SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM $1.50
Denise and Heath Dalton eat popcorn and shave ice Saturday with their kids, Elle, 5, and A.J., 3, during Family Fun
Day at Puna Baptist Church in Pahoa. The family lost their home to lava in Leilani Estates. HOLLYN JOHNSON/TRIBUNEHERALD
HILO — The eruption may
have been not much more than
2 miles away.
But it was out of the minds
of those attending the Family
Fun Day on Saturday at Puna
Baptist Church, which organized
the event to give families affected
by the volcano a much-needed
break.
“We want it to be a day of
normalcy for anyone affected by
the evacuation,” said Pat Mullin,
event organizer and the church’s
AWANA youth director. “So what
we’re doing, we set it up so the
families can come, the parents
can just relax, let their kids have
fun, without worrying about the
day-to-day stuff with everything
else they got going on.”
For the keiki, there was face
KAILUA-KONA — One person was
confirmed dead in an incident in the
area of a Painted Church Road address
Saturday, according to the Hawaii Fire
Department.
The shooter reportedly fled the scene
on a motorcycle, the department said
in a press release, and his or her current
location was unknown at the time of the
statement.
The incident, reported just before 3
Saturday afternoon, involved “possibly
three victims” in the area of the
Painted Church Road address, according
to a statement from the Hawaii Fire
Department.
Hawaii Fire Department Company 6
responded from a staging area on Keala
o Keawe Road to assist HFD Medic 12
with a 39 year-old man with “multiple
gunshot wounds,” the release stated.
The man was being taken in a private
vehicle toward Kona Community
Hospital and flagged down Medic 12 for
assistance, which transported the man
to the hospital. Meanwhile, Company
6 again responded to the staging area
to await clearance and possible medical
assistance to a second and third victim.
The release indicated one male victim at
the scene was dead.
Painted Church Road remained closed
at either end as of 5:25 p.m.
Police have not released any additional
details at this time.
INDEX Annie’s Mailbox . . . . . . . 6B Classified. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1D Home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1C Nation & World. . . . . . . . . 3A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8A Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B
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HI 86 LO 75 WEATHER, PAGE 8A
7
58551 00781 7
VOL. 50, NO. 175 30 PAGES
INSIDE
25 YEARS
LATER
Kona Marathon
still going strong
SPORTS, 1B
▼
‘GET BACK
TO THE
MALO’
57th annual
Cultural Festival
at Honaunau
bridges cultures,
centuries
PAGE 4A
▼
1 DEAD IN PAINTED CHURCH ROAD SHOOTING
ROAD CLOSED AT EITHER END
WEST HAWAII TODAY
Hawaii County Police investigate the scene of a shooting on Painted
Church Road Saturday afternoon. LAURA RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII TODAY
Justified
costs?
6 OF 9 COUNCIL
MEMBERS IN WAIKIKI
WHILE BUDGET ISSUES
MOUNT BACK HOME
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
HILO — With lava flows imploding
the county budget, there’s a lot to worry
about back home. But that hasn’t kept
six of the nine County Council members
from taking a few days off for
the annual Hawaii State Association
of Counties conference, held Thursday
through Saturday in Waikiki.
Council members Valerie Poindexter,
Aaron Chung, Eileen O’Hara, Maile
David, Dru Kanuha and Karen Eoff
are attending the event at the Sheraton
Waikiki and the Royal Hawaiian hotels.
Council members justified the cost —
$400 for the conference registration,
$329 a night for the hotel, plus airfare
— as necessary to touch base with state
and county colleagues, attend sessions
on important issues and make crucial
contacts to help push Hawaii County’s
legislative agenda.
Poindexter, the council chairwoman,
said she met with House Speaker Scott
Saiki, to push for county priorities such
as a greater county share of the transient
accommodations tax on shortterm
lodging.
“It gave me an opportunity to do a lot
of networking with individuals who are
facing similar issues our island faces,”
Poindexter said. “I also had an opportunity
to meet with House Speaker
Scott Saiki and Chair Ernie Martin of
Honolulu City Council to discuss financial
struggles of counties and how can
we begin to address it with the cooperation
of our state legislators.”
Council members each have a district
allowance of $8,550 annually that
they use for travel, office incidentals
SEE COSTS PAGE 11A
KILAUEA ERUPTION
‘This could be us’
PUNA BAPTIST CHURCH ORGANIZES DAY OF
NORMALCY FOR FAMILIES AFFECTED BY ERUPTION
BY TOM CALLIS
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
SEE NORMAL PAGE 9A
6,144 ACRES, 637 HOMES
HILO — The eruption
on Kilauea’s lower
East Rift Zone has covered
6,144 acres in lava
and destroyed more
than 637 homes since
its start May 3, according
to Hawaii County
Civil Defense.
Fissure 8 in Leilani
Estates continued to
feed a large channelized
flow Saturday to the
ocean.
Billowing laze plumes
were occurring along
the 0.6-mile-long ocean
entry in Kapoho.
Steve Brantely,
BY TOM CALLIS
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
SEE LAVA PAGE 9A
link