Neighbor Island briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
BIG ISLAND
Puna man pleads guilty in carjacking
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HILO, Hawai'i — A Puna man who was shot by police while hijacking a car and its two occupants has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and firearm charges.
Keola Kanae is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 19.
During the June incident, the man's friend shot himself in the head and died, according to police.
Keola Kanae, 30, already on probation for threatening the life of his sister, pleaded guilty to two counts of kidnapping and a firearms charge.
He will be sentenced by Judge Greg Nakamura on Nov. 19. Kanae faces a possible 25-year prison term. Kanae has been in custody since his release from Hilo Medical Center where he recovered from the shooting.
Kanae was with Shaun "Mika" Thompson when the pair seized control over the couple in a car on 'Ainaloa Avenue in Puna.
Thompson shot himself twice in the head, according to police. Kanae left the hijacked car and was shot in the chest by Puna policeman Kahiki Hodson, according to court papers.
Kanae denied he had controlled any weapon at the time of the police confrontation.
Hodson remains on "desk duty" while an internal investigation into the shooting continues.
State looks into illegal logging
HILO, Hawai'i — The state is investigating alleged illegal koa logging on a Big Island ranch.
Enforcement officer Lawrence Terlep of the Department of Land and Natural Resources said air and ground surveys of Damon Estate's Kahuku Ranch show that logging on conservation land was extensive.
Estimates of the volume of the wood removed and its value are continuing, said state forestry manager Roger Imoto.
The investigation is continuing, and it is unclear what violations may have taken place, Terlep said.
"At a minimum, it appears that neither Damon Estate nor its contractors obtained permits to log on conservation land," said Dean Uchida, state land administrator in Hilo, at the time he wrote an April letter to Puna resident Bill Eger.
Tim Johns, chief operating officer of Damon Estate, said the estate is cooperating in the investigation. Johns formerly was head of the Land Department and remains on the department's Board of Land and Natural Resources.
The 117,000-acre ranch is on the southern end of the Big Island.
KAUA'I
Build house, keep environment safe
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — The Kaua'i Public Land Trust and Board of Realtors will sponsor a free seminar Tuesday on developing housing while protecting the environment.
Jeff Lacy, a former Kaua'i County planning director and now Massachusetts Metropolitan District Commission lead environmental planner, will lead the discussion from 9 a.m. to noon at the Kaua'i Marriott resort.
"Conservation Design in Our Future Neighborhoods," will review ways to create housing while preserving important landscapes.
