State reminds festival attendees of ohia quarantine ADVERTISING State reminds festival attendees of ohia quarantine HONOLULU (AP) — The state Department of Agriculture is reminding people attending the Merrie Monarch hula festival in Hilo later this month that quarantine restrictions
State reminds festival attendees of ohia quarantine
HONOLULU (AP) — The state Department of Agriculture is reminding people attending the Merrie Monarch hula festival in Hilo later this month that quarantine restrictions are in effect for Big Island ohia.
The department said Wednesday anyone who wants to carry ohia flowers, stems and other parts of the plant off the Big Island needs a permit to do so.
Rapid ohia death, caused by the fungus Ceratocystis fimbriata, has affected about 35,000 acres of the island’s ohia trees in just the last few years. Officials want to make sure it doesn’t spread to other islands.
Many hula dancers competing at the festival plan to avoid wearing ohia flowers during their performances so they don’t spread the fungus.
The festival begins Sunday.
4 arrested protesters avoid going to trial
WAILUKU, Maui (AP) — Four college students who had been awaiting trial after being arrested last year during a protest over the construction of a solar telescope on Maui have had most of their criminal charges dismissed.
The students now only face a single misdemeanor count each of disorderly conduct, which doesn’t require a jury trial. Second Circuit Judge Richard Bissen on Monday dismissed charges of failure to disperse and refusal to provide ingress or egress against all four defendants.
Bissen dropped the charges with prejudice, meaning they cannot be brought against the defendants again.
“It should be dismissed with prejudice,” Bissen said. “These folks have come to court several times.”
The students had been among 200 people who gathered July 31 to protest the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope being built at the Haleakala summit
Twenty people were arrested after some protesters chained themselves together and blocked the paths of trucks carrying parts for the telescope.
Defense attorney Hayden Aluli said the charges were dismissed against Cameron Ahia, Kristen Enriquez, Kahala Johnson and Jordon Takakura-Puha because the prosecution couldn’t prove police had ordered protesters to disperse before they were arrested.
The same two charges were dismissed Thursday for Samuel Kaeo, a University of Hawaii Maui College assistant professor, who had also been arrested at the protest.
“We’re glad they decided to drop it, definitely,” Takakura-Puha, 25, of Paia said after the hearing.
“It’s just unfortunate this is what we have to go through in order to protect cultural sites,” said Enriquez, 26, of Kihei.
Aluli, who represented 12 of the 20 people arrested during the protest, said six of his clients have been sentenced. Five were ordered to pay a $200 fine and placed on one year of unsupervised deferral after pleading no contest in District Court to failing to disperse, he said.
Honolulu Zoo loses accreditation because of funding concerns
HONOLULU (AP) — The Honolulu Zoo has lost its accreditation.
Association of Zoos and Aquariums spokesman Rob Vernon said Tuesday he couldn’t disclose why the zoo’s application for reaccreditation was denied. He says the discussions are confidential.
But Honolulu officials say the association was concerned about the zoo’s funding. The city says the association encouraged the zoo to reapply once the city and its community partners have addressed its funding situation.
Vernon says loss of accreditation could affect the zoo’s animals in managed breeding programs.
But he says the Honolulu Zoo wouldn’t necessarily have to send these animals to another facility. He says officials would decide what’s best for each animal. He says the association would never want to endanger an animal’s health.
Over 200 U.S. zoos are accredited by the association, including the National Zoo in Washington.
