2 men die while snorkeling off beach on Maui
HONOLULU — Two people died three days apart while snorkeling off the same Maui beach.
On Saturday, a 67-year-old Castro Valley, Calif., resident was found unresponsive offshore at Kamaole Beach Park III.
Fire Services Chief Edward Taomoto says the man was snorkeling with friends about 20 yards offshore. They noticed he wasn’t moving and brought him to shore to administer life-saving procedures. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Thursday, a 50-year-old man from Oakland, Calif., died after he was found unresponsive in knee-deep water at the same beach.
Taomoto says the man was snorkeling alone when beachgoers found him unresponsive and floating face down in the water.
Emergency official to retire by end of year
HONOLULU — The executive officer of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency is planning to retire by year’s end.
Toby Clairmont said Monday his decision has nothing to do with the recent alert that mistakenly warned the public of a missile headed to Hawaii. He says he decided on retirement two years ago and no one asked him to step down.
Clairmont says he posted his career plans on Facebook but wasn’t prepared to publicly announce his retirement.
Gov. David Ige’s spokeswoman Cindy McMillan says the governor didn’t ask for Clairmont’s retirement.
HEMA spokesman Richard Rapoza says the agency did not ask Clairmont to retire.
Governor now knows Twitter password
HONOLULU — Gov. David Ige says he and his team took so long to post a message to social media about the recent missile alert being a false alarm because he didn’t know his Twitter username and password.
Ige told reporters Monday he’s since put his username and password into his cellphone. He says he now can use social media without waiting for his staff.
The governor was asked why his Twitter account relayed a Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweet about the false alarm at 8:24 a.m. Jan. 13 even though Ige learned about the mistake 15 minutes earlier at 8:09 a.m.
Ige’s communications staff members manage his social media accounts, as is the case with many politicians.
Ige spokeswoman Cindy McMillan said Friday the governor had to track her down to prepare a message for the public before they could post anything.
