Hawaii

Christian clubs win legal victory in Hawaii – The Lion

Published

2 days ago

July 2, 2024

Christian clubs win legal victory in Hawaii – The Lion

After-school Christian clubs won a legal victory in Hawaii after alleging suing over discrimination by public school officials.

A Hawaii district court granted Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) of Hawaii a preliminary injunction on Thursday.

CEF filed its initial lawsuit in January, claiming the state education department and local public school leaders were discriminating against CEF’s Good News Clubs.

The clubs are part of an interdenominational program for 5- to 12-year-olds and boast nearly 85,000 clubs worldwide, including 6,200 in the U.S.

According to CEF’s complaint, Good News Clubs were denied access to public school facilities because of their religious nature and, in some instances, made to pay rental fees not required of nonreligious groups.

“Defendants’ policies of unequal access, pretextual denials, and hostility to CEF’s religious message violate the Constitution and have denied some Hawaii elementary school students access to free, positive, and character-building Good News Clubs that enrich countless students’ lives in other Hawaii schools and throughout the country,” the lawsuit read.

The Hawaii court granted an injunction in favor of the Christian clubs, directing the state to provide CEF “equal access” to school facilities that are “made available to other similarly situated nonprofit organizations” such as Boy Scouts or Girls on the Run.

“This is a great victory for Child Evangelism Fellowship, parents, and the students in Hawaii public schools,” said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, which is representing the plaintiffs. “The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that public schools cannot discriminate against Christian viewpoints regarding use of school facilities.

“Child Evangelism Fellowship gives children a safe space that offers moral and character development from a Christian viewpoint. Good News Clubs should be in every public elementary school.”

Staver also noted in January that CEF has never lost a lawsuit for equal access.

Even so, the group continues to face discrimination from public schools.

Last year, CEF sued a Rhode Island district for equal access to school property and won. Other clubs – such as the Fellowship for Christian Athletes – have also had to fight for their rights to meet on campus.

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Hawaii

Burglary suspect attempting to set Maui building on fire caught on camera

Published

1 hour ago

July 4, 2024

Press Room

Burglary suspect attempting to set Maui building on fire caught on camera

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Maui Police Department is seeking the public’s help in identifying a female suspect who is wanted for burglary and arson.

On June 28 around 5:30 p.m., police said the woman broke into a building at 150 South High Street in Wailuku.

She then attempted to start a fire within the building.

Surveillance video showed the woman at the bottom of a staircase apparently trying to set it ablaze but failing after a few attempts. She ran away shortly after.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call MPD’s Criminal Investigation Division at (808)244-6425.

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Hawaii

Alcaraz, Sinner advance at Wimbledon but Ruud shown the door

Published

9 hours ago

July 4, 2024

Press Room

Alcaraz, Sinner advance at Wimbledon but Ruud shown the door

LONDON — Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and top seed Jannik Sinner took contrasting routes into the third round of Wimbledon but eighth seed Casper Ruud was unable to find a way through and felt the gloom on a cloudy Wednesday.

Alcaraz came close to dropping the first set of his contest against Australian Aleksandar Vukic but the third seed sprang to life and blew away his opponent with a 7-6(5) 6-2 6-2 victory during which he showed flashes of last year’s title-winning form.

“I’m feeling similar… Obviously, I’m getting better and better. Hopefully, if I keep winning, I’m going to find the same level as the final last year,” said Alcaraz, who downed Novak Djokovic in five sets to lift the title.

“I’m feeling that I’m playing great tennis. Physically, I’m feeling great. Hopefully I’ll keep going.”

Sinner was dragged into a fight by fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini and surrendered the third set tamely before battling to a 7-6(3) 7-6(4) 2-6 7-6(4) win shortly before the 11 p.m. curfew at the venue.

“For me a big honour to play in such an incredible venue and today I had my first match on Centre Court which is special. The support has been amazing,” Sinner said.

Daniil Medvedev began the day’s proceedings on Centre Court and looked out of sorts, even losing track of the score at one point in his clash with the 102-ranked Alexandre Muller before the fifth-seeded Russian prevailed 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 6-4 7-5.

Second seed Coco Gauff was also not at her best under the roof on Court One but reined in the errors to get past Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni 6-2 6-1.

The American said she needed to win more cleanly despite dropping only six games in two matches.

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Hawaii

In Hawaii and DC, a growing campaign seeks to restore Lahaina’s precious wetlands

Published

16 hours ago

July 4, 2024

Press Room

In Hawaii and DC, a growing campaign seeks to restore Lahaina’s precious wetlands

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The dream of restoring a 17-acre pond in Lahaina at the original site of the Hawaiian Kingdom government is gaining ground in Washington, D.C.

Advocate and cultural preservation expert Keeaumoku Kapu, leader of Na Aikane o Maui Community Foundation and a contractor for FEMA as a cultural and history advisor, points visitors to a basement parking lot under the destroyed 505 Front St. Shopping village.

Clear water rises up the ramp to nearly street level.

Kapu says it not rain runoff or ocean water. It’s fresh water coming up from an underground stream that once fed multiple ponds in the area. “Water is making a definitely big, huge statement,” Kapu said.

Kapu says it’s time to be led by the rising water — to take a former city park along Front Street and bring back Loko o Mokuhinia, a large pond that surrounded the island of Mokuula and served as a tomb for royalty before tourism took over Lahaina.

“So there’s a lot of trauma basically came about once the island was covered on the native Hawaiian perspective of why this area was so important, Kapu said.

The restoration of Mokuula has been talked about for over 50 years, but the fire — fueled by the dry landscape — has opened eyes to a physical and cultural transformation.

Maui Wildfires Disaster

West Maui Council Member Tamara Paltin says many believe Lahaina’s emphasis on whaling and plantation history has overshadowed its important role in development of the Hawaiian Kingdom. “There’s somewhat of a little bit of a blank slate feel,” she said I think you know, when we’re talking about the historic district of Lahaina,” she said.

One of the issues that prevented restoration in the past was money.

But with the Lahaina disaster well-known around the world, there seems to be more appetite in Washington for funding things like restoration of wetlands.

Most of Hawaii’s local and national leaders have joined in support of the plan.

“It’s really essential to restore this wetlands and this culturally and ecologically significant area,” said U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. “And if there’s a way that the federal government can help, I’m very open minded to that.”

U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, who represents Maui, was in the historic district Wednesday. She’s proposing historic Lahaina be named a National Heritage Area, eligible for federal funds.

“I think the really, good part is a good portion of the historic areas that people are looking at are already publicly owned by either the state or the county, and so that’s a really great start. So you can already start doing some of the work,” Tokuda said.

Gov. Josh Green announced his support for restoration several months ago.

“We’re also going to, right in that area be kind of recommitting ourselves to the cultural corridor, Mokuula, and that’s a very important thing,” Green said in April.

“So we’re going to be restoring fishponds. We’re going to make sure that we listen to our cultural leaders and the healers in the community.”

Kapu said it won’t be as easy as it sounds, you can’t just remove the groundcover to release the stream.

“I hope that the governor got a bigger wand than we think he has,” he said.

Kapu sees barriers in federal wetland regulations and potential Native Hawaiian burials in the soil used to fill the pond.

He points again to the spring water rising under the destroyed shopping village.

It and the park next door were once the site of a royal inland fishpond, near where the Hawaiian Kingdom Constitution was drafted, and where restoration efforts could start.

“Lo and behold, we already have a fish pond.,” he said. “All we have to do is take the mascara off, and we have the wetlands right there.”

The owners of 505 Front St., equity real estate firm Fowler Property Acquisitions, said they would not comment on any plan for the property.

It could be the first step to a potential freshwater renaissance of culture and history that advocates say could educate generations, attract and inform visitors, protect against fire and begin to change the dry climate of West Maui.

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