Top 10 news stories for 2010

• Aloha ‘Oe Andy Irons • Anahola murder shocks Kaua‘i • Suicide

prevention series • Kaipo Asing departs County Council • Democrats

take back Hawai‘i’s main office • Banding together against barking

dogs • Human-trafficking lawsuit affects Kaua‘i • Councilwoman

discloses harassment • KIUC pleads guilty to illegal taking of

seabirds • Multi-use path brings myriad concerns

Aloha ‘Oe Andy Irons

LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i surf legend Andy Irons died Nov. 2 in a Dallas, Texas hotel room as he was traveling back to Kaua‘i from Puerto Rico.

Irons, 32, had been scheduled to compete at the Association of Surfing Professionals 2010 Rip Curl Pro Search, but pulled out of the event earlier while suffering from Dengue fever, which he had reportedly contracted at an event in Portugal.

Irons’ premature death shocked not only the surfing community, but also the rest of the world. Irons was a three-time world champion and four-time Hawaiian Triple Crown champion.

An estimated 6,500 people came to a memorial service at Irons’ home surf break of Pine Trees in Hanalei on Nov. 14.

Wife Lyndie gave birth to Andy Axel Irons on Dec. 8, which, coincidentally was the same morning the opening round at the 2010 Pipe Masters got underway.

Anahola murder shocks Kaua‘i

LIHU‘E — As police detectives continue their investigation and attorneys prepare for court hearings, island residents are seeking more information about the brash murder that left one Kapa‘a resident dead a week before Christmas in Anahola.

“Our entire community has been shocked by this terrible crime, and I have complete confidence in our law enforcement personnel to bring the guilty parties to justice,” Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. said in a statement Wednesday.

On Dec. 17, Aureo Arick Moore, 34, of Kapa‘a, was reportedly shot three times in his torso. As he laid face down, the shooter then put two more bullets at close range in the back of Moore’s head.

Anahola resident Vicente Hilario, 24, has been charged with first- and second-degree murder. If convicted of first-degree murder, he will face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Arguably the most shocking fact about the crime was that it happened at approximately 11 a.m. in the middle of Mana‘i Road, a couple hundred yards from Anahola Beach Park where children and families were enjoying a sunny Friday morning.

Suicide prevention series

LIHU‘E — Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people ages 10 to 24, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Though it is a topic typically relegated to the background and thought of as taboo, “it’s happening and we need to be up front about it,” said Kathy Morishige of the Kaua‘i High School Peer Education Program.

It is a pain seemingly no one else understands. It starts wide and gradually narrows to a point where the hopelessness is so deep and the pain so intense that everything else in between is lost, said Gina Kaulukukui, state chair of the Prevent Suicide Hawai‘i Task Force.

The good news is there’s help and it’s free and readily available.

“Help is a phone call away,” Kaulukukui said.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 24/7 confidential hotline available to anyone in crisis or distress, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Wilcox Memorial Hospital Emergency Room in Lihu‘e: 24/7, call 245-1100. Kaua‘i Police Department: 24/7, call 911.

Kaipo Asing departs County Council

LIHU‘E — A chilly rain fell in Lihu‘e on the night of Nov. 2, a few moments after the second wave of election results showed Kaua‘i County Council Chair Kaipo Asing had fallen from eighth to ninth place in the race for the seven-member legislative body.

Asing’s bid for a 15th term on the council — interrupted only by his 1998 unsuccessful run for the mayor’s office — came to an end this year’s election. Asing finished in ninth place. The council takes only seven seats.

Asing ended a 28-year career as a council member, the longest period a lawmaker served on Kaua‘i. It’s likely his record will never be matched, as a new County Charter amendment now limits council terms to eight years.

A day after the election results, Asing was seen on the side of the highway in Puhi, thanking the voters who kept him in office for nearly three decades.

Democrats take back Hawai‘i’s main office

HONOLULU — Democrat Neil Abercrombie, who resigned a safe congressional seat early in 2010 to seek the state’s top job, on Nov. 2 was elected Hawai‘i’s governor.

Abercrombie, 72, is the first Hawai‘i’s Democratic governor in eight years, succeeding GOP Gov. Linda Lingle. The former 10-term congressman who represented urban Honolulu, defeated Republican Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona.

Abercrombie’s win also made former state Democratic Party Chairman Brian Schatz the new lieutenant governor.

In addition to restoring the state’s economy, the ex-congressman proposed to create an independent authority that would more quickly implement clean energy policies and to fold some current state offices into a new Department of Early Childhood.

Banding together against barking dogs

LIHU‘E — They can be man’s best friend, but to his neighbors a constantly barking dog can be their worst nightmare.

“It changes who you are. It makes you just as neurotic as the dogs that are barking,” Puhi resident Michelle Williams said.

After becoming so disturbed by a neighbor’s barking dog, Williams decided to start an online support group. She said she was “blown away” by what she found out.

“Not only am I not alone, but my situation is not half as bad as some of the other people,” she said.

Former Kaua‘i Humane Society executive director Dr. Becky Rhoades said in June that Kaua‘i doesn’t have a dog nuisance law, something that every other county in Hawai‘i has.

Despite the lack of a county ordinance regulating dog nuisance, Rhoades said many times the solution can be simple.

“People are neighbors and if they’re going to live next to each other, they need to talk to each other,” she said.

Human-trafficking lawsuit affects Kaua‘i

LIHU‘E — A labor-recruiting company at the heart of what the FBI called the largest human-trafficking case in U.S. history has denied allegations of exploiting hundreds of workers imported from Thailand to work on farms on Kaua‘i, throughout the state and on the Mainland.

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission made a determination finding Global Horizons and farms across the U.S. guilty of violating workers’ civil rights and discriminating against them based on their nationality, said Chanchanit “Chancee” Martorell, executive director at the Thai Community Development Center, based in Los Angeles, California.

The Thai CDC helped 263 Thai workers file complaints with the EEOC, including several against Kaua‘i Coffee. Martorell said the EEOC would be demanding $3.5 million in compensation.

Kaua‘i Coffee — which contracted with Global Horizons to provide workers for its Kalaheo farm several years ago — filed a complaint against the contracting company, seeking to be indemnified and held harmless of any charges.

The management at Kaua‘i Coffee sent in September a letter to employees stating that the company was not involved in the criminal charges against Global Horizons, and was cooperating with investigators.

Councilwoman discloses harassment

NAWILIWILI — With only two weeks remaining until the general elections of Nov. 2, County Councilwoman Lani Kawahara made a surprising statement at a council meeting.

“I’ve experienced (harassment) here, on the level of the County Council,” said Kawahara, adding that such harassment happened a year and a half prior to her disclosure.

Kawahara did not name the harasser. But Kaua‘i Police Department records show that she filed a complaint against Chair Kaipo Asing.

Kawahara said the harasser told her, during a meeting recess, that she had “crossed the line.” As Asing spoke, he allegedly ran his index finger across his neck.

Attorney Michael Soong, representing Asing, said the chair denies ever harassing Kawahara.

Months later Kawahara told investigator James Kurasaki that Asing had not bothered her since, and then withdrew the complaint.

Two weeks after Kawahara told her story in front of public TV cameras, Asing lost his bid for re-election.

KIUC pleads guilty to illegal taking of seabirds

LIHU‘E — KIUC was ordered to pay fines after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges of illegal “taking” of endangered or threatened seabird species.

The fines won’t impact rates, but the $11 million in mitigative measures the coop must perform to protect the birds will cause rates to rise slightly, said David Bissell, KIUC acting president and chief executive officer.

“What will have an impact on rates will be mediation” efforts, resulting in a “relatively small, incremental impact on our next rate case,” he said during a telephone interview.

KIUC and the U.S. Department of Justice, in separate press releases, announced the plea agreement heard in federal court in Honolulu in December.

KIUC pleaded guilty to two counts of a 19-count indictment accusing the coop of violating the federal Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act “by knowingly taking at least 14 Newell’s shearwaters” at or near Kealia Beach, and at least 18 Newell’s shearwaters at KIUC’s Port Allen power plant.

Multi-use path brings myriad concerns

NAWILIWILI — After much controversy, a survey lasting more than a year, countless public testimony, heated debates and an exercise in the democratic process, the County Council approved a bill to allow leashed dogs on almost the entire multi-use path on the Eastside.

Only about a quarter of a mile is off limits to dogs, the portion of the path directly fronting Lydgate Park, in Wailua.

As the bill progressed though many meetings, it became the talk of the town. Each time a hearing was scheduled, community showed in large numbers, taking every parking space at the Nawiliwili council chambers parking lot. Countless testimony dragged meetings for hours.

The path is supposed to one day connect Anahola to Nawiliwili.

Cultural practitioners brought much controversy to the path progression. In Wailua, the path construction has been delayed many times.

The county on one side said “equipment issues” caused delays. Cultural practitioners have been fighting a long-standing battle to divert the path away from Wailua Beach, saying that there are many burials in the area that would be disturbed.

Honorable mention

— Kaua‘i Humane Society executive director Dr. Becky Rhoades suddenly left the non-profit organization in September, after 10 years of work there.

— Integrated Aquaculture bought the twice defunct shrimp farm in Kekaha, and once again resurrected operations. Concerned citizens toured the farm in September, fearing that operations would discharge millions of gallons of shrimp-smelling wastewater into waters near the shore. The issue is still dividing the community.

— The body of Amber Jackson, 57, of Kapa‘a, was found on July 3 in a wooded area in Kealia. Jackson had been missing for 10 days and friends had put a $10,000 reward for her safe return. The murder is still unsolved.

— Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. in October disclosed the proposed siting of the new county landfill in Ma‘alo, near Hanama‘ulu.

— State officials investigated a Lihu‘e Airport supervisor who reportedly admitted embezzling thousands of dollars from the airport and was then put on paid leave for a month before being terminated Aug. 26.

— Kaua‘i County Council approved a bill that grandfathers TVRs on ag land that meet certain criteria, including being in operation before March, 2008.

— Kaua‘i County Council approved a bill that allows farmers to provide additional work-force housing for their employees.

— Kaua‘i Fire Department firefighters caught on camera while fishing off Ni‘ihau. The Robinson family says the waters off Ni‘ihau are off-limits because when the land was bought the law included ownership of the waters surrounding the island.

— Concerned fishermen and beachgoers organized a series of meetings, fearing a plan to turn major areas of the islands into a marine sanctuary would severely limit beach access and uses.

— Talking on the cell phone, without utilizing a hands-free device, while driving is now illegal. The Kaua‘i Police Department issued 123 citations in less than two months after the ban took effect on May 23.

— County workers were hit with a two-day per month furlough, equivalent to a pay cut of almost 10 percent. The furlough is currently being revised, and the administration has already announced it has funds to end the furloughs.

— Three major Hollywood films, plus a movie about Kaua‘i surfer Bethany Hamilton, infused over $60 million into the island’s economy in the first seven months of 2010.

— After an investigation lasting nearly three years, on April 6 Kaua‘i Police Department arrested Rolando Alegado Agustin, 40, and Michael Glenn Sullivan, 38, both of Lihu‘e, on suspicion of first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug. Both men were released pending investigation.

— The civil unions bill, which would allow same-sex civil unions did not pass.

— Utah visitor Ryan Soper, 26, together with his wife and in-laws, had barely arrived on Kaua‘i, and went on a kayak tour in Wailua River. After a fall from a tree, Soper got separated from the group near Secret Falls. A massive hunt ensued, involving police, firefighters, scent-tracking dogs, DLNR officers and many volunteers. His body was eventually found atop the falls. He apparently died from head injuries.

— Kaua‘i Police Department classified the case of two bodies found in March in a Lawa‘i home as a murder-suicide. Duane Bukoski, 38, of Lawa‘i, and Clara Kaneshiro, 43, of Kapa‘a, were found dead in Bukoski’s Lawa‘i residence.