Comfortable weekend, Hawaii! That is a part of Spectrum Information Hawaii’s weekly collection, the place we recap the highest tales you’ll have missed all through the week.
Be aware: The tales under have been truncated, so please click on on the hyperlinks to learn them of their entirety.
This week’s large tales
1. Los Angeles Rams rookies assist with rebuild of Lahaina home during minicamp week
Quickly after smoke started blowing by means of her Kahoma subdivision neighborhood, Ivory Gilmore fled together with her youngsters and canine and headed for her mom’s place in Kahului.
The same old 40-minute drive took 4 hours, however they received there.
A return to normalcy has taken for much longer. Tuesday, nonetheless, was a special occasion within the years lengthy rebuilding and restoration course of.
Thirty Los Angeles Rams rookies assisted 24 Habitat for Humanity Maui staff to lift wood wall frames at Gilmore’s property on Komo Mai Avenue within the middle of Lahaina city. It was one in all 10 properties that Habitat constructed a house within the space just some years earlier than the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfires destroyed 1000’s of buildings and killed greater than 100 individuals.
2. Unannounced test alert sent to everyone in Hawaii
On Friday at 11:03 a.m., individuals throughout Hawaii acquired an “emergency alert check” on their telephone that was paired with a loud blaring sound.
The Hawaii Emergency Administration Company despatched the message.
“This check is a routine process designed to make sure that our emergency communication methods are functioning correctly and may successfully present essential data throughout precise emergencies,” stated HIEMA in a information launch despatched an hour after the emergency check. “There isn’t a present menace to the state of Hawaiʻi. This check was supposed solely to validate our methods.”
“HIEMA emphasizes the significance of those routine checks, because the company continues to make sure that our communication methods are dependable and prepared for use within the occasion of an emergency. We perceive that alerts could cause issues; nonetheless, we need to guarantee the neighborhood that this was a deliberate and innocent check,” HIEMA added.
Spectrum Information Hawaii requested HIEMA why there wasn’t a forewarning to individuals in Hawaii concerning the check alert.
“It was a check message to certain that our methods are working,” HIEMA spokeperson Kīele Amundson stated through e mail.
Spectrum Information Hawaii requested a follow-up query asking for extra data and can replace this story if we obtain a response.
(Spectrum Information/Michelle Broder Van Dyke)
3. Hong Kong Chop Suey on Hawaii Island closed because of cockroach infestation
Hong Kong Chop Suey on Hawaii Island was closed on June 12 after a well being inspector found a cockroach infestation and plenty of different meals security violations, in response to a Hawaii Division of Well being information launch.
DOH’s Meals Security Department issued a crimson “closed” placard to Hong Kong Chop Suey at 82-6066 Mamalahoa Freeway in Captain Cook dinner throughout a routine inspection after discovering an lively cockroach infestation, adulterated meals merchandise, no devoted handwashing sink, unsanitary circumstances throughout the facility and lack of an on-site licensed secure meals handler.
The eatery is operated by Man You Chen.
That is the complete record of violations the DOH inspector recorded:
- Cross-contaminated meals;
- Gear food-contact surfaces and utensils aren’t clear to sight and contact;
- Stay cockroaches and feces on meals containers, meals preparation surfaces and under tools;
- Perimeter partitions and roofs of a meals institution didn’t successfully defend the institution from the entry of bugs, rodents and different animals;
- Meals was not saved correctly to stop cross-contamination;
- Prepared-to-eat meals within the fridge weren’t correctly date marked;
- The dishwashing course of didn’t embrace correctly sanitizing dishes;
- Bodily amenities weren’t maintained and cleaned;
- Handwashing sink was not operable;
- No licensed secure meals handler was on web site throughout operations.
4. Kahikinui brush fire remains 95% contained
With the Kahikinui brush hearth at 95% containment, the Maui County Division of Fireplace and Public Security has transferred “general command and accountability” for the hearth to the State Division of Land and Pure Sources Division of Forestry and Wildlife as of Thursday morning.
Transferring ahead, county firefighters will help containment efforts and clean-up operations by offering personnel, equipment and tools, along with water tankers from Public Works.
As of seven a.m. Wednesday, the Maui County Fireplace Division says the Kahikinui hearth stays at 330 acres and 95% containment. There was little hearth exercise in a single day.
MFD and DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife firefighters will proceed to enhance containment and extinguish sizzling spots throughout the hearth perimeter. Water tankers from Public Works and two helicopters will help within the effort.
Piilani Freeway reopened at 7 p.m. Tuesday and can stay open, barring any emergencies, per the Maui Police Division.
Fireplace equipment and tankers will proceed to be stationed alongside the roadway, so officers urge motorists to drive with warning and, if attainable, keep away from the world.
Associated: Brush fire in Schofield Barracks Range now 85% contained
Maui County Division of Fireplace and Public Security Chief Brad Ventura credited firefighters with preserving houses secure. (Picture courtesy of Maui Emergency Administration Company Fb web page)
5. FBI Honolulu urges caution as financial scams target seniors
With World Elder Abuse Consciousness Day noticed on June 15, FBI Honolulu reminds the aged and their family members about elder fraud.
he FBI investigates monetary scams focusing on seniors, together with funding scams, technical/buyer help schemes, cash mule (those that assist criminals launder cash) and romance scams, amongst others.
Based on the FBI’s Web Crime Criticism Heart knowledge, a complete of $4.885 billion was misplaced from 14,127 complaints in 2024. It marks a 46% improve in complaints from 2023, along with a 43% improve in losses. In Hawaii, a complete of $18,851,052 was misplaced in 2024 with funding rip-off losses totaling over half of that — $9,809,411.
“Whereas monetary scams are nothing new, the high-tech strategies scammers use are always evolving with know-how. Funding scams are notably malicious as they prey on victims’ feelings and drain them of their life financial savings,” stated FBI Honolulu Particular Agent in Cost David Porter in a launch.
“The FBI is dedicated to investigating, disrupting and bringing these criminals to justice. We encourage our neighborhood to make use of warning when sending cash to others, and to contact the FBI in the event you suppose you would be the sufferer of a rip-off,” Porter stated.
Criminals steadily goal seniors who’re perceived as extra well mannered and trusting. Criminals additionally assume seniors are extra financially steady, personal actual property, spend extra time alone and are much less more likely to report fraud in the event that they really feel ashamed or are unfamiliar with the best way to report fraud corresponding to through the online Internet Crime Complaint Center.
6. Matt Elliott confirmed as Hawaii Manoa athletic director at UH Board of Regents meeting
Eleven days after he was introduced because the decide as the brand new College of Hawaii-Manoa athletic director, Matt Elliott might lastly step from the shadows as a confirmed man and current his imaginative and prescient of success to the general public.
Although specifics have been few as Elliott spoke to the media Monday morning — he stated greater than as soon as he should settle in and rise up to hurry on a lot of issues like the brand new stadium undertaking and fundraising — he relayed in a assured but measured cadence that he felt as much as the duty in a difficult time within the division’s historical past.
Elliott agreed to phrases for a five-year contract at a base wage of $425,000, way more substantial than his latest predecessors at a time that UH President Wendy Hensel stated “we will not afford one other two-year appointment,” referring to the 18-month tenure of former AD Craig Angelos.
Hensel’s decide of the previous UCLA athletics administrator was confirmed through unanimous vote (10-0) by the UH Board of Regents. Regent Neil Abercrombie spoke the longest throughout his flip to vote, describing a dangerous time for the funds and way forward for UH Athletics, however even the curmudgeonly former Hawaii governor forged his help.
When the vote tally was learn, applause broke out in Bachman Corridor’s major convention room. A number of UH Athletics personnel members attended the assembly. Girls’s basketball coach Laura Beeman and monitor and discipline coach Tim Boyce have been available, as was UH band director Gwen Nakamura.
Matt Elliott, the brand new College of Hawaii-Manoa athletic director, and UH President Wendy Hensel posed with shakas at Bachman Corridor after Elliott was confirmed into the place by unanimous vote from the UH Board of Regents on Monday. (Spectrum Information/Brian McInnis)
Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum Information Hawaii. E mail her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.
