Hawaii
Hawaii power company may have compromised evidence in probe of deadly Maui fire: report
![Hawaii power company may have compromised evidence in probe of deadly Maui fire: report Hawaii power company may have compromised evidence in probe of deadly Maui fire: report](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/NYPICHPDPICT000026721812.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024)
The Hawaii electric company whose equipment is believed to have sparked the deadly Maui wildfire removed damaged infrastructure from where the blaze likely started — a move that may have jeopardized the federal investigation into the disaster.
Records obtained by the Washington Post show that the utility company hauled away fallen poles, power lines, transformers, conductors and other equipment from the area surrounding the Lahaina substation starting on Aug. 12 — days before Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents arrived on sight.
In doing so, the power company may have violated national guidelines on how utilities should handle and preserve evidence after a wildfire and compromised the probe into the cause of the inferno that killed at least 115 people.
“If a lot of equipment is already moved or gone by the time the investigators show up, that’s problematic because you want to observe where the equipment was relative to the ignition site,” Michael Wara, who directs the Climate and Energy Policy program at Stanford University, told the Post.
But in a statement, Hawaiian Electric spokesman Darren Pai said the company has been “in regular communication with ATF and local authorities and are operating with them as well as attorneys representing people affected by the wildfires, with inventories and access to the removed equipment, which we have carefully photographed, documented and stored.”
The Post has also reached out for comment from the utility and the law firm representing it, California-based Munger, Tolles and Olsen.
Locals have told the Post how the fire started early in the morning of Aug. 8 when a transformer blew and sparked dry grass on Maui County-owned land, just about a mile away from Lahaina’s historic waterfront.
Hawaiian Electric had apparently failed to shut off the electricity in advance of high winds sweeping through the area, and within an hour the blaze roared down the hillside toward the ocean, destroying nearly everything in its path.
The utility is now facing at least eight lawsuits from local residents who are desperately trying to rebuild, claiming the company failed to preserve necessary evidence.
In one of those suits, a law firm representing more than two dozen Lahaina families asked Hawaiian Electric to preserve the evidence twice beginning on Aug. 10, according to correspondence obtained by the Post.
The next day, the Washington Post reported, one of the utility’s attorneys replied that Hawaiian Electric’s main focus was the safety of first responders who were still fighting the blaze, displaced residents and restoring power.
The company reportedly said it was “taking steps to preserve its own property,” but because so many local, state and federal agencies were still on the ground trying to fight the fires and clear debris, it was “therefore possible, even likely, that the actions of these third parties, whose actions Hawaiian Electric does not control, may result in the loss of property or other items that relate to the cause of the fire.”
“Hawaiian Electric will take reasonable steps to preserve evidence, but cannot make any guarantees due to the rapidly evolving situation on the ground, which is also not within our control,” the letter read, according to the Washington Post.
In response, attorneys for the residents submitted a temporary restraining order to stop Hawaiian Electric from greatly altering the scene where the fire started.
By Aug.18, a judge signed an interim discovery order detailing how the utility should have handled evidence around the “suspected area of origin.”
Under the National Fire Protection Association guidelines, “the integrity of the fire scene needs to be preserved” and “evidence should not be handled or removed without documentation.”
Hawaiian Electric argued in court documents that it removed the evidence because the company does not “own or control the land or public streets beneath its facilities.”
The utility has also hired a California-based “cause and origin” expert to “preserve potential evidence related to the fire,” according to the Washington Post.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the fire has now reached 115 people, and the number of missing has increased to 1,100.
![](https://newspub.live/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/np-logo.png)
Hawaii
No tsunami threat to Hawaii following large earthquake off the Philippines
![No tsunami threat to Hawaii following large earthquake off the Philippines No tsunami threat to Hawaii following large earthquake off the Philippines](https://gray-khnl-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/G7WFOWS27JBN3CLXMW3YUWRKSE.png?auth=a243d099b29f5f563f129b95ec3d1f581db5cc985c8147d179028d8a8602f4e2&width=1200&height=600&smart=true)
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – There is no tsunami threat to Hawaii following a large earthquake off the Philippines, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.8-magnitude quake happened at 12:23 p.m. Hawaii time and was located 11 miles east of Barcelona, Philippines at a depth of 10 kilometers.
There was no immediate information on any damage from the temblor.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Hawaii
5 Must-Try Craft Breweries on Oʻahu for Beer Lovers – Hawaii Magazine
![5 Must-Try Craft Breweries on Oʻahu for Beer Lovers – Hawaii Magazine 5 Must-Try Craft Breweries on Oʻahu for Beer Lovers – Hawaii Magazine](https://wpcdn.us-east-1.vip.tn-cloud.net/www.hawaiimagazine.com/content/uploads/2024/07/b/u/20240802-oahu-breweries-beer-lab-hi-poke-bowl-beer.jpg)
Hawai’i has a long history of beer making. Honolulu Brewery, established in 1854 (now closed), was the first commercial brewery on Oʻahu, followed by Primo Beer in 1901. After a long lull, the craft beer movement made its way back to the Islands in 1994 slowly growing over the years. Oʻahu has a tight craft beer community. From Kalihi to Kāneʻohe, brewers share their support for one another, as well as for local farms and restaurants, by creating collaboration beers. Besides having highly skilled, passionate brewers and a love for connecting with their community, these breweries are also all self-distributors, meaning the only place you will find their beer is on O’ahu.
Here are five to try.
Hana Koa Brewing Co.
Photo: Courtesy of Hana Koa Brewing Co.
“I like to cultivate memories with beers,” said Josh Kopp, head brewer at Hana Koa Brewing Co. His Midnight Pretender—a porter made with koshihikari rice from The Rice Factory in Kakaʻako—takes him back to his street racing days when he was underage, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes in an Oʻahu parking lot until two in the morning. Once that tap runs dry Kopp will replace it with cortado, a coffee-infused stout he made in collaboration with TRY Coffee. The beer smells and tastes just like its namesake espresso drink with a hit of dark chocolate. My current favorite is Earth To Beer, a sour beer fermented with fragrant basil, lemongrass and lime that is so pure and bright it drinks like a muddled cocktail. Kopp’s go-to is the Rooftop, named after a time in his life when he and now-wife girlfriend and brewery co-founder would hang out on the roof of her apartment and drink Ballast Point Grunion pale ale.
Since expanding his business, Kopp has acquired a number of tools for quality control and offers lab services for other brewers on island. He has also offered to sell his hops to other brewers at cost and invites them to Washington to visit farms, so they can select the hops together to ship back to O’ahu.
“It’s kinda like if you were the kid in the neighborhood that got the Nintendo first you shouldn’t be a jerk and not let the other kids come over and play,” Kopp explains.
hanakoabrewing.com, @hanakoabrewing
Howzit Brewing
![20240801 Oahu Breweries Put The Rad In Radler Howzit Sarah Burchard](https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/content/uploads/2024/08/w/h/20240801-oahu-breweries-put-the-rad-in-radler-howzit-sarah-burchard-942x1024.jpg)
Inside Howzit Brewing.
Photo: Sarah Burchard
After a good surf sesh, owner Justin Heikkinen said he likes to pour himself a refreshing Put the Rad in Radler, Howzit’s lemonade slush infused delight. “It’s the gateway to beer,” he said. If the slushie radler is the gateway to beer, the Solar Journey is the gateway to IPA. Its fruity notes and lack of bitterness make it so easy to crush. Heikkinen, born in Seattle where the craft beer scene exploded, spent a good portion of his life in Portland where he became a home brewer. When Phil Pesheck, formerly of Burke-Gilman Brewing Co. in Seattle, became available he quickly snagged him to open Howzit. Beers here are ever-rotating. Heikkinen isn’t interested in having flagship beers. He wants customers to always have a new reason to visit. It will be a sad day for me when the Bonfire Baja runs out. The dark Mexican-style lager reminds me of my beer drinking days in my hometown San Diego. Still excited about the novelty of having a slush machine in a brewery I ordered the Kakaʻako Cold Brew, a coffee-vanilla cream ale, in slush form. Thick like soft serve, I could have eaten it with a spoon, but just like Heikkinen promised, as it began to melt the frozen golden ale turned into a frappuccino-like treat.
@howzitbrewing
Inu Island Ales
Inu Island Ales presents a unique, modern approach to brewing beer. Head brewer John “Magic” Montes De Oca makes beers that people will crave and keep reaching for, such as the Mango Colada, a coconut hard seltzer that is thick and fruity like a smoothie. The Mo-Waka, a West Coast-style IPA made with Mosaic and Riwaka hops, is another stand-out. The modern techniques and lager yeast he uses amplify the tropical notes in the hops and make it so smooth and well-balanced it tastes like it is in a category all on its own. Montes De Oca champions West Coast-style IPAs believing they have gotten a bad rap for being overly bitter. “The way people make them now with modern hops and techniques lends to a much better drinking experience,” he said. The Coco Fumes stout is akin to a Mexican hot chocolate dessert drink and is meant to be shared as such.
Collaborations happen organically. Tradition Coffee Roasters in Kailua is one of Montes De Oca’s favorite local roasters. After sharing with the owner that he wanted to make a blonde stout with pandan (a herbaceous tropical plant that grows in Southeast Asia) and coffee he invited Montes De Oca to the roastery and taught him how coffee is made and how he selects and roasts beans. They tasted several coffees together to decide which would work best resulting in a beer that smelled of vanilla cappuccino and grassy, nutty pandan.
inuislandales.com, @inuislandales
Beer Lab HI
![20240802 Oahu Breweries Beer Lab Pxl 20240508 020837657](https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/content/uploads/2024/08/g/s/20240802-oahu-breweries-beer-lab-pxl-20240508-020837657-1024x1024.jpg)
Photo: Courtesy of Beer Lab HI
Co-founder Nicolas Wong believes that living on an island means we need to support one another. Beer Lab HI does its part by constantly highlighting local businesses and sourcing Hawai’i-grown ingredients. For a chill beer garden experience visit Beer Lab’s newest location on Beretania Street in Honolulu, which offers 12 picnic tables covered by umbrellas are surrounded by two walls of murals, a modest walk-up bar (which also includes whiskey and wine) and a poke counter with smoked marlin dip, fruit tarts and dog treats. On a warm evening I sampled some new and old brews while music by Red Hot Chili Peppers played in the background: Omakase, seemingly everyone’s go-to, including mine, is a hazy IPA with low bitterness and citrus notes; Chasing Sunrises is a bright and refreshing sour made with passion fruit and the newest release, Green Rivah, is a collaboration with the iconic Rainbow Drive-In that tastes just like the local favorite lemon-lime soda.
beerlabhi.com, @beerlabhi
Kalihi Beer
Originally Broken Boundaries Brewery, founder and head brewer Chris Cook changed the name to Kalihi Beer to better reflect what was most important to him. “We took on the name Kalihi because we are proud of our community,” he said. “Kalihi is the blue-collar lifeblood of this city, and while Kalihi, like any other community, has its challenges, you’ll find people here with extraordinary determination and ambition who are making a way to succeed despite lacking the resources that some others may have. We are proud to be a part of this, and we wanted our name to reflect that pride.” To connect with Kalihi the brewery hosts events and collaborates with a number of Kalihi nonprofits such as Hoʻoulu ʻĀina, the Kalihi Watershed Management Partnership, Fire Station 31 and The Pōpolo Project. On any given night you can experience live music, local art and conversations about conservation in Kalihi and Kāpalama.
Beers range from the most bitter of IPAs, such as the Hi-Fi, to Cook’s “desert island beer,” Bierfurdeinkin Hefeweizen, which is refreshing and pairs well with food. Cook takes what he knows about traditional brewing and applies them to an audience who is looking for something modern and new. His wildly popular Pop Top Kolsch can be found on draft in some of Oʻahu’s best restaurants, such as Peter Merriman’s Monkeypod Kitchen and natuRe Waikīkī.
kalihibeer.com, @kalihibeer
Hawaii
Officials: Hawaii inmate at Arizona prison attacked guard and fellow prisoner, opened other cells
![Officials: Hawaii inmate at Arizona prison attacked guard and fellow prisoner, opened other cells Officials: Hawaii inmate at Arizona prison attacked guard and fellow prisoner, opened other cells](https://gray-khnl-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/REGNWDLIYNACHFCYKMODYBCLSQ.png?auth=d9de4555b35f6257bac35d302801a603c3a4462b34af183b834a755cc1890405&width=1200&height=600&smart=true)
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – An investigation is underway after alleged attacks targeting a prison guard and a Hawaii inmate at Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona.
The mother of that inmate believes other prisoners are trying to kill her son.
“We’re not the only family who wants answers,” said Rhonda Kosi.
Rhonda is demanding to know how her baby brother, Daniel, who is an inmate at Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona was stabbed multiple times while he was inside his private cell.
“We don’t know where he was stabbed, how he was stabbed. We were told that one of the stab wounds was to his eye, his eye, his retina, had to get sewed,” Rhonda said.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said both a correctional officer and a Hawaii inmate were assaulted at the Saguaro Correctional Center (SCC) in Eloy, Arizona on Saturday, July 27.
“Consider it attempted murder … why him?” said Kosi’s mother Wanda Ishimine. Kosi was sentenced in 1999 to eight life terms in prison, one without the possibility of parole, after he was convicted of murder.
His family says he, and all inmates, still have human rights.
“They’re not dogs. They’re not animals. They’re human beings. They’re somebody’s family. They’re someone’s loved one,” Rhonda. “We all bleed the same. We’re all human.”
“He’s not a dog. He’s a human being,” said Wanda.
Wanda and Rhonda said Kosi was in segregation at the time of the alleged attack, which means he was isolated from other inmates. “
This is segregation, supposedly high security section,” said Rhonda. “It takes time to overpower an ACO (Adult Correctional Officer), get the keys, find that right key to open a cell, and then another cell, then another cell, then to my brother’s cell … cameras everywhere … we want to know, how does this happen?”
Hawaii inmates are sent to Arizona to ease overcrowding.
In May, Anton Myklebust, 46, died after an apparent assault at the facility.
Kosi’s family fears it has gotten out of control and other inmates could be in danger.
“They make money to house everybody, and they should be doing their job,” Rhonda said.
Rhonda said no one from the facility called them to notify them about the alleged attack on her bother and said staff is refusing to let them speak with him.
She said all they want is answers and reassurance that their loved ones are safe.
“Daniel, if you hear, I love you and be strong,” said Wanda. “Give him strength, Jesus. Give him strength to protect himself.”
“I can’t stay quiet,” said Rhonda. “Somebody got to be held accountable.”
Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
-
Mississippi3 days ago
MSU, Mississippi Academy of Sciences host summer symposium, USDA’s Tucker honored with Presidential Award
-
World1 week ago
Typhoon Gaemi barrels towards China’s Fujian after sinking ship off Taiwan
-
Politics1 week ago
Trump team files FEC complaint over transfer of Biden's $91M to Harris campaign: 'Brazen money grab'
-
News1 week ago
Video: Biden Says It’s Time to ‘Pass the Torch’ to a New Generation
-
News1 week ago
Video: Kamala Harris May Bring Out Trump’s Harshest Instincts
-
News1 week ago
Who Can Achieve the American Dream? Race Matters Less Than It Used To.
-
World5 days ago
More right wing with fewer women – a new Parliament compendium
-
Politics1 week ago
House unanimously votes to create Trump assassination attempt commission