THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
COURT RULES TMT STILL HAS A CHANCE
SUPREME COURT SAYS HEARING NOT NEEDED FOR UH SUBLEASE
SEE TMT PAGE 5A
An aerial photo shows flames in Volcanoes National Park and approaching Kapapala Ranch on Tuesday. NATIONAL
PARK SERVICE/COURTESY PHOTO
KAILUA-KONA — Fire crews continue
to battle a brush fire in Volcanoes
National Park that has seen little signs of
containment.
The Keauhou Ranch fire, which ignited
on Sunday, torched 3,205 acres as of
Wednesday. While it started outside the
park at Keauhou Ranch, National Park
Service officials say, it continues to burn
in several areas on Mauna Loa, creeping
toward Kipuka Ki Special Ecological
Area, which is 2 miles north of Route 11.
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“We are focusing our suppression
efforts on Kipuka Ki and are working
carefully to back the fire up against
a natural barrier of wide hardened
lava flow so it doesn’t progress further
downslope,” said Fire Management
Officer Matt Desimone.
The blaze is currently 5 percent contained.
While the cause is currently
under investigation, Jessica Ferracane,
NPS public affairs specialist, said it
“certainly is human-caused,” suspecting
repairs to a bulldozer as ignition source.
Additional firefighters from
California and Hawaii have arrived
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to the scene to assist with suppression
efforts, park officials confirmed
Wednesday afternoon.
A blended Type III Incident
Management Team is managing the
fire, and is comprised of National
Park Service and Hawaii Island
Incident Management Team members.
Cooperating agencies include Hawaii
County, State Division of Forestry and
Wildlife and volunteer firefighters. Six
engines, a bulldozer, two helicopters and
a water tender are being utilized to battle
HILO — The state Supreme Court
handed the Thirty Meter Telescope
project a lifeline Wednesday by ruling
that a contested case hearing is
not required for a sublease with the
University of Hawaii at Hilo.
The 5-0 decision overturns a
lower court ruling that would have
required the state Board of Land
and Natural Resources to grant
another quasi-judicial hearing to
determine if the $1.4 billion project
should be built on Maunakea,
which some Native Hawaiians consider
sacred.
Another hearing would have
further delayed construction of
the next-generation observatory,
already held back by years due to
legal challenges and protests, possibly
destroying chances of it staying
in Hawaii.
TMT supporters took the ruling
as a reassuring sign, but they
noted it remains to be seen how the
high court will rule on the second
appeal of a land use permit, which
remains pending. Oral arguments
in that case were held in June, three
months after the sublease appeal
was argued.
“They just came down on the
letter of the law, and that’s encouraging
for us,” said Thayne Currie,
a Maunakea astronomer and TMT
supporter.
The justices said a hearing is not
required for granting a sublease by
“statute, administrative rule, or due
process” under these circumstances.
UH-Hilo holds a lease for the
Maunakea Science Reserve until
2033, and is seeking a new land
authorization.
While E. Kalani Flores, who
requested the contested case, has a
substantial interest in the outcome
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INSIDE
STORM
STRIKEOUT
Hurricane Hector
hardly hassles
Hawaii, whirl
wings westward
PAGE 8A
▼
FRESH
IDEAS
New plays to take
the stage at 25th
annual Original
Play Festival
PAGE 8A
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HI 88 LO 78 WEATHER, PAGE 6A
VOL. 50, NO. 221 22 PAGES
BY TOM CALLIS
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
An rendering of the proposed Thirty Meter
Telescope. COURTESY IMAGE
Blindsided
by big ask
STATE REPS UNAWARE
COUNTY WAS MOVING
ON $550M VOLCANO
RELIEF PROPOSAL
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
HILO — Mayor Harry Kim, the
County Council and two members of
the island’s state legislative delegation
came closer to an understanding
Wednesday about how to ask for
money to rebuild island infrastructure
in the wake of the volcanic eruption and
destructive lava flow.
The county still hasn’t finalized a plan
or assigned a specific dollar amount for
the approximately $550 million it says it
needs to rebuild roads, parks and housing,
stimulate tourism and find new land
for farmers. Regaining economic stability
is the main goal, Kim said.
Timing is critical if the county hopes
to get the Legislature to agree to a special
session in the next couple of months. The
administration plans to forward its conceptual
plan to the council Friday and to
the Legislature shortly after that.
State legislative leaders, however,
are questioning why local lawmakers,
such as Rep. Joy San Buenaventura and
Sen. Russell Ruderman,
Democrats who represent
the hardest-hit
areas in Puna, haven’t
been kept in the loop.
The two lawmakers
relayed their concerns
to the County Council.
“We all understand
the county administration
is working
as hard as they can,”
Ruderman said. “We’ve
been locked out of the
process, but we have to
move forward with all
of us moving on one
page. … If all of us
aren’t on the one page,
it’s going to fail.”
Buenaventura
Ruderman
SEE VOLCANO PAGE 7A
Mauna Loa fire doubles in size
3,000 ACRES BURNED; 5 PERCENT CONTAINED
BY TIFFANY DEMASTERS
WEST HAWAII TODAY
tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com
SEE FIRE PAGE 4A
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