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MALICIOUS
MEDDLING
12 Russians
indicted in 2016
U.S. election
tampering probe
PAGE 3A
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COPPING TO
CONSPIRACY
Fire department
battalion
chief Ebersole
pleads guilty in
corruption case
PAGE 5A
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SATURDAY, JULY 14, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
AG MUM ON MISSING POLICE EVIDENCE CASE
POLICE CHIEF OUTLINES PROTOCOL CHANGES MADE SINCE INCIDENT
Stoplight ahead
NEW TRAFFIC SIGNAL ON QUEEN KAAHUMANU HIGHWAY TO BE ACTIVATED TUESDAY
PROJECT STILL ON TRACK TO BE “SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETE” IN AUGUST
Workers pave the southbound lane of Queen Kaahumanu Highway on Thursday.
BY CAMERON MICULKA
WEST HAWAII TODAY
cmiculka@westhawaiitoday.com
KAILUA-KONA — The effort to
widen a portion of Queen Kaahumanu
Highway is still on track to be “substantially
complete” in August, with the
upcoming activation of a traffic signal
to be the latest sign of progress on the
nearly three-year-old project.
The signal at the intersection of
the highway and the entrance road to
Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical
Park will be activated at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
For one day prior, the signal will flash
yellow to get drivers used to the signal.
That signal will control northbound
and southbound traffic on Queen
Kaahumanu Highway as well as traffic
into and out of the national park road on
the highway’s makai side and the West
Hawaii Business Park site on the mauka
side.
After the signal’s activation, said
Department of Transportation spokeswoman
Traffic lights slated to become
operational on Tuesday are
covered at the new intersection
of Queen Kaahumanu Highway
and the entrance to Kaloko-
Honokohau National Park. PHOTOS
BY LAURA RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII TODAY Shelly Kunishige, remaining
SEE QUEEN K PAGE 5A
SEE DRUGS PAGE 5A
work will consist of paving and striping
between Hina Lani Street and Kealakehe
Parkway as well as the installation of
signs.
Once that’s finished, they will open the
second southbound lane throughout the
project’s full length.
Remaining work will include grading
the median and landscaping as well as
the installation of rumble strips, signs
and “general project clean-up work,” said
Kunishige.
Motorists are advised to be aware of
warning signs in the area and anticipate
equipment and workers in the median
and on road shoulders.
Some night work and lane closures,
she added, might be required.
The $128.1 million project, officially
phase 2 of the Queen Kaahumanu
Highway widening project, will widen
a little more than 5 miles of Highway
19 from two to four lanes between
Kealakehe Parkway and Keahole Airport
INSIDE
BY TIFFANY DEMASTERS
WEST HAWAII TODAY
tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com
KAILUA-KONA — The state
Attorney General continues to
provide no updates or shed further
light on the status of a stolen
drug evidence case involving
the Hawaii County Police
Department.
“I apologize but I do not have
any further information regarding
this matter,” Dana Viola,
first deputy Attorney General,
wrote in an email Thursday.
It’s been four months since
information was released about
a police investigation into a
former Hawaii Police detective
for reportedly stealing drug evidence
from the Hilo evidence
storage facility. The initial investigation
Charter
Commission forms
ONCE-IN-A-DECADE BOARD
TO DRAFT AMENDMENTS
FOR 2020 BALLOT
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
HILO — Once every decade, a commission
is created to review and propose
amendments to the county’s fundamental
governing document, its county charter.
That process began Friday, with the
swearing-in of a lineup of eight of the
11 members, many of whom are well
known in county government circles.
Amendments proposed by the commission
will appear on the 2020 general
election ballot.
Commissioners are Paul Hamano,
Christopher Roehrig, Jennifer Zelko-
Schlueter, Douglass Shipman Adams,
Kevin Hopkins, Bobby Jean Leithead
Todd, Marcie Saquing, Donna Springer,
Michelle Gailmba, Sarah Rice and
William C. Bergin.
Mayor Harry Kim named Adams, who
previously served on the county Board of
Ethics, as chairman.
“The public, by and large, really supported
the amendments of the past charter
commissions,” said J Yoshimoto, the
deputy corporation counsel charged with
advising the commission. “The past has
set a really high bar.”
In 2010, the last Charter Commission
put 11 amendments on the general election
ballot. Those included many housekeeping
measures, but also put the county
open space land fund into the charter so
it couldn’t be raided for other uses.
Other changes required the director
of the Department of Environmental
Management have an engineering degree
or a degree in a related field, reduced the
number of signatures for recall petitions
and required electronic dissemination of
meeting notices, among other changes.
All but one of the amendments passed.
Not gaining enough votes was a measure
to remove references to “civil service law”
from the charter, in order to bring county
laws in line with state laws.
The commission plans to meet on the
second Friday of the each month, alternating
between Hilo and Kona council
chambers, with videoconference between
the two sites.
The public can testify at the beginning
of each meeting, and can also submit
their own proposed amendments by
emailing them to charter.commission@
hawaiicounty.gov.
began last fall when
cocaine, originally recovered in
2014, was found to be lighter
than reported during its initial
recovery. The discrepancy was
discovered when the evidence
was being weighed in preparation
to utilize a small quantity
of the cocaine for training
purposes.
The investigation quickly
identified a sworn employee as
being a person of interest for the
missing portions of the drug,
police said. The employee was
immediately placed on administrative
leave without pay and
subsequent audits of other evidence
recovered by the officer
revealed other anomalies, which
revealed cases where there was a
weight discrepancy in marijuana
concentrate, (hashish), from
two separate investigations.
The detective retired prior to
the completion of the investigation
and is no longer an employee
with the county. The case
was formally referred to Hawaii
County Prosecuting Attorney’s
Office on March 2 for review of
possible charges.
Because no arrest has been
made in the case, West Hawaii
Today has been unable to confirm
or report the identity of the
former police officer. The newspaper,
however, has confirmed
that the sworn employee had
served about 26 years with the
department.
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HI 87 LO 76 WEATHER, PAGE 6A
VOL. 50, NO. 195 16 PAGES
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