Neighbor Island briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
BIG ISLAND
Mauna Loa site of drug raid
Big Island police have found a sophisticated marijuana-growing operation on the slopes of Mauna Loa.
The operation was found Thursday during a week-long marijuana eradication effort. Police said it includes a rainfall catchment system and irrigation system.
Police seized more than 8,000 plants at the 6,500-foot level on the southern side of the mountain.
No arrests were made.
Nearly 14,000 plants were confiscated during the eradication program in East Hawai'i and in the Ka'u and South Kona districts.
Federal and state officers and police from all four counties participated.
Man sentenced in betting case
A Big Island man who pleaded guilty to running a major football betting operation out of his home has received less prison time than his convicted wife.
Carlton Torres was sentenced to two years in prison Friday by U.S. District Judge David Ezra.
Danita Torres received a 27-month sentence after she was convicted at trial last year. Danita Torres said her husband intimidated her into participating in the operation by brutalizing and threatening her.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Beverly Sameshima said Carlton Torres received a lighter sentence because he didn't put the government through the time and expense of a trial.
Freeing whales topic of lecture
WAIMEA, Hawai'i — The free Reef Talk lecture series is presenting an expert on the rescue of entangled whales.
David Mattila will talk about his work on the East Coast freeing whales from abandoned fishing gear during his appearance at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at Thelma Parker Library in Waimea.
Mattila recently was appointed to the staff of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.
The lecture series is sponsored by the University of Hawai'i Sea Grant Program. For details call (808) 329-2861.
MAUI
Burglary probe continues
Maui police are continuing an investigation into the burglary and vandalism of a new private school in Lahaina.
The burglary occurred sometime between 5 p.m. Wednesday and 7 a.m. Thursday at the West Maui Carden Academy. Director Marjorie Deigert-Richardson said five laptop computers valued at about $9,000 were taken.
Profanity and racial slurs were written on a blackboard, and a portrait of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was torn down and ripped to pieces, she said.
The school had been studying King's life as part of Black History Month.
On Jan. 29, a flood caused an estimated $16,000 in damage to school supplies, books and computers.
The school opened in September and has an enrollment of 50 students from kindergarten through third grade.
