See stores or hpmhawaii.com/atv for details.
Gone baby, gone
COUNTY IN $2.7M CONTRACT TO BUY LOST LAVA LAND
From plaques
to peanuts
COUNCIL MEMBERS
REPORT GIFTS
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
Laaloa lot
in limbo
BY MAX DIBLE
WEST HAWAII TODAY
mdible@westhawaiitoday.com
Fissure 8 and Leilani Estates viewed from the south on Monday. PHOTO COURTESY/U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
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VOL. 50, NO. 191 16 PAGES
INSIDE
SELECTION
MADE
Trump picks
Kavanaugh for
court, setting up
fight with Dems
PAGE 3A
▼
NORTH
LIGHTS
IT UP
Heavy hitting
North Hawaii
downs West
Hawaii for
Minors title
SPORTS, 1B
▼
TUESDAY, JULY 10, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
HILO — The ongoing lava
flow has swallowed most of a
$2.7 million parcel the county
is buying for open space.
About two-thirds of
the 284-acre parcel in
Vacationland, currently in
escrow, has been inundated,
said county Property Manager
Hamana Ventura.
The parcel, known as the
Vacationlands Land Trust/
Hara Property, includes
what were previously the
Waiopae tide pools before
lava consumed them last
month. The property borders
the south side of Kapoho
Kai Road and is makai of
Highway 137. It also borders
the marine life conservation
district with about 4,000
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
Lava
enters
the
ocean
between
Waiopea
Tide
Pools
and
Ahalanui
Park on
Monday.
PHOTO
COURTESY/
U.S.
GEOLOGICAL
SURVEY SEE LAND PAGE 7A
HILO — Freebies from
sister cities topped County
Council members’ gift disclosures
this year, with councilors
also reporting peanuts,
rodeo tickets and travel on
their annual forms.
Gift disclosure forms are
required to be filed by June
30 each year, according to
county code. County officials
are required to report
gifts valued at more than
$100 from a single source.
But some council members
reported smaller gifts as well,
in order to be on the safe
side.
Officials are barred from
accepting a gift of any
amount when “it can reasonably
be inferred that the
gift is intended to influence
SEE GIFTS PAGE 7A
KAILUA-KONA — The
beach is an unlikely backdrop
for complaints on a
sunny West Hawaii weekday.
Such was the case Monday
afternoon at Laaloa Beach
Park, which was packed
nearly end to end. At the
well-known strip of sand
on the southern stretch of
Alii Drive, popularly known
as Magic Sands, there isn’t
much to gripe about — save
for a main parking lot that’s
been closed for more than
a year.
The Hawaii County Parks
and Recreation Department
closed the lot in May of
2017, announcing plans to
SEE LOT PAGE 6A
HILO — Hawaii County officially
confirmed Monday what
had long been presumed true:
At least 700 homes have been
destroyed since May 3 when
lava from Kilauea volcano began
erupting in Leilani Estates.
While many estimated the
number of homes destroyed
was approximately 700 for the
past month — among them
Mayor Harry Kim, who guessed
in June the number would be
between 600 and 700 — official
tallies have lagged behind as the
county pored over tax records
and aerial photos to determine
the precise amount.
However, Janet Snyder,
spokeswoman for Kim, confirmed
the official tally has
reached 700.
“That 700 number isn’t all of
it,” Kim told the Tribune-Herald
on Monday. “It doesn’t show
what happened to everyone’s
hopes and dreams.”
Kim himself lost a home in
Kapoho, although he minimized
his loss.
“My sadness about that isn’t
about the home itself but what
it represents,” Kim said, adding
that he has been luckier
than most others affected by the
eruption.
“You sit down, you think about
what 700 homes represents
(and) all the people’s lives tied
up in those places,” he said.
Kim said the tally does
not include the consumed
agricultural and floral lots, the
destruction of which has left
evacuees without a jobs as well
as homes.
Gus Becklund, who operated
a fruit farm on Noni Farms
Road near Highway 132 in
lower Puna before the eruption,
is one such evacuee. Since May
29, Becklund and his family
have been staying in the Pahoa
shelter.
“When it rains, it turns into
a swamp, but people have been
treating us really well,” Becklund
said.
Although Becklund estimated
BY MICHAEL BRESTOVANSKY
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
KILAUEA ERUPTION
Adding up the damage
OFFICIALS CONFIRM AT LEAST 700 HOMES HAVE BEEN DESTROYED
SEE LAVA PAGE 7A
“That 700 number isn’t all of it. It doesn’t show
what happened to everyone’s hopes and dreams.”
MAYOR HARRY KIM
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