal individual
assistance programs to aid residents affected
by the Kilauea eruption, just one day after the
request was made.
The approval of the request allows six federal programs
to be deployed on Hawaii Island to assist citizens
in matters of housing, counseling, insurance,
legal services and more.
These programs — which include the Individuals
and Households Program, Transitional Sheltering
Assistance, Crisis Counseling Assistance and
Training Program, Disaster Unemployment
Assistance, Disaster Case Management and Disaster
Legal Services — will be available to qualified residents
at a Disaster Recovery Center set up by the
Federal Emergency Management Agency at the
Keaau High School gymnasium.
The recovery center, which will be open starting
today from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, will feature state,
county and federal agencies that will register affected
residents and review their cases on an individual
basis to determine what assistance they qualify for.
Eligibility for the six programs depends primarily
on whether property losses occurred in a presidentially
declared disaster area — which all of Hawaii
County is — whether the property is the resident’s
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HI 86 LO 75 WEATHER, PAGE 6A
VOL. 50, NO. 166 18 PAGES
KILAUEA ERUPTION
Ben Keely with his newborn son Everett Charles.
Keely died after being involved in a boating
accident Saturday night when the vessel he was
on ran aground along the shoreline fronting the
Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at
Keahole. COURTESY OF CHRISTINA KEELY/SPECIAL TO WEST HAWAII
TODAY
‘A fine young man’
FATHER REMEMBERS SON KILLED IN BOATING ACCIDENT
BY TIFFANY DEMASTERS
WEST HAWAII TODAY
tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com
“He was special. He was
just a good young man,
a fine young man.”
WAYNE KEELY
FATHER OF BENJAMIN KEELY
SEE KEELY PAGE 9A
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