The modern American drug war is now deep into its 43rd year. Every year, the federal government spends between $20 billion and $25 billion on measures designed to combat the sale of illegal drugs like cocaine, heroin and marijuana. The results of these expenditures are a monument to failure: despite the fact that one in five inmates in state prison, and one out of every two inmates in federal prison are there on drug charges, the street price of illegal narcotics is dramatically lower than it was when President Richard Nixon first used the term “War on Drugs.” The only thing surprising about the 2014 announcement that five Nobel Prize winning economists had called for an end to the drug war was that there weren’t more of them.

Still, there is apparently hope. Over the last few decades, nearly 20 states have decriminalized marijuana, making punishment for possession of a few ounces of it no worse than a traffic citation. Nationwide, medical marijuana use is becoming mainstream. Vanity Fair–hardly the glossy version of High Times, recently ran “A Nice Bowl of Weed,” offering 10 cultured rules for smoking a joint.

In 2014, a CBS News poll showed that 51 percent of American support the legalization of marijuana. A year earlier, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that 76 percent of the world’s doctors approve of its medical use.

Last month Rolling Stone even claimed that the drug war itself is “burning out.” “For the first time since Ronald Reagan took office, the federal prison population is shrinking,” Tim Dickinson wrote in the magazine’s Jan. 8, 2015 story. Dickinson also noted that outgoing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder–not exactly a friend of civil liberties–has even taken the extraordinary step of lightening sentences for those convicted of federal drug crimes.

So what’s the problem with Hawaii? Though Hawaii led the nation 15 years ago by legalizing medical marijuana, and there are about 14,000 medical marijuana users in the state, it has since fallen way behind the times. For yet another year, the Hawaii state Legislature is seeing heavy debate over a variety of marijuana bills, though their prospects as yet remain unclear. What is clear is that House Bill 321–a high profile bill that calls for setting up three dozen medical marijuana dispensaries across the state–would legalize a practice that earned Brian Murphy of the cannabis co-op Patients Without Time a year’s jail sentence, which he’s currently serving at Maui Community Correctional Center.

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To say that Murphy has a lot of supporters is an understatement. In fact, there are currently 8,000 signatures on a petition asking Hawaii Governor David Ige to commute Murphy’s sentence, said Wade Holmes, a medical marijuana activist and friend of Murphy’s (see the petition at Patientswithouttime.com).

Sometimes, they can be too supportive. According to Mary Whispering Wind, Murphy’s partner, a few recently showed up near the prison, drumming and chanting to show their support for Murphy. Guards immediately moved Murphy out of his regular accommodations and into the “modulars”–four men in two-men cells. It was a bad situation for a man in his 60s suffering from epilepsy and PTSD.

“He didn’t know what why that happened until he came out,” she said. “He was in there a few days. I guess it was just a few people, but the jail takes these things very seriously.”

According to Whispering Wind, Murphy is taking “quite an array” of pharmaceutical drugs these days because he can’t take marijuana. “Of course he’s very anxious to get out,” she told me. “He’s in a lot of pain. But he says it’s been quite a learning experience: really a lesson that the guys inside need help.”

The way Hawaii’s medical marijuana law is written now, there are really only two legal ways for patients to get cannabis: grow it themselves or get their primary caregiver to do so for them. Any other method of obtaining even small quantities of marijuana–even if you’re a duly registered patient–is illegal.

Formed in 2004, Patients Without Time–a small clinic of sorts in Paia–sought to help people get Blue Cards, the State of Hawaii-issued license to use marijuana, as well as grow their own plants. They served hundreds of patients suffering from a range of problems: cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s Disease.

“Over 90 percent of Maui County medical marijuana patients cannot meet their own medical marijuana needs on their own,” Murphy told MauiTime writer Cheryl Ambrozic in her Jan. 19, 2006 story “Taking it to the streets.” “Most medical marijuana cardholders are too sick or they do not have the knowledge or a secure place to grow their medical-grade marijuana. Patients with Hawaii State Medical Marijuana issued Blue Cards need to be able to have an adequate supply of their medicine.”

The Maui Police Department and Prosecutor’s Office saw things differently. Two years after our story ran, the MPD arrested Murphy and six others for selling illegal narcotics. Their two-year investigation included three months of wiretaps. The resulting prosecution took six years.

“This is drug trafficking,” Deputy Prosecutor Timothy Tate said at Murphy’s sentencing in December. “[I]t’s clear that this organization was organized crime and this organization does engage in violence as organized crime will do to protect.” Never mind that Tate’s statement that PWT “engage[d] in violence” was little more than inflammatory rhetoric–Murphy’s Wailuku-based attorney Chris Dunn denied that Murphy had ever threatened anyone, and Murphy’s final no contest plea deal included no violence-related charges.

But at Murphy’s December 2014 sentencing, 2nd Circuit Court Judge Joseph Cardoza said something very strange. “We’re not here to have a discussion about the appropriateness of the use of medical marijuana,” Cardoza noted, according to a Dec. 6, 2014 story in The Maui News, which covered the trial. “The Legislature has also spoken in terms of how that’s to be done. The Legislature has provided for a way that can be done within the bounds of the law and frankly without the kind of costs that were involved in this case.”

That’s strange because it’s pretty much the opposite of reality. In fact, House Speaker Joe Souki–one of HB 321’s 21 introducers, which also included West Maui Democrat Angus McKelvey–said as much when the Legislature opened this year.

“We must also ensure the well-being of those who have unique health issues and who require a little more compassion from us,” Souki said in a Jan. 21 House of Representatives news release. “I am speaking of those who need better access to medical marijuana. Yes, it is legal in Hawaii. But there is no legal access to it. The time has come to fix this contradiction.”

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By my count, there are currently five bills that are still alive in the state Legislation that in some way ease access to marijuana (five other bills have been “deferred” and will likely not see any more action this session). Senate Bill 596 decriminalizes marijuana as a whole, reducing the punishment for possessing less than an ounce to a mere $100 fine–a civil infraction on par with a traffic citation. But it’s HB 321 that’s attracted the most attention.

The House of Representatives Health and Judiciary Committees, which have already held hearings on the bill, collected 220 pages of written testimony, much of which (pro and con) is highly emotional.

On the pro-side, the most heartfelt testimony came from Jari Sugano of Mi‘ilani. She testified that her six-year-old daughter Maile has a rare form of epilepsy–one that was alleviated through medical marijuana. But growing the plant, and then turning it into medicine for her daughter, proved a considerable challenge.

“As a trained agriculturalists [sic] for nearly 20 years and now “experienced” cannabis caregiver for the past year, I found the cultivation process extremely difficult,” Sugano said in her written remarks. “I endured multiple propagation failures, experienced timing (supply) issues and since Hawaii does not allow laboratories to test cannabis without penalty, it is virtually impossible to know what dosage Maile is on, or any other cannabis user for that matter. Without understanding the compounds in locally grown marijuana products, obtaining effective seizure control is highly improbable.”

Sugano’s experience goes to the heart of why we have cannabis co-ops like Patients Without Time in the first place. Hawaii’s legalization of medical marijuana back in 2000 was a landmark in the American legal history of pot, but it was just a first step.

Last year, the Legislature passed HCR 48, which created a task force to look into what a proper medical marijuana dispensary system would look like. The Task Force held 22 hours of meetings over six months, ultimately concluding that dispensaries were vital.

“This bill ensures that patients are safe by requiring laboratory screening for contaminants and for its component cannabinoids,” testified Rafael Kennedy, the executive director of The Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, which took part in the HCR 48 Task Force. “This is something that has been sorely lacking for far too long. Likewise, the bill provides resources for education. This is important for patients who until now have had no one who can help inform them about the differences between strains, and the indications of their particular conditions. It is also important because educating the public about medical cannabis is a hugely important part of insuring [sic] that medical cannabis is not used accidentally by unauthorized people or diverted for use by people without a qualifying condition.”

As you might expect, law enforcement opposition to HB 321 and other similar bills has been considerable.

“As a recent robbery on Maui has shown, people are willing to commit violent crime with the use of firearms for legal medication,” Maui Police Chief Tivoli Faaumu testified on Feb. 7. “That puts families at risk when dispensaries not only have marijuana on hand, they will have large amounts of currency because banks will not accept accounts from the marijuana industry. This bill does not provide safeguards to prevent this type of crime happening near a residential area, putting families at risk. In the State of Colorado, each County has the power to choose whether or not to have dispensaries or marijuana producers.”

And that’s actually moderate opposition. Totally ignoring the very real problems that Jari Sugano mentioned in regards to converting marijuana into proper medicine dosages, the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office tried to insist that hardly anyone in the state needs help.

“As of December 2014, the State’s medical marijuana database indicated that there are 318 [emphasis in the original] registered medical marijuana patients—statewide—who are unable to grow their own medical marijuana (and do not have a caregiver who can grow it for them),” stated a letter from the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office. “221 of these patients are registered on O’ahu, 78 on Maui, 12 on the Big Island, 6 on Kaua’i, and 1 on Moloka’i. In light of this, the Department believes it would be completely unreasonable to mandate the licensing of 26 dispensaries statewide, and potentially mandate 30 producers statewide, for 318 individuals.”

There are approximately 14,000 medical marijuana users in the state. That a dispensary could help all of them with better, proper medicine seems completely lost on the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office. In any case, the bill passed both committees on Feb. 17, and has since moved to the House Finance Committee.

Of course, even all this is behind the times. The trend nationwide is for full-on legalization–at least for marijuana, just end the miserable drug war. Four states (Colorado, Oregon, Alaska and Washington) and the District of Columbia have already done exactly that, and right now there are two bills in the U.S. House of Representatives that would, finally, end the federal prohibition on possessing marijuana and tax its sales much like alcohol, another mood- and mind-altering substance.

“That’s why I say,” said Mary Whispering Wind. “Let the recreational guys pay for the medical research.”

Too bad none of this will help Murphy. According to Dunn, Murphy’s attorney, Cardoza rejected his recent motion to do the balance of his prison sentence at home with electronic monitoring equipment. “The rationale was based on health concerns for Mr. Murphy,” Dunn said. “He was also willing to pay for the electronic monitoring.”

But Dunn added that since his motion was based on “mostly anecdotal” evidence that Murphy didn’t like the prescription pharmaceuticals he was getting instead of medical marijuana, and that he had no documentation saying the treatment he was getting from prison doctors was harmful, the motion went nowhere.

Cover photo courtesy Mary Whispering Wind

Cover design: Darris Hurst

Do you support the decriminalization of marijuana? Vote in our Poll!

The post As cannabis co-op owner Brian Murphy languishes in prison, the Hawaii Legislature may finally legalize medical marijuana dispensaries appeared first on Maui Time.

Emails started flying around town yesterday that new parking enforcement in Wailuku Town was imminent, and it looks like the stories were true. As you can see from these photos, which were taken on the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 17, the Maui PD is once again chalking cars and enforcing Wailuku two-hour parking restrictions.

Since MPD Officer Keith Taguma retired at the end of 2014, Wailuku has been enjoying a kind of golden age of free parking, but now it seems that those days are over. People working in and visiting Wailuku should probably start setting those two-hour alarms again, though only time will tell if the new enforcement is as relentless as that provided by Taguma, who wrote, on average, 7,000 tickets a year.

Click here for our recent story on how the County of Maui is preparing to install parking meters in Wailuku Town.

Photos: Sean M. Hower

The post Maui Police begin parking enforcement again in Wailuku Town appeared first on Maui Time.

Yeah, we can’t believe it either: Senate Bill 497 “Repeals the privacy exemption within the Uniform Information Practices Act [UIPA] for county police department officers,” according to the bill text. It was introduced on Jan. 23 by small handful of state Senators, including Maui’s own Roz Baker, D–South Maui.

Myriad organizations have already submitted testimony in favor of the bill, mostly to say that the bill would provide vital accountability to the public. Here’s a sampling (click here for the complete batch of testimony):

• HAWAII STATE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN: “Two national studies have found domestic violence occurs more frequently in families with a police officer. However, victims are often silenced and afraid to come forward for fear they will not be believed. In domestic violence cases involving police officers, public disclosure and transparency of those misconduct and disciplinary records are needed to ensure public trust and safety. Further, repealing this exemption is consistent with our state constitution and is consistent with how all other government employees are treated under UIPA.”

• LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS: “UIPA should apply exactly the same way to county police officers who have been suspended for misconduct as to other public employees who have been suspended for misconduct. There is no compelling public benefit from keeping secret the name of any public employee who has been suspended for misconduct.”

• DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACTION CENTER: “As public servants charged with the critical and life altering role of responding to domestic violence in our community’s homes, it is essential that our law enforcement officers are accountable to those they serve in their professional capacity.”

• SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS, HAWAII CHAPTER: “We have long maintained that the names of suspended police officers should be released. One way to tell if police commissions and police chiefs are doing the the correct job of disciplining officers is to know who was disciplined. Serious violations are seemingly met with minor suspensions, and it would be helpful to know who the suspended officers are. Also this would shine the light brighter on repeat offenders.”

So far, just one organization has opposed it–the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO), the all-powerful police union that not only succeeded in getting the special exemption passed by the Legislature back in 1996, but has lobbied hard to defeat repeal and reform measures ever since.

“Finally, release of officers’ names that have been suspended may have a chilling effect on the extent of action taken by officers who often have to make split second decisions,” SHOPO President Tenari Maafala said in his Feb. 5 written testimony on the bill to the Senate Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental & Military Affairs. “It impacts not only the officers but their families, too. Though other employees are subject to release of their names for suspensions, rarely, if ever, does that happen because of the level of news worthiness.”

Given SHOPO’s past success in getting meaningful reforms like this squashed, we’re holding our breath.

Click here for our most recent story on Maui Police misconduct reporting.

Click here for Honolulu Civil Beat’s Feb. 10 story on the bill, and a few other important law enforcement reform bills.

Photo: legoalbert/Wikimedia Commons

The post Surprise! Hawaii police union opposes new bill that would make public the names of disciplined cops appeared first on Maui Time.

1. On Jan. 22, according to a Maui Police press release, a 69-year-old male tourist from Washington took a rusted out mortar round that dated to World War II to the Kihei Police Station. Where did the tourist say he found the mortar round?

A. Wailea Beach

B. Kalama Beach

C. Polo Beach

D. Keawakapu Beach

E. Ulua Beach

2. On Jan. 21, the County of Maui released its list of grants issued during the second half of 2014. While most of the grants were less than $50,000, one was in excess of $3.7 million. Who got that grant?

A. Lahainatown Action Committee

B. Maui Community Theater

C. Maui Economic Opportunity

D. Maui Visitors Bureau

E. Tri-Isle Resource Conservation and Development Council

3. Maui County’s unemployment rate in December 2013 was 4.7 percent, according to a Jan. 23 news release from the state Department of Labor & Industrial Relations. What was the county’s unemployment rate in December 2014, according to that news release?

A. 6.7. percent

B. 5.9 percent

C. 4.5 percent

D. 3.8 percent

E. 3.5 percent

See answers below…

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ANSWERS

1: E–Ulua Beach

2: D–Maui Visitors Bureau

3: D–3.8 percent

Photo courtesy Maui Police Department

The post Quizunderstood: How well do you know Maui’s unexploded munitions? appeared first on Maui Time.

Super Bowl XLIX happens this Sunday, and that means the Maui Police Department will celebrating by taking part in the national “Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk Campaign.”

And the campaign looks pretty serious, according to a news release the MPD sent out on Jan. 28:

“Starting today and throughout the weekend the Maui Police Department Traffic Division will be on the lookout for alcohol & drug impaired drivers. Anyone choosing to drive impaired will be arrested. Maui Police Traffic Division will also be increasing our enforcement efforts for those speeding, utilizing a mobile electronic device while driving and those not properly restrained with a seatbelt.”

Hey, it’s the Super Bowl! And we know how all that football makes us want to drive without a seatbelt.

“The Super Bowl is America’s most watched national sporting event. On Super Bowl Sunday, February 1st, there will be lots of game day socializing. Because of this the Maui County Police Department is once again teaming up with the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to urge football fans to choose sides now: if you’re going to drink DONT drive. If you plan on drinking on Super Bowl Sunday, please don’t commit a party foul, designate a sober driver to get you home safely.”

Anyway, the MPD news release goes on to recycle about a dozen more don’t-drink-and-drive cliches, but I think by this point you get the idea.

Photo: daveynin/Wikimedia Commons

The post Maui Police Stepping Up DUI Enforcement During Super Bowl Weekend appeared first on Maui Time.

When the great history of Maui in the 21st century is written, the year 2015 will go down as the beginning of the Post-Taguma era. Residents–especially those who live and work in Wailuku Town–have been celebrating the retirement of Maui Police Officer Keith Taguma for weeks now. Each year for the past three decades, Taguma’s inhuman work ethic and singular dedication to writing parking tickets–something like 7,000 a year, on average, which was more than any PD district–struck terror into our collective hearts.

Celebrate while you can people, because the Law of Unintended Consequences will soon play havoc with Maui. Nature abhors a vacuum, Aristotle said, and the world of parking logistics is no different.

As it stands now, parking in Wailuku–if you can find it–is free. There are no meters or even pay lots. But for the last few months, the Maui Redevelopment Agency (MRA) has been working on changing all that.

Taguma’s exit lays bare Wailuku’s dirty little secret on parking: for decades now, the town’s great plan to deal with parking was called Keith Taguma. He rode out into town nearly every workday, first on his little golf-cart like Interceptor and later aboard his Harley Davidson Motor Trike, and kept local residents and workers on their toes. Doing so kept people from abusing the town’s myriad free parking spaces–some 12-hour, but mostly two-hour.

With Taguma retired, that plan is no longer possible. And that has county officials thinking the time is right to come up with a new parking plan that more closely resembles those used by Mainland cities. Of course, parking meters have popped up before in county reports and MRA meetings. But with Taguma gone, there’s a new intensity in officials’ desire to act.

“It makes it more imperative for businesses,” county planner Erin Wade, who advises the MRA, told me last week when I asked her about Taguma’s retirement. “There’s no longer a professional out there with everyone’s license plates memorized. It’s going to have a huge impact, I expect.”

The fear is that without Taguma ruthlessly ticketing people for leaving their cars in spaces for even a few minutes beyond two hours, finding a parking place in Wailuku Town will become even more difficult. There’s also the possibility about opening a new revenue stream (all those parking fines we paid because of Taguma went to the state, not the county). So county planners are thinking about a variety of new measures–including parking meters, which could come to Wailuku possibly as early as this summer.

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In October 2010, Progressive Urban Management Associates (PUMA) released its Wailuku Redevelopment Area Market-Based Plan. In it, paid parking plays a vital role in the continuing redevelopment of Wailuku Town.

“Parking in downtown Wailuku is a barrier to its commercial viability,” states the PUMA report. “Consumers view the lack of convenient parking as an impediment to visitation. Business owners cite a shortage of both employee and customer parking options. County and State employees regularly compete each morning to park in the limited number of long term [12-hour] spaces.”

As part of their report, PUMA conducted a community survey of 1,011 residents’ views on paying for parking where it was once free. According to the report, “about half of survey respondents said they were willing to pay a nominal parking fee for short term parking use,” though the actual survey results included in the back of the report don’t exactly show that.

The actual survey question began with the statement “I would be willing to pay a nominal fee (up to $1 per hour) to park closer to my destination.” Respondents were then asked whether they agree, strongly agree, disagree, strongly disagree or hold no opinion on the statement. The results show that 37 percent (which is closer to a third than “about half”) of those surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that they would pay a “nominal” parking fee, but 41.1 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed with paid parking in Wailuku Town (22 percent held no opinion).

Three years later, the Wailuku Town Parking Study And Parking Management Plan Analysis, prepared by Andrew Miller of Michigan-based Downtown Parking & Planning Associates (which Wade said was updated this spring), consultants used Taguma (though without naming him) as a jumping off point for new meters.

“[B]ecause there is currently a high level of dedicated parking enforcement, we believe the meter collection rates will be high in Wailuku Town if meters are installed,” states the report. “Also, if meters or some other form of paid parking technology is deployed on-street and in the County public lots, the current enforcement operation will be more efficient resulting in a higher level of compliance and maximized parking revenues.”

The 2013 report makes one point crystal clear. While the timing of implementation may vary, “our recommendations are based on the assumption that paid parking will be part of the final parking management solution,” the report states.

Both the 2010 and 2013 reports also recommended converting the 12-hour spaces in the county’s Municipal Parking Lot to paid parking. “A nominal parking fee could help generate revenue to help pay for parking improvements and create more parking availability for short-term needs,” states the 2010 report.

The 2013 report also made clear that the county must improve the Municipal Lot’s condition. Right now, the asphalt that covers the lot is pitted and deformed with about 37 million cracks.

“The physical condition of the Municipal Lot has worsened considerably to the point of becoming a serious liability risk for the county,” states the 2013 Wailuku Town Parking Study. “We cannot stress enough the poor condition of the lot and the potential liability it presents if left in its current state of disrepair.”

The study further calls for a lot of work to redo the lot entirely. “Considering the degree of physical deterioration, we believe the lot needs to be completely demolished and re-paved, to include removal of interior curbing and tree pits,” states the study.

Last week I spoke with Andrew Miller, who wrote the 2013 study. He said he hasn’t been on Maui since 2011, and asked if any repairs had been done to the lot. I told him no.

“If they had been charging some nominal revenues, maybe they would have had money to fix the darn thing,” he told me. “If anything, I’m frustrated. I get enormous satisfaction helping a community solve a problem. Unfortunately, that’s not the case in Maui County right now. Maui is a very special place, don’t get me wrong. But it’s still an American town, not different from other urbanized areas.”

If you’re wondering why the county should fix up the Municipal Lot–the site of the proposed large parking garage that county officials have been talking up for the last decade–don’t worry. It hasn’t been well publicized, but that big garage plan–which even at one time included commercial development–is dead. Well, mostly dead.

“The previously proposed parking structure plan for the Municipal Lot appears to have evolved into something that was larger and more costly than the local community could support and it has been withdrawn from consideration,” states the 2013 parking report. “We believe a lower cost, smaller scale and more acceptable project should be considered for the Municipal Lot–specifically, the concept of a single-platform parking deck to be constructed over the existing surface lot. This concept could nearly double the capacity of the existing lot, and create additional parking supply in the heart of downtown for a fraction of the cost of the previous parking structure design concept.”

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Though the 2013 report and Wade said the county is planning for paid parking on both Wailuku streets and the municipal lot, Miller said the current business climate meant that paid street parking may not be the best solution for Wailuku Town (though he reiterated that the municipal lot should not be free).

Instead, Miller said the county as a whole should implement paid parking–especially in places like Lahaina Town. “Tourists aren’t going to bat an eye spending $5 to park, but Wailuku is more locals,” Miller said. “The County could be talking millions of dollars in revenue if they do it right.”

But what would paid parking actually look like? The on-street meters would likely be “credit card capable,” the 2013 study recommends, while parking in lots would be very similar to parking in Lahaina Town, with “a non-gated system using either pay-by-space or more preferably a ‘pay-by-license plate’ multi-space meter system.”

As far as parking fees are concerned, the recent report lays them out in considerable detail. “In projecting potential revenues, we assumed an on-street meter rate of $.75 per hour with a two-hour time limit for all 197 on-street spaces in the WRA [Wailuku Redevelopment Area]; and an off-street meter rate of $0.50 per hour with a four-hour time limit for the 112 short-term spaces in the County lots,” states the report. “For monthly permit parking, we assumed a fee of $35 per month.”

That’s a lot of meters and a lot of income, and it’s not even taking into account the 33 parking spaces on Main Street in Wailuku because “it’s unclear at this time if the County can charge for parking on a state road.” The 2013 report also recommends hiring a “parking management firm” that would handle any pay lots.

“[A] parking operating budget based upon the revenue projections we developed and on the management fee structure proposed by the parking management firm would net the County an estimated $136,819 in parking revenues after operating expenses,” the Wailuku Town Parking Study concluded. “Net revenues should be placed in a Parking Enterprise Fund and reserved for future parking improvements and should not go to the County’s General Fund.”

Good luck with that last part (the Maui County Council will ultimately decide what to do with any parking fees that come from Wailuku Town). In any case, Wade said that the parking fee figures in the report can still change.

“We’ve been talking about not exceeding $.50 an hour,” she told me. Wade added that it’s also possible people who work in Wailuku Town may be able to apply for parking permits so they can avoid the fees. The same would go for people who live in residential areas that border the downtown area (places where workers sometimes park when nothing in town is open).

“Vineyard Street and up High Street are problematic,” Wade said. “Though people who live there told us that they’ve mostly learned to live with it.”

One of the recommendations in the Wailuku Town Parking Study was that county officials form a “parking committee,” and Wade said that’s being done now. She also said the county Planning Department is preparing a Request for Proposals for another consultant on paid parking. Eventually, the goal is to prepare a proposed ordinance that would legalize paid parking in Wailuku Town for the County Council. Wade said that the council most likely wouldn’t be able to debate such a law until after the spring budget sessions are over, which means they’d likely take it up in the late summer or early fall.

“But no solution has been written in stone,” said Wade.

For his part, Miller’s more pessimistic. “I’m just disappointed that nothing’s moving forward,” he said. “Nobody in a leadership position is moving it forward.”

Cover design: Darris Hurst

The post Will 2015 Be The Year Wailuku Town Gets Parking Meters? appeared first on Maui Time.

A passenger aboard the Maui Princess spotted a body of a male in the Lahaina Harbor roadstead upon the ferry’s entry into port. The unresponsive unidentified male was pulled aboard in pouring rain and efforts were made to resuscitate. The Maui Princess had passengers from Kaunakakai Harbor aboard. The Maui Princess is ferrying passengers while the Molokai Princess vessel is in dry dock.

Passengers waited to get off the boat while emergency crews boarded and attempted to revive the individual. Status of the individual is not known at this time.

The Maui Princess was unable to make its return trip to Kaunakakai Harbor that evening.

The sergeant on duty at the Maui Police Department is unable to confirm reports.

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12/31/14 8:08 AM

UPDATE, via Dec. 31 Maui Police news release: “Ramzey Hoopii, 41, resident of Waihee, Maui, was found floating lifeless in the ocean outside of Lahaina Harbor,” states the MPD. Lifesaving measures by emergency personnel were unable to save him. An autopsy is pending.

photo: Instagram/klow1327

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UPDATE: 12/31/14 6:57PM

In a phone call late this afternoon Captain David Jung confirms that Ramzey Hoopii was a passenger on the Maui Princess going to Lahaina Harbor from Kaunakakai Harbor.

“The Lanai ferry had run aground,” says Jung. “We were waiting outside the harbor for the Lanai Ferry when one of the passengers saw a body floating face down. Later one of the crew recognized Hoopii as one of the passengers. Nobody had seen him leave the vessel. Nobody saw him go over the rail.”

According to Jung the crew immediately did CPR on Hoopii and the boat found access to the docks quickly to let EMT personell on board. Hoopii was pronounced dead in the ambulance after about 30 minutes.

“How he was able to get up and over the rail we can only speculate,” says Jung. “The weather was rough. Crew members that had seen Hoopii earlier said he did not look sea sick or woozy. The railings are high so you cant fall over them.”

Jung said the upper deck had already been cleared.

“The boat was full of people, how could someone get off the boat unobserved,” says Jung. “It does take an act of forethought to get up and over the side. He had some head injuries when he was brought on to the boat. We have had instances of people jumping off of the boat. Six months ago a prisoner with handcuffs jumped off board.”

Ramzey Hoopii is part of entertainer Richard Hoopii’s family.

“I have great respect for the Hoopii family,” says Jung. “The Hoopii’s have played on the boat before. My sympathies go out to the family.”

The post UPDATE: Ramzey Hoopii had “head injuries when brought onboard” -Captain David Jung appeared first on Maui Time.

This was a year of great storms, both political and climatic. It’s the year we got the new governor that apparently everyone wanted, and the year some of Maui’s most powerful and infamous police officers decided to hang up their badges (some more willing than others). This was the year Kimo Apana attempted to make a big comeback, while voters made Governor Neil Abercrombie take an early exit. The year was marked by a tragic accidents, high-profile lawsuits, bad environmental news, historic political upsets, far-reaching new laws and the rise of a powerful grassroots movement that genuinely scared Maui’s political establishment and set the entire county down a road no one’s really traveled down before. If next year is anything like this one, it’s going to be a hell of a ride.

JANUARY

Maui Nui Botanical Gardens begins charging a modest admission fee. It’s just $5 per person, but it’s the first time the botanical garden has found the need to charge visitors since it opened in 1976… First Lady Michelle Obama apparently hangs with Oprah Winfrey in Kula for a few days, and the whole island goes nuts over it… Remember James “Kimo” Apana? He used to be Maui County Mayor, and before that, a Maui County Councilman. Known for being unusually close to land developers (even for this place), Apana ultimately lost his bid for reelection in 2002 and kind of laid low ever since. Well, now he’s back, announcing that he’s running against newbie state Rep. Justin Woodson for Kahului seat. Politcos predict that the wily veteran Apana will roll over Woodson, who’s never been elected to anything… State Senators Will Espero, Brickwood Galuteria and Roz Baker sponsor a bill (SB 2590) that would prohibit cops from consuming alcohol or drugs while carrying a gun. I mean, this is a no-brainer, right? For any other state in the union, sure, this would be a no-brainer. But here in Hawaii, it’ll probably lose… At the end of the month, workers break ground on a new Target in Pu‘unene. Sorry Wal-Mart haters: it won’t be open until March 2015… The first campaign spending reports are out for state and local races, and they show that incumbent Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa has solidified a commanding lead in fundraising (that his highest profile opponent so far is county lifeguard/Save Honolua activist Tamara Paltin says a lot).

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FEBRUARY

Something weird’s going on over at the county Parks Department. Director Glenn Correa suddenly goes on administrative leave pending a Maui Police investigation into alleged corruption at the county golf course? Say what?… Oh, and SB 2590 looks like it’s stuck in committee, quite possibly because police chiefs across the state opposed it. In fact, Maui Police Chief Gary Yabuta outdid himself with this creative reason to trash the bill: “[P]assage of this bill could potentially be a safety issue for off-duty officers that are at an establishment where alcohol is served, but they themselves may not be drinking,” Yabuta wrote in a Feb. 4 letter to two Senate committees. “Criminals may feel that it would be an opportune time to attack an officer and his/her family because they have now been cited by this bill as being unarmed and vulnerable.” Oh, that Yabuta–please, Chief, never retire… During his Feb. 6 State of the County address, Mayor Arakawa says he hopes “to make Maui County a zero-waste community, where we reuse and recycle instead of trash and bury.” Strong words, but given the near-universal approval for recycling among Maui County residents, it’s nice to hear he understands the importance of recycling… The state Land Use Commission rules that the big Kihei Mega Malls plan (700,000 square feet of retail and 250 affordable homes) put forth by Eclipse Development and Honuaula Partners violates conditions the LUC imposed on the land back in 1995. Goodfellow Brothers, which was supposed to start construction, wastes no time in announcing layoffs… That’s bad, but the state has its hands full with a new bill from House Rep. James Kunane Tokioka, D–Kauai. HB 293 would designate Flavobacterium akiainvivens as Hawaii’s official state microbe… Longtime Maui Humane Society executive director Jocelyn Bouchard announces that she’s trading Maui for Oahu, where she’ll soon start work as director of operations at the Hawaiian Humane Society… Mayor Alan Arakawa holds a huge $75/head fundraiser at the Grand Wailea. Andy Bumatai is scheduled to provide entertainment, and there’s even an after-party at the Grand’s Tsunami nightclub, though that will cost attendees an extra $20… But it’s not all fun and games for the administration. On Feb. 26, a Maui Air chartered Piper Chieftan crashes shortly after takeoff from Lanai. Of the six on board, three are killed and three are badly injured. Five of the six people on board are county employees, who were returning to Maui after a Lanai Planning Commission meeting. For grieving staffers who knew the dead and injured, the mayor’s press conference the next day is a tearful event. Coming so close after a Makani Air crash off Molokai that killed state Health Director Loretta Fuddy, numerous staffers tell me that they’re scared of having to take so many commuter flights… The County of Maui fires Maui Police Officer Nelson Johnson, who was arrested a few months ago for alleged child abuse… Maui Community College Chancellor Clyde Sakamoto announces that he’s retiring after 23 years at the school.

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MARCH

MAUIWatch founder Neldon “AZD” Mamuad (who’s also a county Liquor Commissioner and part-time aide to Councilman Don Guzman) files a lawsuit against the County of Maui, alleging that they’re trying to kill his Facebook page and stifle his First Amendment rights. For their part, county officials say Mamuad was harassing Maui Police Officer Keith Taguma with his page (which, in truth, used to be named TAGUMAWatch) and was in violation of the county’s Violence in the Workplace Action Plan…. MauiTime publishes a long investigation into a mysterious spearpoint that two residents, Bryan Axtell and Trevor Carter, allegedly found while hiking through Haleakala crater back in 2009. The spearpoint, which seems to point to (sorry) early South American influence in Hawaii, is both the subject of an America Unearthed episode and the target of clandestine National Park Service investigators, who seize the spearpoint just days before show producers arrive on Maui. Despite significant media attention, the Park Service refuses to say anything more about the spearpoint’s whereabouts or origin… County officials announce that they’ll no longer require employees to fly inter-island commuter flights as part of their job… County prosecutors dismiss their case against now-former MPD Officer Nelson Johnson, though he remains terminated from county employment… The State announces that it will spend $4,789,771 to renovate Kahului Airport’s restrooms. If that seems like a lot of money, just remember that the money is needed to “eliminate [the] outdated institutional environment and replace it a new design concept that provides a Hawaiian sense of place and gives the appearance of a world-class facility,” according to Justin Fujioka, a spokesman for Governor Neil Abercrombie. “Improvements will include adding air conditioning, improved lighting, minimizing grout, replacing toilets and fixtures, and the use of native woods and finishes, which will result in a more pleasing environment that will also be easier to clean and be sustainable”… You guys knew that cops in Hawaii could bang hookers as long as it was in the line of duty, right? Whaaaat?? Turns out that a quirk in state law says that cops can, indeed, have sex with prostitutes as long as it was, you know, official. When state lawmakers tried to get that changed to regulations that more closely resemble those in use in the other 49 states, the cops balked. “Codifying the limitations on an officer’s conduct would greatly assist pimps and prostitutes in their efforts to avoid prosecution,” Honolulu vice cop Jason Kawabata wrote in his testimony against the bill… On the last day of March, everyone on the island got a lesson in sound business plans when The Color Run held one of their many, many events on Maui. Seriously, the organizers of this thing are geniuses. First they charge people about $50 to enter, which means run a 5K while splashing cornstarch on everyone. Then they donate $40 to a charity (in this case, Maui United Way) for every volunteer who shows up. Since 200 came to volunteer, that meant the charity got $8,000–which The Color Run could easily pay, since 5,700 people came to run. That meant The Color Run–a for-profit corporation, natch–made about a $250,000.

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APRIL

Mayor Arakawa appears in a special performance of the Maui Onstage play The Worthmores. The play is written by local author Tom Althouse, who achieved national prominence back in 2013 for suing Warner Brothers, alleging that the studio stole The Matrix series from him… Apparently, Hawaii residents love their guns–and love getting new guns even better. In fact, a new report from the state Attorney General’s office states that firearm registration has been steadily increasing in Hawaii over the last 14 years. “From 2000 to 2013, the number of statewide permit applications processed increased 350.8%, the number of firearms registered increased 446.2%, and the number of firearms imported increased 426.1%,” states an April. 3 press release from the AG’s office… You guys never really cared about the Na Koa Ikaika Maui baseball team, right? Oh, you did? Well, apparently not enough, because team owner Bob Young says he can’t afford to field the team this season… Remember Allison Moore? The former Maui Police Officer who got addicted to meth a few years ago, covered it up by telling her colleagues on the force that she had cancer, then got arrested, tried and convicted of a huge array of drug crimes? Yeah, she’s got a new memoir out–published by big time firm Touchstone even–that retails for $24.99. Cops always tell us crime doesn’t pay, right? Yeah, right…. Those looking for something a bit more intellectual in their reading selections might take a look at archaeologist Patrick Vinton Kirch’s new book Kua‘aina Kahiko, a wonderfully detailed look at Maui’s sparse, remote Kahikinui region… After decades of fighting, the state Commission on Water Resources Management orders that Wailuku Water Co. start returning water to the Iao, Waihe‘e, Waiehu and Waikapu streams… Speaking of historic rulings, a six-week trial ends this month with a jury ruling that Old Haleakala Trail is public, just like the good folks at the nonprofit Public Access Trails Hawaii have been saying for years. So that means we can all start hiking the old trail, right? Right?… Then at the last minute, the state Legislature votes to restore some of the Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT) monies that the state start gobbling up during the bad times of 2010. Before then, the County of Maui could expect about 44.8 percent of the TAT, which was good money. After, that percentage went to zero. Well, now the county can get at least some of that money back–22.8 percent. For the first time in a long time, the news–bad as it was–brought Mayor Arakawa and Councilman Mike White onto the same page. Both called the decision “disappointing”… You know what’s disappointing? SB 2590 is still stuck in committee, and will likely be there for the rest of the session. So it goes.

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MAY

Patricia Rabellizsa was just 29 on May 1. That’s the day she, for whatever reason, falls to her death from a Pi‘iholo Zipline platform in Makawao, where she was working. Though there are immediate calls for the state to start regulating the zipline industry (which, though it has has at least one employee fatality in the past few years, has never lost a customer). Of course, state bureaucrats then start squabbling about who exactly would do the regulating, how much regulation is necessary and, of course, how much would it all end up costing taxpayers. Considering that about 700,000 people ride ziplines in Hawaii every year without a death, it’s hard to believe anything will change… So in the big race between rookie Democrat legislator Justin Woodson and veteran pol Kimo Apana, Woodson just came out swinging–and hit himself square in his own jaw. It all starts on May 9, when a member of Woodson’s staff sends out a press release titled “House Speaker [Joe] Souki Endorses Justin Woodson.” Normally, this is the stuff of impending victories–assuming, of course, that said Speaker actually made the endorsement in question. Except in this case, he didn’t, which led to a “distressed” and “very disappointed” Souki telling The Maui News that he doesn’t play favorites in Primary races. With no other option, Woodson calls the whole thing “an honest and unfortunate miscommunication.” For a shark like Apana, there’s more than a few drops of blood in the water… Still with us? Good, because the County of Maui agrees to settle out of court with Neldon “TAGUMAWatch” Mamuad, expunging his record of any discipline he earned for hurting the feelings of poor Officer Keith Taguma and paying out $25,000. But when Mamuad announced after the settlement that he’d won a victory over a county that “violated my free speech rights” and tried to “censor” him, county spokesman Rod Antone fired back. “[T]he County remains firm in its stance that Mr. Mamuad should not have been allowed to conduct a personal vendetta against Officer Taguma, then proceed to lie about his intent by saying it was all in the name of the First Amendment,” Antone said in a May 9 county news release. “That sort of blatant disregard for the truth goes against everything the First Amendment stands for in the first place”… After five years as Maui Police Chief, Gary Yabuta announces that he’s retiring–and taking a new job as director of an obscure anti-drug office on Oahu. What’s even weirder is that the official hiring notice for the job of Director of the Hawaii High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) states the salary is $117,237 a year, while Yabuta’s police chief salary was $135,000 a year… Equality Hawaii Foundation announces that since the state legalized same-sex marriage in December 2013, 1,417 same-sex couples have gotten married here. Of those, 721 were between two men while 696 involved two women… Maui Police Commission Chairman Roger Dixon tells The Maui News that the panel is “raising the bar” in their all-out search for a new police chief. One of the higher standards–the commission will now require future chiefs to have 15 years experience in law enforcement. If this doesn’t seem like much, the old rule was that chiefs had to just have five years experience… On the last day of May, a judge in Honolulu rules that the County of Maui’s injecting of millions of gallons of wastewater into the ground at the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility is a violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

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JUNE

Early in the month, Congressional Representative Tulsi Gabbard, D–Hawaii, fires twin blasts at the Pentagon. First, over the service chief’s demand that military commanders have authority over investigations of alleged sexual assault involving their subordinates. “We must provide accountability, which includes ensuring an independent, transparent, fair process for all reports of sexual assault, outside of the chain of command,” Gabbard says in a June 4 news release. Gabbard went on to point out that in 2012, “71 service members were sexually assaulted every day” and “it’s our collective responsibility to bring an end to this epidemic, prosecute these offenders, and provide a safe environment for survivors of sexual assault.” Two days later, she ripped the National Security Agency (NSA) for it’s super-scary PRISM program, which allows to federal government to wade barefoot through our email and phone records. “It is absolutely unacceptable for our government to spy on millions of innocent Americans and indiscriminately obtain all of their cell phone records,” she said in another news release from her office. “This type of over-reach fuels the distrust people have in their government”… The SHAKA Movement, a grassroots organization that recently formed in Maui County, succeeds in getting their anti-GMO initiative approved for the November ballot. Their measure would impose a “moratorium” on the cultivation of genetically engineered seeds (they’re looking at you, Monsanto) until such time as the county produces health studies showing that they’re safe. Most political watchers measure the scattered residents who make up SHAKA against the near-limitless political and financial power of companies like Monsanto (which grows a lot of GMO seed corn out here and on Molokai) and figure nothing will change… The Honolulu Weekly, an alternative weekly that’s been publishing for 23 years, goes out of business this month. Laurie Carlson, the founder and publisher, cites a diminished stable of advertisers and exhaustion. The loss of Honolulu Weekly leaves MauiTime the only alt weekly left in Hawaii… The Primary Election races are heating up, and that means we’re getting deluged with endorsements (real ones, not fake Woodson ones). To start, we have Mayor Arakawa pronouncing former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann his pick in the Hawaii Governor’s race. Mufi’s running as an independent this year because he couldn’t survive his last two primary races, but virtually no one’s picking this conservative pro-Superferry, anti-same-sex marriage Democrat as the big winner in November. Of note, Arakawa made his endorsement public at the Oahu office of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO), the all-powerful police union… Speaking of SHOPO, they’re endorsing… wait for it… Arakawa for Mayor, saying he’s “always been supportive of the needs of the Maui Police Department”… Speaking of Arakawa, his support for his own Parks Director seems to have run out. Glenn Correa’s been on leave since February, but now he’s “retiring.” As for the MPD investigation into the Parks Department, the police aren’t talking… I discover that back in May, state invasive species investigators found little fire ants at the new Andaz Maui Resort in Wailea. But their policy (which isn’t actually written down), is to keep the names of places that have little fire ant infestations confidential. Evidently not every official agrees with this, because I’m able to find out that the Andaz is the source after calling just one person.  “The finding was extremely small and confined to a landscaped area of the property–less than 400 square feet on a 15-acre property,” a hotel spokesman later tells me… The state Department of Health’s Clean Air Branch hits Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar (HC&S) with fines totalling $1.3 million for violations in emissions and reporting from 2009 to 2013 at its Pu‘unene sugar mill… Neldon Mamuad decides to run for Maui County Mayor, but then fumbles the paperwork at the last minute. Then he goes to court. At trial at the end of June, Judge Peter Cahill rejects his suit.

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JULY

On the second day of the month, Gov. Abercrombie does one of the best things of his administration by signing HB 2166 into law. The bill prohibits giving juvenile offenders life sentences without the possibility of parole. There don’t appear to be any juveniles currently serving such a sentence in Hawaii, but it will be good to have this sentencing option off the books… Going through recent campaign finance reports, I discover that Mayor Arakawa’s campaign spent a little more than $57,000 on their big Feb. 28 Grand Wailea shindig, while taking in on that day not quite $47,000. Campaign treasurer Lynn Araki-Regan disputed this, saying “Many of the donations were after our 2/28/14 Gala.” Another attendee and Arakawa loyalist told a slightly different story, calling the event “a show of strength” that was put on simply to scare off potential challengers. Don’t scoff: Councilmembers Mike Victorino and Mike White–Arakawa’s most powerful critics–are staying out of the race… Judge Kelsey Kawano throws out the criminal case against MauiTime Publisher Tommy Russo, who was arrested two years ago for photographing cops during a high-profile traffic operation… With the county’s Parks Department in bad shape–and the parks themselves not doing much better–Councilman Don Guzman floats an unusual idea to help them: a “Park Volunteer Program.” Guzman’s office says this program would “allow” volunteers–ie, you and me–“to contribute to the maintenance, preservation, beautification, and improvement of County parks and beaches.” Aww, how thoughtful–we’d still pay for a Parks Department, but we’d get to do the work cleaning and maintaining the parks! Who wouldn’t love that?… Not sure if you’ve noticed, but it’s an odd lot running against Mayor Arakawa this year. You’ve got lifeguard and Save Honolua activist Tamara Paltin, sure, but then you’ve also got individuals like Mauitopia author Ori Kopelman, spiritualist Alana Kay, convicted felon Nelson Waikiki and bong salesman Beau Hawkes–the last of which ends up arrested on July 23 after driving away from a Maui PD stop. And not just any arrest, either–guy is tazed in the street in Wailuku (which, of course, is captured on video). Oh, that has to be worth a few hundred votes at least… Campaign reports released at the end of the month show that Honolulu SuperPAC Forward Progress, which is entirely funded by powerful construction interests, has been spending big money in an attempt to get Maui County Councilmember Elle Cochran tossed out of office. Tens of thousands of dollars on polls and radio spots, both directed against Cochran and for her opponent, political newbie Ka‘ala Buenconsejo, who makes his living doing the marketing for a local restaurant consortium. Cochran speculates that the spending–which is all but unprecedented in local Maui politics–is due to her opposition to the further development of Olowalu.

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AUGUST

Hurricane Iselle hits Hawaii! Rather, it slams into the Puna District, gets torn up by the volcano there and then sputters away, having little if any affect on the rest of the state. Hurricane Julio, which was following close behind, ends up tracking far to the north, missing the state entirely. Two hurricanes in just a few days–what are the odds? Turns out, pretty good, with climate change and all. In fact, climate researchers tell us to get ready for “two-to-three-fold increase” in hurricane activity by the end of the century… Speaking of hurricanes, much of Hawaii wonders what happened during the state’s Aug. 9 Primary Election, in which incumbent Gov. Abercrombie–one of the best known politicians in the state–loses overwhelmingly to an all-but-unknown state senator named David Ige. It’s an historic loss, one that no political analyst predicted even a few days prior. “My theory is that Ige was encouraged to run as a shot across Abercrombie’s bow–a way to express displeasure that he did not pay proper respect to various [legislative] committee chairs,” UH Political Science Professor Colin Moore tells me after the election. “It was meant to be a strong message, and he won.” Incumbent U.S. Senator Brian Schatz barely defeats Primary challenger Colleen Hanabusa in a race that comes down to storm-ravaged Puna District on the Big Island. Nothing really else of note, except maybe that Justin Woodson wins! Justin Woodson wins! Justin Woodson wins!… Mana Magazine, a Honolulu-based bi-monthly publication that focuses on Hawaiian culture, ends its print run and goes all-digital. Though staffers spin the move as a positive, it’s hard to see how this does anything but hurt their circulation… Though he’s actually running unopposed this year, Maui County Councilmember Riki Hokama holds two fundraisers this month. The first is an intimate $100/head dinner at the Yokouchi Family Estate in Wailuku, while the second is a lavish $1,000-$2,000/head deal at Morton’s Steakhouse in Honolulu. Wait, Honolulu? While Hokama still just represents Lanai, dollar amounts like that suggest he has far bigger plans in the future… Oh, here’s a shocker: The Maui Chamber of Commerce is backing Republican James “Duke” Aiona for governor. See, it’s not just alt weeklies like yours truly who back long-shots in big races… Just for fun, we ran the numbers on Rick Chatenever’s name-dropping Maui News column, which has run each week since Jan. 28, just to see who he mentions the most. Surprise: Robert Stone and Tom Vendetti–who produced and directed, respectively, a film that Chatenever wrote–trumped the rest with seven mentions apiece.

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SEPTEMBER

While working on a big story about the militarization of the Maui Police Department, we discover that this month the PD has taken possession of a $17,000 tactical robot that can move through a building, climb stairs, open doors and even–should it be configured to do so–hold and use a gun. But don’t worry–Chief Yabuta said officers won’t ever put a pistol in the robot’s, er, claw: “we’re not using it for that purpose,” he told the Maui County Council Budget & Finance Committee back in 2013, though he declined to say exactly how they would use the robot… None of which really matters anyway, because this is the month that Maui gets a brand-new police chief. His name is Tivoli Faaumu, and he started work as Top Cop on Sept. 8. Coincidentally (or perhaps not), Faaumu–who was a mere captain serving as Patrol Commander in Kihei–was the only one of the many chief candidates who “reached out” to SHOPO, the union’s Maui Chapter chairman told the Maui Police Commission… Though they’re not running against each other, Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa gets into it good with Councilman Mike White over, what else, garbage. Arakawa says the budget the council approved has too little money for landfill operations, so he cut operating hours. In response, White and the rest of the council argued that there’s more than enough money there to make the landfill run on time. Arakawa even reportedly walked out of deliberations when things got too hot. Then White complained to The Maui News that the whole thing “has nothing to do with the budget [and] everything to do with it being campaign season.” In reply, Arakawa’s office sent out a news release that helpfully pointed out that “If Mike White wanted to win the Primary Election [he came in second to former Councilman and current Arakawa aide Mike Molina] he should have paid more attention to the needs of constituents instead of pontificating on Akaku”… It’s looking like this nation is going to get involved in the nasty fighting in Syria and possibly even Iraq, and liberal U.S. Senator Brian Schatz is okay with that: “The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria–ISIS–cannot be ignored,” Schatz says in a Sept. 10 news release. Though he “opposes boots on the ground,” Schatz says “American air power can put pressure on ISIS fighters where they operate.” Now Congressional Representative Tulsi Gabbard (who is also a Democrat) wants to “destroy” ISIS, but not by arming Syrian rebels (though she does want to arm Kurdish rebels in Iraq). Here we go again… A new Honolulu Civil Beat poll shows that though there are four men running for Hawaii Governor, just two are registering with voters: Democrat David Ige and Republican Duke Aiona. In fact, Ige–who is still a big unknown with most voters–is in the lead with 43 percent to Aiona’s 39 percent. Independent Mufi Hannemann (endorsed by Maui’s own Alan Arakawa!) and Libertarian Jeff Davis are pulling just single-digit poll numbers… Lanai owner Larry Ellison, who recently turned 70, is quitting his day job running the $185 billion corporation Oracle, which he founded 35 years ago… The County Council’s Budget & Finance Committee reviews five proposals for its new million-dollar Economic Development Revolving Fund, which will hand out grants in excess of $50,000 to for-profit projects that will “expand and hire new people,” according to Maui Mayor Arakawa. The projects under consideration for corporate welfare grants include Uptown Service, which wants $200,000 to convert its restaurant into “Da Car Wash Cafe” and Aumakua Holdings, which would like $250,000 “for equipment” for its still-under-construction brewery in Kihei… Oh, remember the troubles at the county Parks Department? Yeah, they still don’t have an official director.

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OCTOBER

A new photography exhibit at the Bailey House Museum in Wailuku attempts to bring the devastation–and splendor–of Kaho‘olawe to Maui residents… Lui Hokoana is named the new chancellor of UH Maui College. He’s been vice chancellor at UH’s West Oahu campus since 2013, and previously held the same job at Windward Community College… Good news, everyone! Kihei’s getting 68 new “luxury” homes! We know, it’s so much important to have those instead of useless trinkets like a high school. Development promotional materials say the new project–which is mauka of Pi‘ilani Highway over by the Maui Research & Technology Park–will have “breathtaking ocean, golf course, and sunset views, as well as a pool and hot tub complex with outdoor kitchen facilities”… On Oct. 15, Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui visits ILWU headquarters in Wailuku to sign Act 241 into law (Gov. Abercrombie apparently has the day off). That act authorizes the state to spend $20 million to buy Lipoa Point from Maui Land & Pineapple Company, which used to say it would protect that land forever, but then ran into serious financial trouble and threatened to develop the land to pay for its pension program. By buying the land, the state was saving the Point, sure, but also bailing out Maui Land & Pine–which is why Tsutsui did the signing at ILWU, which represented many of the workers at risk of losing their pensions… Researchers from the University of Hawaii and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) publish a study showing that pesticide-laden runoff has been growing “superweeds” in nearshore waters, which lead to tumor growth in endangered green sea turtles… A new book comes out with a bitter take on local development. Written by Sidney Lehua Iaukea–who holds a doctorate in political science and teaches on Oahu–it tells the story of locals’ fight to preserve Maui’s North Beach. Titled Keka‘a: The Making and Saving of North Beach West Maui, the book offers a radical take on the county’s eternal need to build massive condos and hotels on prime West Maui beachfront property in the name of feeding the insatiable Tourist Economy…  Speaking of which, Conde Nast Traveler, which for the last 19 years has called Maui the “Top Island In The World,” suddenly bestows that title on Palawan in the Philippines. What will the Maui Visitors Bureau, which gets $3.5 million a year in county tax dollars, do?… Speaking of appeasing the tourist gods, the Governor’s Office releases $800,000 for the “design and permitting stage” of a big effort at restoring sand at Ka‘anapali Beach. Historically, Tara Miller Owens of University of Hawaii Sea Grant tells us, 85 percent of Maui’s beaches are eroding, with more than four miles of beach “lost to erosion over the past century.” The reasons for this, Owens says, are simple: human impacts to the sand supply, storm waves and wind-driven currents and, of course, “sea-level rise forcing shoreline retreat”… New campaign spending reports show that Oahu carpenters have spent more than $50,000 in the West Maui County Council race–$31,000 of that opposing Councilmember Elle Cochran and the rest supporting challenger Ka‘ala Buenconsejo. Considering her own campaign funds are in the red, things aren’t looking good for Cochran.

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NOVEMBER

Given the hurricane trauma that plagued the last election, it’s amazing this one goes off more or less routinely. To no one’s surprise (poll numbers were pretty uniform on this one), Democrat David Ige is Hawaii’s new governor–an amazing achievement for a guy most residents couldn’t have picked out of a police lineup six months ago. But to the shock of the entire political establishment on Maui, the Maui anti-GMO initiative spurred by SHAKA Movement passes (barely, though: 50.2 percent to 47.9 percent). Every major news organization in the state, including the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Honolulu Civil Beat, Maui News and even this paper had editorialized that voters should reject the measure–it was based on bad science, it would needlessly cost jobs, it had nothing to do with curbing pesticide use–but in the end a majority voters (many of which came from Haiku, South Maui and the Westside) voted yes. Within hours the issue was in the courts, with SHAKA Movement preemptively filing the first lawsuit. Soon after Monsanto filed suit to have the whole thing thrown out of court, a judge ordered a stay on the measure until March and everyone settled in for a long legal battle… But the radicalism that caught so much attention on the GMO bill (nearly everyone on Maui who cast a ballot voted on the issue) didn’t spread to the rest of the election. With the exception of incumbents Kaniela Ing and Elle Cochran–the target of so much pro-development spending–none of the SHAKA-approved candidates for office won. In fact, no incumbent on Maui lost–a stunning achievement for the powers-that-be in such a tumultuous year… Bad news for everyone, though: Hawaii Health Systems Corporation (HHSC), which runs Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and a host of other hospitals elsewhere in the state, is in bad financial trouble. The Maui region alone is looking at a nearly $50 million deficit this year, and if the state Legislature doesn’t step forward with money soon, hospitals like Maui Memorial will cut services and jobs… UH Manoa researchers say “This summer has seen the highest global mean sea surface temperatures ever recorded.” This is especially bad news, considering that the November elections swung control of both houses of Congress to the Republicans, which means next year we can start watching Big Oil-loving Senators like James Inhofe of Oklahoma start to dismantle some of the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations.

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DECEMBER

We step into the public access cable tv fray with a story about 13-year Akaku employee Shawn Michael’s allegations that he was terminated after trying to blow the whistle on what he called a “hostile work environment” at the station. Dramatic terminations are nothing new for the station, which takes a lot of its funding from Oceanic Time Warner Cable. But at a Dec. 15 Akaku Board meeting, four additional former station employees come forward to corroborate Michael’s allegations–one of which gives the board a letter signed by 14 former employees calling for an independent investigation of the station… Sick of bad climate change-related news yet? Well, too bad: Researchers at UH Manoa using high-resolution CT scans to study changes in coral find that “small-scale changes in the environment can influence ecosystem-level reef processes,” says researcher Nyssa Silbiger. Since corals already live a precariously balanced existence when ocean water is normal, the slightest increase in acidification can spell trouble for the whole reef… Remember Ka‘ala Buenconsejo? The political rookie who ran against Elle Cochran for County Council, but couldn’t beat her even though big development interests on Oahu were spending tens of thousands of dollars against her? Well, on Dec. 9 he became the new County Parks Department director… The state Department of Commerce & Consumer Affairs wants people to sign up to get a “whitebox” attached to their cable or DSL modem, so the state can see just how crappy our broadband download speeds really are. Seriously, nations like Singapore, Romania and Sweden are getting in excess of 50 million bits per second (mbps), while Wailuku routinely clocks in at around 7.5 mbps… Car-sharing service Uber, which lets people book taxi-like rides from the smartphone, is now on Maui. Cab companies hate the service, which take their fares while not having to deal with taxi permits and regulations… Merry Christmas, Maui! Maui Police Officer Keith Taguma–the parking ticket terror of Wailuku Town–is retiring this week. He’s been on the force for 30 years, and he’s riding his little Interceptor golf cart thing into the sunset. Seriously, the guy wrote nearly 7,000 tickets last year–more than any other Maui PD district… Newly inaugurated Gov. David Ige releases his first biennium budget, and it includes $86 million for Hawaii Health Systems Corporation. That’s all well and good, except that HHSC asked for more than $200 million. Looks like it’s gonna be a lousy Christmas for Maui Memorial Medical Center workers. Unless your New Years Resolution for 2015 is “Don’t Get Sick,” next year might be trouble for you.

PHOTOS – Target: Jay Reed/Wikimedia Commons; Glenn Correa: County of Maui; Neldon Mamuad: Neldon Mamuad; Alan Arakawa: Jack Grace; Gary Yabuta: Maui PD; Sugar mill: Wikimedia Commons; Kaala Buenconsejo: Kaala Buenconsejo; David Ige: David Ige; Tivoli Faaumu: Maui PD; Lipoa Point: Forest & Kim Starr/Wikimedia Commons; MMMC: MauiTime; Keith Taguma: Sean M. Hower

The post 2014 Maui Year In Review appeared first on Maui Time.

Bet you didn’t see this one coming: the Maui Police Department’s Traffic Section will boost their traffic enforcement during the last two weeks of November. ”

Officers will be on the lookout for those who are speeding, not wearing seatbelts, and using Mobile Electronic Devices while driving,” said Sergeant William Hankins of the Maui PD’s Traffic Section in a Nov. 12 MPD press release. “Officers will also be looking out for motorists who fail to adhere to traffic signs and signals (red light violators). In addition, to the stepped up holiday enforcement the public can also expect an increase in roving DUI patrols throughout the remainder of the year and into 2015.”

Nothing says holiday joy like a speeding ticket. Then again, Thanksgiving is statistically the most dangerous American holiday.

“Traditionally, national statistics for fatal motor vehicle crashes increases during the holiday week of Thanksgiving,” said Hankins in the news release. “The Maui Police Department is asking everyone to please drive with care and help in making the roadways safe during the holiday season.”

Photo: MauiTime

The post Maui Police To Increase Traffic Enforcement During Holiday Season appeared first on Maui Time.

By Anthony Pignataro

The Wailuku Redevelopment Area covers about 68 acres of Central Maui. Its approximate center is the Vineyard/Market Street intersection. Like many small towns in America, the area’s narrow streets and cramped storefronts seem to be a relic of an older age. Its heyday took place in the final decade of Hawaii’s territorial history. Most people call it Wailuku Town, though that might change in the near future.

As new shopping complexes and residential neighborhoods continue to pop up in places like Kehalani and Maui Lani, and more nonprofit organizations providing services to poor and mentally ill people open in the old town core, more residents and merchants are pointing to homeless people and broken (or non-existent) sidewalks and asking what’s happening to Wailuku Town.

The island’s old center of shopping and living is increasingly home to smaller stores and pawn shops. The Maui Grand Hotel on Main Street, once the pinnacle of luxury accommodations on the island, is now a Chevron.

Near the end of every month, the Maui Redevelopment Agency–created by state law–meets to address this question. The five-member board attempts to do something exceedingly difficult–make life nicer in the town for those who live and work there, as well as visit.

There are lots of projects swirling around the town right now–some moving towards completion, others in limbo. And though nothing particularly major has changed in Wailuku (with the exception of the First Friday Town Parties, which started organically), those small redevelopment changes that have occurred have varying degrees of popularity. Most people seem to like the big, colorful mural at the corner of Main and Market Streets, but merchants are still complaining about the beautification efforts made to Market Street a few years ago that decreased the number of parking spaces in town.

To get a handle on what’s happening now, and how it will all affect Wailuku Town, I recently sat down with Katherine Popenuk and Bill Mitchell, the chairperson and vice chairperson, respectively, of the MRA at the Maui Architectural Group office where they work, which overlooks the town.

MAUITIME: So why did both of you join the MRA board?

KATHERINE POPENUK: I moved here in 1979. I’m an architect, and I wanted to do something to give back. We have the benefit of having some strong talents on the board–Bill is a landscape architect.

BILL MITCHELL: I’ve been involved in Wailuku Town stuff for 15 years. Someone called me, said there was an opening and asked if I was interested. I said yes.

MAUITIME: How does the MRA compare with other of the county boards and commissions?

MITCHELL: It’s a little bit different function than the typical boards and commissions. We can also go out and do things within the MRA [Maui Redevelopment Area]. We can be a little proactive.

MAUITIME: Why do redevelopment at all? Why not simply let market forces dictate the makeup of Wailuku?

POPENUK: We’ve seen Wailuku come back, recede, come back again, and recede again. The last few years have been difficult. It’s a great local town–an authentic place. We’d like to see more activity, for local people as well as tourists. It’s more of a local place, though tourists are certainly welcome here.

MITCHELL: It’s a niche market. We no longer have the Kress* Store, Ooka’s. The Iao Theater has been renovated, but the big anchor tenants are no longer there. We’re left with boutique businesses that can function in smaller spaces. The way I see it, the Planning Department only has so much time to focus on any small town. We can focus on this town.

We know there’s a parking issue, trash, pedestrian circulation issues. It’s primarily a daytime-use town. How can we make pedestrian circulation more safe and more pleasant? We don’t just review plans–a planner could do that. We look at the whole project, and how it fits into the MRA area.

It’s a pretty common model in a lot of towns. Kona has one. They actually go out and do street improvements. Wailuku is a funky town, but it has all the history that goes with it. And it’s unique. But we have a fairly narrow window–we don’t go out and buy property and do redevelop them.

POPENUK: It’s a unique place that’s worth preserving. We really don’t want Wailuku to turn into New York City.

MITCHELL: Nobody has a grandiose vision of doing something beyond what’s there. But Wailuku has changed over the last 10 years. We have more social service organizations now, and the things that go with those.

MAUITIME: What do you see as Wailuku’s greatest need?

MITCHELL: If you talk to most merchants, it’s parking. The proposed Municipal Parking Garage is on the books, but there’s no will to fund it. And that may be a good thing.

There is a parking management plan done by a consultant with a lot of great recommendations. So now we’re asking what can we implement to help the situation. We have underdeveloped parking in satellite lots [around town], issues with the timing of spaces in the municipal lot–the garage is on hold, as it’s been for the last 20 years.

MAUITIME: The parking plan you speak of contains a lot of suggestions: metered parking, changing the time limit on some parking lot spaces from 12 hours to six hours, things like that. What do people in town, both residents and merchants, feel about these suggestions?

MITCHELL: We have not yet sent out a survey, that’s something we will do. Certainly on Market Street, we’re looking at shorter-term parking. We’ve talked about a mix of free and metered parking.

Now what authority does the MRA have to implement these suggestions on its own? My understanding is that we have no authority. New fees have to go through the County Council. All of these things have to go through the Council process. We’re sort of the middleman.

POPENUK: We are looking at all options we can think of to relieve stress on the parking situation. The repaving of Wells Street is coming up in the near future–how can we squeeze out an extra stall here or there? We’re trying to alleviate the parking shortage in every way we can.

But parking’s not the only issue–we’re not a one-trick pony. Other issues are pedestrian safety, sidewalks, crosswalks, shade trees. We’re sharing ideas with other agencies and organizations.

MAUITIME: What about other non-car solutions to Wailuku’s parking situation?

MITCHELL: Absolutely. These were heavily discussed in the parking structure plan, so we’ll need to revisit it now.

POPENUK: We’re planning to put in bike racks on Market Street.

MAUITIME: Nice. When?

MITCHELL: Good question. We’ll have to ask, but it should be soon.

MAUITIME: About a year ago, ReWailuku–which brought a lot of citizens in and asked them what they wanted to see in town–started up. How has that affected you?

POPENUK: We’re not sure what happens next with it, since it’s not an MRA thing, but it was extremely informative. A broad section of the town came out to say what they were interested in. They want more street trees–right now, the streets really discourage people to get out on foot. They want a grocery store. That was a well-supported issue.

MITCHELL: It validated that people put value in amenities–shade, streetscapes. Anything to do with trees, benches, food vendors–people said they love that. People in general are interested in the whole package–not just parking. There’s certainly enhanced value in someone staying; they’re likely to spend more money. That’s like shopping center 101. All of these things bring value to merchants.

POPENUK: Not just merchants. Residents, kids walking to school. We want to hear from the whole county and address those needs as much as possible.

MAUITIME: One of the issues that seems to come up now and then is crime. Now there is a Maui Police Substation on Market Street, but it’s hardly ever used. Maui Police Lt. Wayne Ibarra told me that they need to replace the current windows with bulletproof glass and add air-conditioning. Is there any kind of timetable for this?

POPENUK: That is a current topic we have. We recognize the importance of manning the police substation. We are willing to contribute a portion of our budget, but it’s expensive.

We currently have one community police representative assigned to Wailuku.

MITCHELL: Even if he’s not full-time, if they move in and out of the space at night, that would be beneficial.

POPENUK: There’s also the Clean and Safe Program that would help: making sure garbage cans aren’t overflowing; there’s not litter on the street; people not getting harassed at the ATM. We’re checking into it.

MAUITIME: It sounds like a neighborhood watch.

POPENUK: It could be an individual or a contracted service.

MAUITIME: Next to the substation, there’s a lot people use for parking that’s supposed to become something that I think is called Iao Square. About two dozen cars fit in there now, and the plans are quite controversial.

MITCHELL: It’s gone through a lot of names, and it’s called Iao Plaza now. It’s not currently a parking lot–it’s a vacant lot. Under the Parks Department plan, there would be no parking there.

POPENUK: The controversy is that people are comparing it to what is there–which is not up to code. The guidelines on parking aren’t being followed. The advantage of developing it is to make it safe. It’s going to be gravel or paved.

MITCHELL: People have already fallen there. The plaza is just a small place. A place for people to hang out, have lunch.

POPENUK: Keeping it the way it is is not an option. In the final option, there will be 24 stalls and a plaza. If you take out the plaza, you would just gain an additional stall.

MAUITIME: Right now there are two or three dedicated spots in that lot for police. Will that be the case at Iao Plaza?

MITCHELL: We assume so, but we’re not sure if they want parking in the lot or on the street.
POPENUK: There will also be at least three in the upper plaza.

MITCHELL: And four trees in the lower lot, to comply with county code.

POPENUK: And Maui Nui Botanical Gardens, which takes care of the planters on Market Street, will be involved there, as well. There is a possibility of having food vendors there. The space will be available on First Fridays. It could also be used for overflow parking for theater-users.

MITCHELL: I believe it will be the first redevelopment project that the MRA has actually built.

POPENUK: I’m not sure about that.

MAUITIME: That actually raises a good question. Looking back over the minutes for the meetings you’ve had over the last year, it sometimes seems that all you do is accept reports and commission studies. Do you ever feel that’s the case?

POPENUK: It’s not all we do. I’ve been on the MRA for about five years, and a lot of my early meetings were taken up by looking at projects seeking our approval. We’d offer suggestions on zoning and so forth. Then everything sort of stopped [with the economic downturn in 2008]. Since then, it’s given us some time to study other things that in the past we didn’t get a chance to sink our teeth into.

We get a modest budget from the county. Ideally, we might be more self-sustaining.

Maybe implementing paid parking will recycle money into more parking in Wailuku Town.

MITCHELL: And not into the General Fund.

MAUITIME: Another thing that came out of ReWailuku was this notion of “rebranding” the town. Saedene Ota of MauiThing is handling that. Why is that necessary?

POPENUK: We’re looking at creating a more unique, universal identity–icon, logo–that represents Wailuku Town. It’s not something that’s been done in the past.

MITCHELL: We have bits and pieces [of a town identity], but it’s not cohesive.

MAUITIME: How do you see Wailuku changing over the next few years?

POPENUK: Gradually. We’re doing what we can, when we can. Safety, beautification–it’s an ongoing effort. I’m hoping people see the town improving.

* I originally misspelled the name of this store.

Photo of Wailuku Town: Darris Hurst

The post Talking Story With Maui Redevelopment Agency Members Katharine Popenuk and Bill Mitchell About The Changing Face of Wailuku Town appeared first on Maui Time.

And yet another cutesy-titled Maui Police campaign has come to a close. You can breathe easier, kids: the MPD’s 14-day “Stop or Get Stopped” push against people who run red lights and stop signs is over.

“As with all of our traffic enforcement campaigns our goal is to raise awareness, educate the public as well as our officers, and to gain voluntary compliance,” MPD Officer Nick Krau, the department’s DUI Task Force supervisor, said in an Oct. 20 press release. “By working together we can drastically reduce traffic collisions and reach our ultimate goal of zero preventable traffic deaths.”

According to the press release, MPD officers wrote 562 citations and made 32 DUI arrests during the operation, which involved increased surveillance at various intersections around the county. Of those citations, 64 percent (359 citations) were for running a red light or stop sign, 24 percent (134) were for having no auto insurance and the remaining 12 percent (69) were for driving without a license.

“We conduct these traffic enforcement campaigns because we, as police officers, have an obligation to ensure that we are doing everything in our power to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities in our community,” Krau added in the Oct. 20 news release. “Although this campaign has come to an end, the impact and awareness raised during this short initiative will continue to reduce traffic collisions and improve the safety on our roadways for quite some time.”

This is a nice sentiment–especially since 19 people have, so far this year, died on Maui’s roads. The last time we saw such numbers was 2012, and when that year was over, 20 people had died in Maui County traffic collisions (last year, 11 people died in Maui County road accidents). As trends are going, it’s a fair bet that we’ll beat the 2012 figure easily this year.

The problem is running red lights or stop signs doesn’t seem to be causing many fatalities here. Looking over Maui PD press releases and various local news stories from the past year, the same phrases keep appearing when looking at the factors that caused the collisions: “loses control,” “excessive speed” and “drugs and alcohol.”

About four years ago in Northern California, I took a one-day driving school class after getting a speeding ticket. “Do you know the number one cause of highway accidents in the nation?” our instructor asked us. “Unsafe lane changes.”

Monitoring the county’s intersections is easy (so easy, in fact, that many Mainland cities simply have automated ticket-writing cameras do the job, though those operations tend to exist solely to generate revenue). Getting people to drive safely? Yeah, good luck with that.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The post Maui PD Releases ‘Stop Or Get Stopped’ Campaign Results appeared first on Maui Time.

The Maui Police Department, which previously brought you the law enforcement campaign “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” has come up with yet another operation with a cutesy name. From Oct. 6-19, the MPD will conduct a “Stop or Get Stopped”** campaign that, according to an Oct. 1 department news release, is “focused on motorists who disregard stop signs and red traffic signal lights” and on “motorist[s] that block intersections or are caught stopped in the intersection after the traffic signal light turns red.”

The news release doesn’t say which intersections will see increased MPD surveillance, though it does say that the “Maui Police Department’s Traffic Section will be selecting locations for targeted enforcement based on data gathered from crashes, citations, as well as numerous citizens’ concerns regarding these violations.” The release also contains information on how to drive through intersections safely, like the following sentence:

“An illuminated yellow traffic signal light means vehicular traffic facing the steady yellow signal is thereby warned that the related green movement is being terminated or that a red indication will be exhibited immediately thereafter when vehicular traffic shall not enter the intersection.”

I had to read that twice before I realized it’s just a description of what happens when a traffic signal turns yellow. And there I was going to leave it, until I realized that it actually begs a fairly profound question: does the light turn yellow because the green period is ending or because the red period is beginning?

Well, which is it? Who among us can say?

And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go downstairs and stare at the intersection for the rest of the day.

* The original headline implied that the MPD came up with the cutesy name, but I’ve since found at least one other municipal police department that ran an identically named operation.

** Also, I somehow got the cutesy name wrong in an earlier version.

The post Maui Police Launch Another Law Enforcement Campaign With A Cutesy Name* appeared first on Maui Time.

If you’re curious about what newly minted Maui PD Chief Tivoli Faaumu thinks about law enforcement, then you might want to tune into Akaku Channel 55 tonight at 5pm (you can also see it on Akaku.org and hear it on K-AKU 88.5 on your FM dial). Shaggy Jenkins will interview Faaumu live.

Worried that Faaumu won’t talk about the department’s trend toward militarization? Concerned about the department’s refusal to make public written policies regarding the department’s armored Bearcat or its new robot? Wondering if the department’s commitment to the Drug War will continue? Curious about Faaumu’s feelings about putting cameras on all MPD officer, or how officers are being trained to respond to citizens who film cops in public? Send your questions to live@akaku.org.

Photo courtesy Maui PD

The post TONIGHT: New Maui PD Chief Tivoli Faaumu Appearing Live On Akaku appeared first on Maui Time.

1. On Sept. 5, the University of Hawaii sent out a news release saying that grad student Mohuhano “Mo” Tu‘ikolongahau had just won the 2014 Hawaii Woodshow’s Spirit of the Show Award for “the most creative use of underutilized Hawaii-grown non-native wood species.” What did Tu‘ikolongahau make that won him the award?

A. Table

B. Chair

C. Lamp

D. Desk

E. Bookcase

2. A Sept. 5 Pacific Business News blog post quoted Honolulu-based consultant Fereidun Fesharaki as saying the state was too small to be a “test bed for the rest of the world” in regards to what innovation?

A. Healthcare

B. GMOs

C. Education

D. Energy

E. Telecommunications

3. On Sept. 6, the Maui Police Department sent out a press release saying that four officers in their Lahaina station–John Salomon, Dale Corpuz, Coulson Joy and Rahul Mehra–assisted someone that day. What did they do?

A. Retrieved a stolen car

B. Chased down a robbery suspect

C. Delivered a baby

D. Rescued a resident from a burning building

E. Helped a tourist find a parking place

See Answers below…

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ANSWERS

1: B–Chair

2: D–Energy

3: C–Delivered a baby

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The post QuizUnderstood: Four Maui PD Officers Did WHAT At The Lahaina Station? appeared first on Maui Time.

Imagine a robot that can maneuver through a building, climbing stairs and opening doors. Imagine that it can record what it sees and talk to people. Now imagine that it can hold and use a firearm. If that sounds like science fiction, think again: the Maui Police Department recently took possession of a robot that can do all that.

The “militarization” of our nation’s law enforcement agencies is a big story these days. Earlier this month, people in the small town of Ferguson, Missouri protesting the police shooting of a young African-American man named Michael Brown found themselves facing a phalanx of cops armed and equipped like soldiers in Afghanistan. It’s a trend that’s been building for years, fed by surplus military sales, law enforcement fears of ever-expanding threats and largely compliant public officials who are all too willing to give cops whatever equipment they’re asking for, usually without even discussing in public whether it’s the right fit for police officers tasked with protecting civilian communities. The police, in turn, refuse to make public the policies governing the equipment, raising serious questions about why the cops wanted the stuff in the first place.

The robot the Maui PD recently bought is a prime example of this. Built by Sunnyvale, California-based RoboteX, it’s called the Avatar II. It looks like a small black tank–maybe two feet long, 15 inches across and six inches deep, according a company brochure posted on its website. It weighs 25 pounds without its battery. It can operate 300 yards or so from its base, go four to five hours before draining the battery and climb a 60 degree incline (click here to watch video of the Avatar II in action).

The Avatar has a sensor dome and antenna on top and a number of attachments, including a mechanical arm that can reach up and manipulate door handles. It’s controlled like any remote controlled car. And it can do everything described above, though the MPD says it probably won’t be holding a weapon anytime soon. Indeed, then-Maui Police Chief Gary Yabuta told the Maui County Council’s Budget and Finance Committee a year ago that it wouldn’t do so, though his reason seemed to come straight from an episode of Reno: 911.

“[W]e’re not using it for that purpose,” Yabuta told the panel during its April 16, 2013 hearing, in response to a question from Councilmember Elle Cochran, according to the meeting minutes. “And you know what, I had spoken to a chief and it was with the Reno Police Department where they did apply that, and unfortunately the adversary was able to take that particular weapon away from that particular robot, so they had stopped using that application but it is possible with this robot. It just won’t be used for that purpose.”

While Yabuta isn’t Maui Police Chief anymore (and the Maui Police Commission has yet to announce a successor), Maui Police Spokesman Lt. William Juan recently confirmed to me that the department has taken possession of the robot, which cost the county $17,000, though he added that it hasn’t yet been used in any operations. As for how the department will use the robot, that’s a larger, murkier question.

Because the MPD considers it a “tactical tool,” the department won’t discuss the conditions or even policies that govern its use. And it’s not just with members of the press, either. When Budget and Finance Committee Chairman Don Guzman asked members of the department a seemingly innocuous question about the robot’s dimensions–information publicly available on the manufacturer’s website–Maui PD Deputy Chief Clayton Tom clammed up.

“Chair, Mr. Guzman, as far as for the robot I don’t think we want to get into particulars on that because it is a tactical–” Tom said, according to the minutes.

Guzman quickly agreed. “Oh, it’s used tactical,” he said. “Okay, okay.”

Yabuta and Tom–who may in fact succeed Yabuta–would only talk about the robot in extremely general terms. They never even used its name in public county hearings–I found the name buried in a 2014 budget document and confirmed it with Juan. But when the robot did come up, they always spoke of it in the context of officer safety.

“We’re asking for a tactical robot so if we get into a hot situation or a building where we have a threat, a violent threat, instead of putting a person in that particular environment to search, we can put in a robot and mechanically control that robot to search the facility to make sure it’s safe before we enter that particular building or residence,” Yabuta told the panel, according to the minutes.

Tom agreed. “[A]s far as for the robot, it’s a safety measure; it’s a tool that we can use,” Tom added a few minutes later.

*   *   *

Like just about every police department in the nation, the Maui PD has been getting a lot of “tools” for their Special Response Teams (SRT) in recent years. It predates the showdown in Ferguson by decades. 

“Across the country, heavily armed Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams are forcing their way into people’s homes in the middle of the night, often deploying explosive devices such as flashbang grenades to temporarily blind and deafen residents, simply to serve a search warrant on the suspicion that someone may be in possession of a small amount of drugs,” the ACLU states in its 98-page report War Comes Home: The excessive militarization of American Policing, which was released in June. “Neighborhoods are not war zones, and our police officers should not be treating us like wartime enemies.”

Through the magic of Twitter and Livestream, I was able to watch the violence and heavy-handed police response in Ferguson in real time, but it seemed all too familiar, though that may just have been because S.W.A.T. was one of my favorite TV shows when I was a kid. But even with their blue coveralls, M-16 assault rifles and big-ass van, SWAT teams back in the 1970s and ‘80s were still recognizable as cops. 

That changed in 1997, when two bank robbers strapped on body armor and assault rifles and took on the LAPD in the infamous “North Hollywood Shootout.” Incredibly, just the two assailants died, though 18 other people–including 11 cops–were wounded in the violent engagement, which last more than half an hour.

Though Maui had formed its SRT a few years earlier, suddenly it seemed that every department in the U.S. wanted a quick reaction force armed and trained like combat troops. We saw the results in Ferguson–though just a small town of 21,000, their department includes SRT members who wear desert camouflage uniforms (without nametags) and gas masks while pointing machine guns at citizens from atop massive armored trucks.

Much of that equipment sits in Maui PD lockers and stations. Though the department doesn’t like to discuss their “tactical” equipment in public, we can find glimpses of the considerable firepower their own SRT wields these days. For instance, the Maui PD’s 2012 Annual Report (the most recent one available, according to Lt. Juan), includes a photo of three snipers, dressed in Ghillie suits that look more appropriate to Iraq than Maui and toting high-powered, bolt-action rifles. Going over Maui County Budget and Finance Committee minutes for the last few years provides a few more details. For instance, in 2012, Yabuta asked for 60 TASERs, 10 ballistic vests for the SRT, 60 similar vests for the rank and file officers and a “tactical vehicle” (more on that in a moment). Then in 2013, the department requested 15 more TASERs, seven more ballistic vests, 10 M-7 assault rifles (costing $2,000 each) and the Avatar robot. 

The April 16, 2013 committee meeting minutes show that Councilman Riki Hokama had some trouble with the M-7 request–not because he opposed giving the department the rifles, but because he didn’t understand what they were. Though Deputy Chief Clayton Tom got confused trying to help him out (he mistakenly called the M-7 a M-6 for some reason), he added some fascinating background on the department’s SRT firepower:

HOKAMA: I’m more interested in the M-7 rifles. Can you give us some comment on that, please? Is it just a shotgun type of rifle as, well, let me ask if that’s what it is.

TOM: The M-6 [sic]. it’s a fully automatic rifle. It shoots the 223 round. It’s the same as the AR-15 round. Like the Chief mentioned earlier, we had weapons from 1990… we started the SRT in 1992. We purchased a whole bunch of automatic weapons in 1993, ‘94 and we had issued a MP5 which shoots a 40 caliber round which is similar to our pistol round and we also had the short M16s…. This is to equip our officers out there in the perimeter and in the entry team so it’s a superior weapon fire which is… it’s what a lot of people out there have.

This is the balance of terror that seems to trap every police department in America. Criminals buy automatic rifles, so the department needs automatic rifles, armored vests and vehicles. Criminals then get armor-piercing rounds and it goes on and on. 

“Probably a couple years ago or even a year ago we were registering 150 firearms per month,” Yabuta said at the April 16, 2013 Budget and Finance Committee hearing. “We’re over 900 per month now. And the only reason why we’re not registering more is ‘cause the gun stores are out of guns right now. If you… you can’t even back order a gun right now. The whole country is trying to get a weapon.”

Yabuta’s answer to such an arms race? More arms.

“We want to make sure our people, our tactical people have equipment and weapons that are superior to that being used by our adversary,” Yabuta added. “[W]eapons have changed; they’ve gotten better and we need to keep up with technology ‘cause certainly the adversary has.”

But who exactly the Maui PD’s “adversary” is remains to be seen. Too often, the ACLU reports, that “adversary” ends up being the very citizenry the department is supposed to protect and serve (to borrow the LAPD’s motto).

“Our analysis shows that the militarization of American policing is evident in the training that police officers receive, which encourages them to adopt a ‘warrior’ mentality and think of the people they are supposed to serve as enemies, as well as in the equipment they use, such as battering rams, flashbang grenades, and APCs,” states the ACLU’s War Comes Home report. “This shift in culture has been buoyed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s weakening of the Fourth Amendment (which protects the right to privacy in one’s home) through a series of decisions that have given the police increased authority to force their way into people’s homes, often in drug cases.”

In 2012, Yabuta sold the County Council on the Bearcat by talking up the threat of “active shooters”–gunmen in North Hollywood Shootout type situations.

“[A]ctive shooters is [sic] something that can happen at any moment especially when you register about 250 guns per month and those are just legal guns,” Yabuta said at the April 11, 2012 Budget and Finance Committee hearing. “And it just takes one mentally disturbed person to become an active shooter.”

One of the SRT’s highest profile operations ever came in August 2011, a possible active shooter situation that emerged when an attempted murder suspect barricaded himself in a Kahului home with women and children. The tense standoff went on for 50 hours–the longest in department history, according to The Maui News’ accounts at the time. But it ended peacefully, with the SRT not using deadly force.

Incidents like that, full of fear and uncertainty, are why police departments field Special Response Teams. But they’re also very rare. Since then, a search of Maui News accounts of SRT deployments have shown far less exciting missions:

• May 2012: SRT members “worked on” investigation of a man arrested for allegedly stealing more than 4,000 square feet of seashore grass (not marijuana–we’re talking actual grass here).

• November 2012: SRT “assisted” in the investigation of two armed robberies.

• January 2013: SRT executed a warrant on a Kihei residence, where it found a “clandestine drug lab” and some stolen mopeds.

• March 2013: SRT deployed when a juice bottle containing dry ice exploded in the Wailuku courthouse parking garage. 

Dry ice bombs and seashore grass thefts. Never saw a S.W.A.T. episode like that.

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Then there’s that “tactical vehicle” the Maui PD fielded in 2013. It apparently hasn’t been used yet, but it’s seen a lot of publicity around the country lately.

Called the Lenco Bearcat, it’s a popular armored truck for police departments. The Ferguson PD recently used it against that town’s protesters. Built around the Ford F550 chassis, the Bearcat has a turbo diesel engine, four-wheel drive, dual air-conditioning, power anti-lock brakes and an AM-FM stereo CD player, according to publicity materials available at the Lenco website. It’s 20 feet long, eight feet wide, eight feet tall, weighs 18,000 pounds and has a top speed of 90 miles per hour. 

Lenco says the Bearcat is “constructed of certified, US-manufactured armor materials.” It has “successfully defeated multi-hit attacks from high powered rifles firing armor piercing ammunition [and] attacks from military type hand grenades as well as improvised explosive devices producing blast fragmentation.”

The county shelled out $280,000 in tax dollars for this beast, but the City of Ferguson got theirs free of charge from the federal government. That’s because they took advantage of the U.S. Government’s 1033 Program, which transfers surplus weapons, vehicles and equipment from the military to law enforcement agencies. Since the program started in 1997–the same year as the North Hollywood Shootout–hundreds of police agencies around the country have taken possession of $4 billion worth of surplus arms and materiel, according to an Aug. 14 Bloomberg Businessweek story.

So how come Maui taxpayers had to shell out nearly three hundred grand for the Bearcat when they might have gotten it free? “The department looked into the DOD program, however, it was not offered to Hawaii at the time,” Lt. Juan, the Maui PD spokesman, told me. “The ‘Bearcat’ was purchased because we wanted a vehicle specified for our police needs.”

As for what those specific “needs” are, Juan wouldn’t say. In fact, he refused to provide MauiTime with a copy of a written policy that governs the use of the Bearcat–a very large, unwieldy vehicle that can cause great damage to people and property.

“The department does not release tactical orders for officers safety reasons,” Juan emailed me on Aug. 21. “The ‘Bearcat’ is a tactical tool which enhances the safety of our officer in tactical situations.”

This lack of transparency is a common attitude among law enforcement concerning their SRT and SWAT teams, says the ACLU. It makes public scrutiny of the department’s militarized units all but impossible.

“Most police departments have in place standards that allow for SWAT deployment in cases involving hostage, barricade, active shooter, or other emergency scenarios, or in ‘high-risk’ warrant scenarios,” states the ACLU’s War Comes Home report. “But what constitutes a ‘high-risk’ scenario depends largely on the subjective beliefs of the officers involved. This lack of clear and legitimate standards for deploying SWAT may result in the excessive and unnecessary use of SWAT deployments in drug cases.”

Like the Avatar, Maui PD officials were loathe to discuss its use and capabilities in public. “We’re asking for a tactical vehicle at 280,000 and again on this particular matter, I’d like to go into closed sessions if there’s questions about this vehicle,” then-Chief Yabuta told the Maui County Budget and Finance Committee on April 11, 2012.

As for why the Maui PD needed an armored truck that he would only discussed in closed session, away from public scrutiny? “[It’s] gonna be lifesaving not only for our officers, but for the public that they have to protect,” Yabuta told the committee, which never objected to his request to keep details of the Bearcat–or the Avatar, for that matter–out of the public record.

Unlike the Avatar–which the Maui PD and county have kept strangely quiet–the Bearcat has enjoyed tons of publicity. County officials circulated colorful photos of the behemoth truck. The Maui News and Maui Now wrote glowing stories about it. But beyond showing it off for the kiddies at a D.A.R.E. rally back in May, the PD doesn’t appear to have deployed the Bearcat in any sort of operation.

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As must be painfully obvious by this point, the Maui PD has all this equipment because the Maui County Council keeps giving it to them. In fact, I even found a time when a councilmember wanted to give the department more military firepower than they actually wanted.

It was at the April 16, 2013 Budget and Finance hearing, not long after Hokama asked what an M-7 rifle was. After Tom explained it to him, Hokama said it didn’t sound like enough. “Why wouldn’t you ask me for one 50 caliber rifle?” he asked Tom, according to the meeting minutes.

Tom said no thanks, adding that a .50 caliber rifle–a huge weapon capable of destroying a vehicle at a range of more than 2,000 yards–“would be overpenetration.”

“[W]hy wouldn’t we consider a penetration power?” the minutes show Hokama asked Tom, not dropping the matter. “You just told us about the robot because of the penetration power of the opposition so why wouldn’t we consider a penetration power? You already made us buy one armored vehicle” (emphasis added).

Still, Tom insisted that a .50 caliber rifle “would be impractical.”

“I’m not talking… I’m think about taking the thing out,” Hokama said, according to the minutes. “I’m not talking about… I’m talking about taking out the problem.”

Then Yabuta jumped in. “Sir, we don’t need a 50 caliber at this time,” he told Hokama. “If there’s a point in our budget where we do we’ll come before the Council. At this time we have sniper rifles that can go equal or even a longer distance than a 50 cal and it’s maneuverable and can be carried from point to point a lot easier than a 50 cal, so at this point in time it’s not advisable for us to have a 50 caliber…”

Which would be reassuring, had Yabuta not added in those little “at this point” and “at this time” caveats. Of course, Yabuta is no longer Maui PD’s chief. His successor may have different ideas about the department’s weapons and tactics. 

If people here are serious about making sure what happened–and may yet happen–in Ferguson doesn’t go down here, then the Maui PD needs to start releasing written policies governing the use of military weapons and equipment to the public. It means the federal government needs to stop giving municipal police departments gear meant for battlefields. And, most importantly, it means the Maui County Council needs to ask stronger questions of the department–and not just at budget time–about the MPD’s use of military weapons and tactics. Because as the ACLU noted in its report, militarization of the police is a dangerous trend that will only get worse unless serious changes are made.

“The use of paramilitary weapons and tactics to conduct ordinary law enforcement–especially to wage the failed War on Drugs and most aggressively in communities of color–has no place in contemporary society,” the ACLU concluded in its recent War Comes Home report. “It is not too late to change course–through greater transparency, more oversight, policies that encourage restraint, and limitations on federal incentives, we can foster a policing culture that honors its mission to protect and serve, not to wage war.” 

(Disclosure: MauiTime owner Tommy Russo is currently suing the County of Maui over an alleged assault by a Maui police officer.) 

Cover artist: Rodney K. Ferguson; Cover design: Darris Hurst; Photo of Avatar II: Wikimedia Commons; Photo of Bearcat: County of Maui

The post Maui Robocops: Looking at the militarization of the Maui Police Department appeared first on Maui Time.

Considering it was a concerted local effort on behalf of a national campaign, you’d think the Maui Police Department would have arrested more people for drunk driving as part of its recent “Drive Sober Or Get Pulled Over” push. But according to a Sept. 2 news release from the department, just 57 out of the 240 arrests during the campaign were for drunk driving. The remaining 76 percent of arrests were for “miscellaneous traffic crime” (41 arrests) and “Traffic Warrant” (142 arrests), according to the news release.

“During this eighteen day campaign, which started on August 15th and ran through September 1st, police set up (17) intoxication control checkpoints in various locations throughout Maui County,” MPD Sergeant Nick Krau said in a Sept. 2 news release. “In addition police increased dedicated traffic enforcement saturation patrols using both marked and unmarked police vehicles. All traffic laws were strictly enforced during this campaign with an emphasis being placed on impaired driving.”

The department also issued 1,255 citations during the big push. The offense breakdown is as follows:

Uninsured Motorist citations issued:                                    220

Driving without a driver’s license citations issued:            112

Speeding citations issued:                                                       139

Mobile Electronic Device (cell phone) citations issued:   49

Miscellaneous traffic violation citations issued:                 735

Though such a small portion of the actual arrests had anything to do with drunk driving, Krau nonetheless insisted that the operation was a success in the department’s war on drinking and driving in all its forms.

“Too many families have already been devastated by the tragic, preventable deaths of loved ones in alcohol-involved crashes,” Krau said in the news release. “We want to put an end to these tragedies. We participated in the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign because we wanted to send a strong message, The Maui Police Department will not tolerate impaired driving in our community. Our goal is to gain the voluntary compliance of all traffic laws and by presenting an unmistakable show of force, and arresting impaired drivers who put lives at risk we are hoping to get our point across.”

(Disclosure: MauiTime Owner/Publisher Tommy Russo is currently suing the County of Maui over an alleged assault by a Maui police officer.)

Photo: Wset10/Wikimedia Commons

The post Maui PD Makes 240 Arrests During ‘Drive Sober Or Get Pulled Over’ Campaign appeared first on Maui Time.

1. On Aug. 18, The Maui News reported that “nearly 20 people” had applied to be the new Maui Police Chief, though the newspaper said it could only confirm eight names. Which of the following was NOT among those eight the paper said want to be the next Maui Chief?

A. Deputy Chief Clayton Tom

B. Captain Charles Hirata (retired)

C. Lieutenant Bobby Hill (retired)

D. Mary Wagner (County of Maui business community plan manager)

E. Lieutenant Everett Ferreira

2. In 1974, Honolulu PD arrested Mufi Hannemann (the current Hawaii Independent Party candidate for governor) and his brother at a movie theater in Honolulu for allegedly harassing an off-duty cop. But at trial, Hannemann and his brother were found not guilty. According to blogger Ian Lind’s 2010 post on the incident, what was the movie they were trying to see when the incident occurred?

A. Chinatown

B. Young Frankenstein

C. Blazing Saddles

D. The Black Godfather

E. Willie Dynamite

3. Gov. Neil Abercrombie was a major backer of the proposed Oahu-Maui undersea power cable, but he lost the Democratic Party Primary Election. Which of the following governor candidates, according to an Aug. 15 Pacific Business News blog post, strongly supports the proposed cable?

A. Republican James “Duke” Aiona

B. Democrat David Ige

C. Hawaii Independent Mufi Hannemann

D. Both Ige and Hanneman

E. Both Aiona and Hannemann

See Answers below…

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ANSWERS

1: B–Captain Charles Hirata (retired)

2: E–Willie Dynamite

3: A–Republican James “Duke” Aiona

The post Quizunderstood: Who Wants To Be Maui Police Chief? appeared first on Maui Time.

Starting tonight and running through Sept. 1, the Maui Police Department will be undertaking a “crackdown” on drunk driving, as part of the nationwide “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign.

“We are sending a message and we want the people of Maui County to know the Maui Police Department does not tolerate impaired driving,” states an Aug. 15 press release from Sergeant Nick Krau of the Maui PD’s DUI Task Force. “Impaired driving is reckless and preventable, and it’s our job to get that point across. No excuses, no warnings. If drivers are caught driving impaired, they will be arrested.”

Stating that “over 10,000 people” die in alcohol-related crashes every year, Sergeant Krau continued with the warning:

“The DUI Task Force Unit of the Maui Police Department’s Traffic Section will be out in force actively participating in the ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’ campaign,” he added in the news release. “Motorist[s] can expect to see increased saturation patrols which will include the use of unmarked patrol vehicles and sobriety checkpoints.”

Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Of course, people shouldn’t drive while intoxicated–regardless of whether the cops are stepping up enforcement with checkpoints and sternly-worded press releases. And if you ever see someone driving who’s impaired, call the Maui Police Department’s non-emergency number: 808-244-6400 and report it.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The post Maui PD To Start Big DUI Crackdown TONIGHT appeared first on Maui Time.

Was it just me, or did anyone else find the above Associated Press story about the recent shooting in Ferguson, Missouri that ran in today’s Maui News to be bitterly funny? Of course, there’s nothing funny about the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Or the fact that residents and activists are outraged over the death and the department’s refusal to name the officer who killed Brown.

“The local authorities have put themselves in a position–hiding names and not being transparent–where people will not trust anything but an objective investigation,” Sharpton said in the AP story.

But there is something funny about a newspaper that sees a police department thousands of miles away that’s refusing to name an officer who killed someone as news when the same paper treats the same policy over here–withholding the names of cops in officer-involved shootings–as non-news.

Remember Marshall Langford? An officer with the Maui Police Department shot and killed Langford at the Mana Kai hotel parking lot back in May 2012. We still don’t know who the officer is because department policy–like that in Ferguson, Missouri–is to keep secret the names of cops who shoot people in the line of duty.

I found three stories written around the time of Langford’s shooting in The Maui News‘ online archives. Here are their headlines:

• “Man pulls a gun, is shot dead by officer” (May 23, 2012)

• “Man shot by a police didn’t have a gun, family claims” (May 24, 2012)

• “Officials say shotgun in reach of man shot by police” (May 25, 2012)

As you can see, none of the headlines confronted the issue that the Maui PD wouldn’t name the officer who shot and killed Langford. And as you’d expect, the stories didn’t raise any alarm over that fact, either (the most they would do is dryly note in the May 24, 2012 story that “Police said Wednesday that they were not releasing the officer’s name” before dropping the issue).

Maybe because Al Sharpton wasn’t out here to raise the issue, The Maui News just didn’t think it was news.

The post Maui News Says It’s News When Cops Refuse To Name Shooter, Unless It’s Here appeared first on Maui Time.

1. Friday, Aug. 1 marked the last run of the Sugar Cane Train on the Westside. But the Aug. 2 Maui News reported that “community leaders” are trying to raise money “to temporarily save” the train until a permanent buyer can be located. How much money are they trying to raise?

A. $10,000

B. $15,000

C. $20,000

D. $25,000

E. $30,000

2. Maui Police Chief Gary Yabuta officially retired on Wednesday, July 30. But the Maui Police Commission isn’t expected to name a replacement for another few months. Who is Maui’s police chief until then?

A. Clayton Tom

B. Victor Ramos

C. Lawrence Hudson

D. Danny Matsuura

E. Barney Fife

3. On July 31, Pacific Business News reported that Oracle founder/billionaire Larry Ellison had bought a little bit more of Lanai–namely, the Hotel Lanai. According to the story, when did that little hotel open?

A. 1943

B. 1933

C. 1923

D. 1913

E. 1903

See answers below…

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ANSWERS

1: D–$25,000

2: A–Clayton Tom

3: 1923

The post Quizunderstood: How well do you know Lanai? appeared first on Maui Time.