October 28, 2023 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Saturday, October 28, 2023

October 28, 2023 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:35 PM :: 1347 Views

Gays, CNHA, ACLU Push Amendment to Hawaii State Constitution

Sterile Mosquitoes Released on Kauai

State settles sex discrimination case with Campbell female athletes

NYT: … Hawaii education officials Friday agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by female athletes at the state’s biggest public high school alleging widespread and systemic sex discrimination, as well as retaliation against the girls who raised those concerns.

The lawsuit, filed by the athletes and their families from James Campbell High School in Ewa Beach, had accused school officials of forcing water polo athletes to practice in the ocean, sometimes battling whipping winds and choppy waves, because the school had failed to provide them a pool.

Closer to campus, female athletes had to run to a nearby Burger King to use the bathroom, or change clothes under the bleachers or on the bus. By contrast, the boys had their own locker room and facilities….

Under a joint motion for preliminary approval of a settlement filed Friday, the state agreed to hire an independent evaluator to ensure that girls at Campbell had equal opportunities in terms of sports offerings, facilities, transportation and scheduling….

The settlement also stipulated that the school would be subject to a seven-year compliance plan, and create a hotline and a place online to report violations, as well as protect students who raised issues about gender equity from retaliation.

“We are hopeful that this monumental settlement will be a building block in Hawaii and nationwide to a future where every girl is ensured the rights required by Title IX,” said Jayma Meyer, counsel at Simpson Thacher &Bartlett LLP, which worked with Legal Aid at Work and the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii to represent the plaintiffs….

WaPo: Hawaii Department of Education settles female athletes’ lawsuit

NYP: Hawaii settles lawsuit after female athletes forced to practice in ocean, use restroom at Burger King

AT: It is a miracle: Hawaiian court has determined that boys and girls are different - American Thinker

SA: Editorial: Advance gender equity in schools

read … State settles sex discrimination case with Campbell female athletes

Kula residents getting water meters back

HNN: … Ross stands in front of a fire hose near his property.

“A retired fireman came up and noticed we had a standpipe and donated the hose and showed us how to use it,” he said. “So, we’re firefighters now.”

Aside from fighting fires, they are trying to stabilize the now bare soil with native plants to prevent mudslides when rain comes….

While they have a hose, most of them don’t even have water.

The county water department took their water meters away. The water director said it was necessary to protect all the other water users.

“Well, in the first place, all the water meters are property of the county. We supply water meters to serve properties, but they are a property of the county and when you have a fire and it destroys the home, and then a service connection, contamination can get into that line,” said John Stufflebean.

Ross said they were left in the dark.

He said they need water to irrigate their land, stabilize the soil, and fight potential future fires because it is still smoldering in the nearby gulch.

Ross is one of only a few who now has his water meters back. He said he paid about $1,600 to have it reinstalled with a backflow preventor. He is now advocating for his neighbors.

Stufflebean said the rest of the homeowners will get their meters back this week or next.

“Be patient. I know that’s really hard to say. But we will not provide water until it’s safe and we will not tell people that the water is safe until it is,” Stufflebean said….

read … Kula residents who lost homes in fire say county took much-needed water meters (hawaiinewsnow.com)

Usual Suspects Still Calling for Coco Palms to Remain Ruined

TGI: … s the developer of the Coco Palms Resort reported being just weeks away from commencing demolition of the deteriorated site and constructing a 350-room resort, county officials and members of the public continued to debate the possibility of halting the project in two separate meetings this week.

The meetings, one from the Planning Commission on Tuesday, and the other, a committee meeting from the Kaua‘i County Council on Wednesday, followed Utah-based developer Reef Capital Partners’ largely unsuccessful community meeting in Wailua on Oct. 18.

The planning commission, a county office that makes decisions on zoning and land use permits, listened to similar concerns stated at the community meeting.

“There will be a barrage of tourists, which will negatively impact Kaua‘i and foreigners. Kaua‘i would be on par with the destruction of O‘ahu and Maui,” said Bonnie Bator, one of approximately 25 people to testify on Tuesday.

“We implore the county of Kaua‘i Planning Commission to deny this ill-conceived proposal, as it will further destroy Wailua and the east coast of Kaua‘i,” Bator said.

But no action to change the developer’s plans could be taken following the testimony, according to Planning Director Kaaina Hull. He said at the meeting that its purpose was simply to acknowledge receipt of a required annual status report.

“The commission does not have the authority to take action in any fashion today,” Hull said.

Residents’ testimonies in opposition to the plans were lengthy and included concerns of damage to the environment, negative cultural impacts, increases in traffic, flooding risks, and pending investigations by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Reef Capital’s attorney Mauna Kea Trask, on the other hand, spent about 50 minutes at that meeting responding to questions about what he called “misinformation” from testifiers about the resort’s development.

“It’s on the historic register, state and national. So it’s a rehabilitation and reconstruction project,” said Trask in an interview with The Garden Island following the meeting.

“We’re not trying to be oppositional. We’re just completing the project,” he added.

‘It’s legal, it’s done’…

read … Coco Palms debate continues as demolition nears - The Garden Island

Former Big Island assistant police chief 'not in right mind' -- still in jail

HTH: … According to court documents, Carrie Akina, a 41-year-old detective with HPD’s Area II Criminal Investigation Section, was awakened by a phone call at about 5:08 a.m. from her neighbor Tennille Howard.

Howard later told police that she had heard someone yelling outside between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. and eventually approached him, telling him he wasn’t allowed to be there.

Akina, who according to the documents had been in a relationship with Kanehailua between 2016 and 2020, had previously obtained a protective order against him in March that prohibits him from coming within 100 feet of her.

In response to Howard’s remark, Kanehailua allegedly swung at her, but she was able to evade the attack, whereupon she called Akina.

Upon answering the phone, Akina heard Kanehailua’s voice in the background, prompting her to approach her front door.

At the front door, Akina allegedly witnessed Kanehailua shouting obscenities and kicking the door. He then approached a glass door on another side of the residence and shouting at it instead.

Akina later told police that she felt that Kanehailua would be an immediate threat to her and her two children if he were to break the glass door, so she went to retrieve her police service weapon from a safe in her bedroom, the documents state.

Upon her return to the front of the house, Akina saw her two nephews “confronting” Kanehailua, and eventually the two were able to “gain control” of him, according to the documents.

Akina retrieved her police handcuffs from her vehicle and restrained Kanehailua until other officers arrived. Officers allegedly found the restrained Kanehailua shouting obscenities and seemingly not “in the right state of mind.”

Kanehailua initially was placed under arrest for the violation of the order of protection and harassment, but after conferring with the Department of the Attorney General, he was charged with the other offenses, and his bail was set at $9,000.

He appeared at an initial hearing in Kona District Court on Tuesday, where bail was maintained, and he remained in custody pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday, however Deputy Attorney General Elyse Oyama filed a felony information complaint, which negated the need for a preliminary hearing and sent the case to Circuit Court.

The case is being prosecuted by the State Attorney General because of a conflict of interest with county prosecutors.

Kim maintained bail at $9,000 and set Feb. 6, 2024 for a jury trial….

read … Former Big Island assistant police chief requests trial - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

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