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Indictment filed against South Kona man accused of murder
Kim: Don’t bar building in lava zones
LAVA SPARKS LONG-TERM PLANNING AS COUNTY STRUGGLES WITH HOUSING
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
Firefighter
caught up
in scandal
on leave
BATTALION CHIEF
ACCUSED OF LYING
TO GRAND JURY
BY JOHN BURNETT
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
New faces vie for council spot
DISTRICT 7 HOPEFULS ADDRESS ISSUES AT WEST HAWAII FORUM
INDEX Annie’s Mailbox . . . . . . 4B Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5B Nation & World . . . . . . . . .3A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6A Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B
HI 87 LO 74 WEATHER, PAGE 6A
VOL. 50, NO. 192 16 PAGES
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INSIDE
FACING THE
OPPOSITION
Emotions high
as Kavanaugh
begins fight for
confirmation
PAGE 3A
▼
GOING TO
THE NEXT
LEVEL
Konawaena’s
Tablit one of
several signees
for UH-Hilo
SPORTS, 1B
▼
WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
KAILUA-KONA — A grand
jury indictment has been handed
down in the case against
a Honaunau man accused of
murder after a shooting last
month on Painted Church
Road.
The indictment was filed
in 3rd Circuit Court Monday
afternoon. Brian Lee Smith, 49,
faces second-degree murder,
second-degree attempted murder,
first-degree attempted murder,
two counts of ownership or
possession (firearm)
prohibited
and two counts
of carrying or
use of firearm in
the commission
of a separate
felony.
The charges
stem from a shooting that
occurred June 23 on Painted
Church Road in Honaunau.
Upon arrival, Hawaii Police
Department officers confirmed
one person dead at
the scene. He was later identified
as 42-year-old Thomas
Ballesteros Jr., of no permanent
address.
It was also determined that
two other men were injured in
the shooting, including the suspect,
later identified as Smith.
Both men had left the scene
before officers arrived, and
were later located and taken
to Kona Community Hospital
for treatment of non-life-threatening
gunshot injuries. They
were later flown to The Queen’s
Medical Center on Oahu for further
treatment.
The second victim has since
been released and has returned
to the Big Island, according to
police.
Smith, who is currently being
held at the Oahu Community
Correctional Center, was flown
to Hawaii Island on Friday
under the custody of state
Sheriff ’s deputies to appear
for a scheduled preliminary
hearing in the case. Hawaii
Police Department Officer Joel
Furuto was the only person to
testify during the hearing.
As the courthouse was soon
to close, District Court Judge
Margaret Masunaga granted
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney
Kate Deleon’s motion to continue
the hearing, which was
scheduled for July 23.
Deleon would not comment
as to why she filed an indictment
instead of waiting to continue
court proceedings in a
couple of weeks.
Now that the indictment has
been issued, Deleon said, the
next step is for the court to serve
a warrant, which has not been
done yet. After the warrant is
served, Smith will be required to
appear in 3rd Circuit Court for
arraignment and plea.
BY TIFFANY DEMASTERS
WEST HAWAII TODAY
tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com
Smith
HILO — Because so much of
Hawaii Island geography is designated
as lava zones 1 and 2, it
doesn’t make sense to bar construction
there, Mayor Harry
Kim said Tuesday.
Kim, reacting to public statements by
state officials, said construction can’t be
restricted in those two zones with the
highest risk of inundation without
compensating property owners for the
loss of use of their lands. Lava zone
2, for example, includes a large swath
of Puna and most of southwest Hawaii
Island, including Hawaiian Ocean View
Estates, considered the largest private subdivision
in the nation, with 11,500 1-acre lots
over 18 square miles.
“These are our bedroom communities. A lot
of people purchase there because they want to
live there, but a lot of people live there because
that’s the only place they can afford,” Kim said
after a County Council briefing of short- and longterm
plans for housing in the midst of an eruption
in lower Puna.
Instead, Kim said, his administration can, and
will, deny rezoning to higher density developments
in those two lava zones. Recommendations
on rezoning applications are made to the planning
commissions by the planning director,
which then forward their recommendation to the
County Council.
Lava zone map of the Big Island. COURTESY PHOTO/USGS
“These are our bedroom communities.
A lot of people purchase there
because they want to live
there, but a lot of
people live there
because that’s
the only place
they can
afford.”
MAYOR
HARRY
KIM
Kim
“I wish there was a simple
answer,” Kim said, noting that the
lava-flow hazard zones were set by the U.S.
Geological Survey in the 1980s, while the subdivisions
were created in the 1950s and ’60s.
Gubernatorial front-runners incumbent Gov. David
Ige and challenger U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa,
as well as incumbent District 4 state Sen. Lorraine
SEE PLANNING PAGE 4A
HILO — A Big Island
firefighter accused of
lying to a federal grand
jury about his relationship
with a Honolulu
deputy prosecutor in
the fraud and corruption
case against her and
her husband, the former
Honolulu police chief, was
put on paid leave.
Hawaii Fire Chief
Darren Rosario said
Tuesday in a tersely
worded statement that
Battalion Chief Jesse
Ebersole “was directly
involved with the saving
of many lives” during his
25-year career with the
department.
The 49-year-old
Ebersole was charged
SEE FIREFIGHTER PAGE 7A
Candidates for County Council District 7 Kelly Drysdale,
left, Bronsten Kalei Kossow, Cynthia Nazara and
Rebecca Shute-Villegas share their views on a variety of
topics at the West Hawaii Forum on Tuesday evening at
the West Hawaii Civic Center. LAURA RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII TODAY
KAILUA-KONA — The race
for the Hawaii County Council
District 7 seat is one of the 2018
election cycle’s most hotly contested
on the Big Island.
But no matter who voters from
the portions of South Kona and
North Kona that comprise the
district choose to represent them,
the seat’s next occupant will be a
political newcomer. None of the
four candidates to replace threeterm
councilman Dru Kanuha,
who is running for state Senate
this year, have ever served in
office.
The District 7 hopefuls include
Kelly Drysdale, daughter of Los
Angeles Dodgers baseball player
Don Drysdale and current director
of logistics at the Kona Coffee
and Tea Company. Then there’s
Bronsten Kossow, a West Hawaii
native and college student at the
University of Hawaii at Hilo,
who is also the son of Hawaii
County deputy managing director,
Barbara Kossow.
Also running is Cynthia
Nazara, raised in Kailua-
Kona and a member of several
BY MAX DIBLE
WEST HAWAII TODAY
mdible@westhawaiitoday.com
SEE FORUM PAGE 5A
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