1. travel
2. vacation rentals

Today’s Feature
Fresh Wild
Caught Fish
BENEFITS OF
A CUP OF JOE
Every Wednesday • 2pm to dark • Kmart parking lot
[email protected] • 895-8665
ISLAND HEALTH, 9A
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015
Locally Grown
& Made
WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM
75¢
Prepare to pay more
WATER RATES WOULD RISE 3% NEXT YEAR
House committee
advances HEI,
NextEra measures
BY CHRIS D’ANGELO
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
A state House committee
signed
off
Tuesday on a series of
resolutions related to
the pending $4.3 billion
sale of Hawaiian Electric
Industries
Inc.
to
Florida-based NextEra
Energy.
Rep. Cindy Evans,
D-Kona, serves on
the House Committee
on
Energy
and
Environmental
Protection and was
among those who voted
in favor of all three measures. She said the purpose of the resolutions
was to send a strong
message to the Public
Utilities Commission
that it needs to exercise
due diligence to make
sure the acquisition is in
the best interest of the
public.
“It’s kind of like, ‘Please
be cautious, please do
your homework and
remember,
Public
Utilities Commission,
you’re looking out for
the people,’” she said.
[email protected]
Water rates would rise
3 percent next year, followed by 4 percent the
following year and then 5
percent annually for the
next three years, under a
proposal floated Tuesday
by the county Water
Board.
The Water Board has
scheduled public hearings
on the proposed rates for
5 p.m. May 26 in Kona
and 6 p.m. May 27 in Hilo.
The board plans to finalize
the rates at its June meeting, and the new prices
would go into effect July
or August.
A typical family on a
5/8-inch meter using
9,500 gallons monthly would see their
bimonthly bill go up
from $101.75 to $104.96
the first year.
Hawaii Island’s typical
$101.75 bimonthly bill
compares to $86.40 on
Maui, $93.45 on Oahu
and $129.55 on Kauai,
consultant Ann Hajnosz
of Brown and Caldwell
told the board.
“You’re pretty much in
the middle, maybe at the
low end,” Hajnosz said.
The actual cost to produce the water is about
$4.13 per 1,000 gallons,
she said.
She said Honolulu can
charge less because it
has a “big, dense system,”
where water users live
close together and there
are a lot of them.
The Water Department
uses a rate system that
encourages
conservation by charging more
per thousand gallons for
higher water usage. The
water bill is made up of
SEE WATER PAGE 5A
BY TOM CALLIS
Five tractor trailers carrying heavy equipment
slowly ascended Mauna
Kea Tuesday morning as
construction of Hawaii’s
most advanced observatory prepared to get
underway.
The machinery will be
used to finish clearing the
future site of the Thirty
Meter Telescope near the
13,796-foot mountain’s
summit, said Sandra
Dawson, TMT spokeswoman. She said she
INDEX
BY CATHY BUSSEWITZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A homeowner in Kona Highlands waters his grass. Water rates would
increase under a proposal by the county Water Board. LAURA SHIMABUKU/WEST
HAWAII TODAY
didn’t know when that
work will begin.
Heavy snowfall delayed
arrival of the equipment
earlier this month, but the
weather on Hawaii’s tallest peak was cooperating
enough to move ahead
with the $1.4 billion project, she said.
The observatory, the
largest yet to be built on
the mountain, is expected to capture its first
images in 2024. A larger 39-meter-telescope is
scheduled to be complete
SEE TMT PAGE 7A
Annie’s Mailbox . . . . . . 4B
HI
SEE UTILITY PAGE 7A
Lawmakers push
plans for voting by mail
TMT gears up
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
“I think it’s just a really strong message from
policymakers that we
are hearing from constituents that they have
some concerns.”
Evans added that she
expects the pending sale
to be a big issue during
the coming year, and
now is the time for people to get involved.
House
Resolution
158 and its companion, House Concurrent
Resolution 227, were
introduced by Rep. Chris
Lee of Oahu and request
that the PUC protect
the public interest in
reviewing the proposed
acquisition. It tasks the
PUC with determining
whether NextEra is likely to act in the long-term
best interests of Hawaii
ratepayers, as well as
if the transaction is in
the long-term public
interest, including the
state’s ability to achieve
its renewable energy
goals, according to the
document.
By an 8-0 vote,
83 LO 70
HEAVY EQUIPMENT MOVES
INTO PLACE; SMALL
GROUP PROTESTS NEAR SITE
Opponents of the Thirty Meter Telescope stand
on the road to its construction site Tuesday on
Mauna Kea. HOLLYN JOHNSON/HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5B
WEATHER, PAGE 8A
Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6A
HONOLULU
—
The Senate Judiciary
Committee approved
a bill on Tuesday that
could make voting by
mail the norm in Hawaii.
The panel passed HB
124, which aims to boost
Hawaii’s low voter turnout and increase participation in elections. It
would start with smaller
counties and gradually
build so all voters get
ballots in the mail.
The current system
allows people to sign
up to vote by mail or
they can vote in person
during the two weeks
before Election Day.
“It’s a very complicated operation,” said Janet
Mason of the League of
Women Voters. “This
would smooth out the
operation.”
Even if HR 124
becomes law, there
would still be polling
stations for people to
vote in person. But with
more people voting by
mail, the proposal could
save money, since fewer
walk-in voting stations
would be needed, Mason
and other advocates
said.
Nation & World . . . . . . . . .3A
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4A
VOL. 47, NO. 84 18 PAGES
After initial investments, the new system
could save the state at
least $874,000 per election cycle, according to
Common Cause Hawaii.
The bill was amended by the committee to
allow for same-day voting registration, adopting language from a
companion bill that died
in the Senate.
The committee also
amended another bill,
HB 15 to allow the elections commission to
remove its chairman by
a two-thirds vote.
That bill initially just
set statewide standards
for the distribution of
absentee ballots, but
it was amended in the
committee to clarify the
term limits for elections
commissioners and to
state that the chairman
can be removed by the
commissioners at any
time.
The amendment to
HB 15 was opposed by
the League of Women
Voters because it was
a substantial change
added by the Senate
after the bill already
cleared the House, a
legislative maneuver
the group refers to as
“Frankenstein Bills.”
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B
COMMUNITY
2A
Day at Hulihee
planned for Saturday
The annual spring
fundraiser, Day at Hulihee,
will be held Saturday at
Hulihee Palace.
An 8:30 a.m. traditional
Hawaiian blessing kicks
off the 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
event, which is hosted
by palace caretakers the
Daughters of Hawaii and
the Calabash Cousins.
Arts and crafts booths,
a bake sale and Tutu’s
Attic will be featured.
The Kuakini Hawaiian
Civic Club will offer food
and local hula halau will
provide entertainment.
Cultural demonstrations
include pai ai (poi
pounding) and upena
(fish net making). Prize
drawings will be held
throughout the day.
Palace admission will be
complimentary all day. The
event remembers Hawaii’s
citizen prince who was
born in March: Jonah
Kuhio Kalanianaole.
Hulihee Palace is
open for tours Monday
through Saturday. For
details, contact the palace
at 329-1877, the palace
office at 329-9555 or visit
daughtersofhawaii.org.
Retirement planning
seminar slated
Hawaii
Community
Federal Credit Union will
host a free educational
seminar
on
“Social
Security & Retirement
Planning” from 9:30 to
11:30 a.m. Saturday at
the John Y. Iwane Credit
Union Center Training
Room at its Kaloko
Facility.
The seminar will feature
a presentation by Leslie
Warren, regional vice
president and retirement
consultant with Allianz
Life Financial Services
LLC. The session topics
will include: Medicare
basics,
the
ways
retirement is changing in
America, when to start
taking Social Security
benefits, and what are
the tax implications of
receiving Social Security
benefits.
To register for this
free seminar or for more
information, contact the
HCFCU call center at
930-7700 or marketing@
hicommfcu.com. Seating
is limited.
Fundraiser helps
man with Angelman’s
Syndrome
The
KOD-Angel
Foundation is holding a
fundraiser from 4 to 9
p.m. Saturday at Oceans
Sports Bar and Grill to
raise funds to help Kodin
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015 | WEST HAWAII TODAY
Island Life
Barry-Brand move with
his family to Wisconsin.
The event includes beer,
pupu, live music raffles
and a silent auction.
Barry-Brand was born
in Hawaii with Angelman’s
Syndrome and is moving
to Wisconsin where he
can receive 24-hour onsite
care.
For more information,
email dolena_hawaii@
yahoo.com
or
call
936-1160.
Huitt honored at
state Capitol
David Huitt, a history
teacher at Kealakehe
High School, is among
the top teachers of the
year, who were recognized
on the state House and
Senate floors last week as
part of Education Week
at the Capitol. Huitt is the
Hawaii District Teacher of
the Year.
The awardees were
selected by the Hawaii
Department of Education,
which honors each year
the state’s best educators
with its Teacher of the
Year awards.
Huitt has inspired
his own students to
pursue their dreams
while teaching them
humility
through
community
service,
which is a hallmark of
his curriculum. Huitt’s
The sun rises over the puu at Mauna Kea.
JAMES GRENZ/COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTOR
students have raised
approximately $50,000
for orphans in India,
cooked more than 6,000
meals for the needy and
collected hundreds of
bags of trash from roads,
parks and beaches. His
co-workers have praised
his relationships with
students, his creative
lessons, his patience and
his true spirit of service.
Buddha to be feted
during celebration
Community Development
Plan subcommittee,
Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints
(Orchidland Chapel) and
chaplain/ historian for the
American Legion Yukio
Okutsu Aloha Post 16.
Friends may call at
10 a.m. March 28 at the
Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints
(Orchidland Chapel)
for a 10 a.m. service.
Refreshments follow.
A graveside service
will be held at 9 a.m.
March 30 at the Hawaii
Veterans Cemetery
No. 2. Family requests
casual attire be worn.
He is survived by
wife, Patricia Reiss of
Kurtistown; sisters,
Victoria (Gordon) Lyons
of Florida, Miriam (John)
Cook of Maryland;
numerous children,
grandchildren and greatgreat-grandchildren.
Arrangements by
Dodo Mortuary.
Hatori, 50, of Kurtistown
died March 15, 2015,
at Hilo Medical Center.
Born in Hilo, she was
a homemaker.
Friends may call
at 11 a.m. March 28
at Alae Cemetery for
graveside committal
services, followed
by a celebration of
life gathering at the
Leleiwi Beach Park
in Keaukaha. Family
requests casual attire
be worn and no flowers.
She is survived by
husband, John Hatori of
Kurtistown; son, Jason
(Myra Peters) Arizumi
of Hilo; daughter, Shiryl
(Royden Requelman)
Arizumi of Kurtistown;
mother and stepfather,
Cheryle and Matsu
Uehara of Hilo; brother,
Tyler (Marci) Arizumi
of Hilo; step-brother,
Matsu Uehara Jr. of
Oahu; stepsister, Kristi
(Brandon) Carvalho of
Kona; five grandchildren;
a nephew; numerous
aunts, uncles, cousins
and nieces.
A
Buddha
Day
Celebration in honor
of the Buddha’s birth
will be held at 9:30
a.m. on Sunday in
the Kona Hongwanji
Buddhist
Temple’s
social hall.
Sponsored by the
Hawaii Association of
International Buddhists,
this event is free and open
to the public. Featured
will be guest speaker Rose
Nakamura,
Buddhist
groups from around the
island, and entertainment by the New Dharma
Band.
For information, call
Rev. Nakamura at 3232993 or Rev. Nakade at
322-3524.
OBITUARIES
Editor’s note:
Obituaries are published
free of charge as a public
service. The content
is subject to editing to
ensure parity treatment
and style continuity.
Date of publication
cannot be guaranteed.
Memorial advertisements
may be purchased
through the newspaper
advertising department.
Clayton Leleiwi
Clayton “Clay”
Kuuleialoha Leleiwi, 54, of
Ocean View died Feb. 23,
2015, at Kona Community
Hospital. Born Oct. 11,
1960, in Kealalekua,
he was a school bus
driver and landscaper.
Friends may call at 11
a.m. March 28 at OTEC
beach in Kailua-Kona for a
memorial service. Family
requests casual attire
be worn and no flowers.
He is survived by son,
Justin Leleiwi of Georgia;
stepsons, Williama
Spitalsky of Lanai, Keola
Hua-Spitalsky of Ocean
View; stepdaughters,
Natasha Sarocan and
Serena Spitalsky, both
of Ocean View; sisters,
Charlene Toletino of
Hilo, Lovenna Leliwi of
Kailua-Kona; brothers,
James (Ugi) Leleiwi,
Morgan (Barbara) Leleiwi
and Clinton Leleiwi, all
of Kailua-Kona, Russell
(Sandra) Leleiwi of Ocean
View; one granddaughter;
five stepgrandchildren;
numerous aunt, uncles,
nieces, nephews,
and cousins.
Arrangement by
Dodo Mortuary.
Theodore Kaaekuahiwi
Theodore “Ted”
Kaaekuahiwi, 86, of
Honokaa died March 12,
2015, at North Hawaii
Community Hospital.
Born in Waipio Valley, he
was a retired custodian
at Honokaa High and
Elementary schools, a taro
farmer and member of the
Taro Farmers Association
at Waipio Valley.
Friends may call at 9
a.m. March 28 at Honokaa
Church of Jesus Christ of
April 11th at
11a - 3p
Latter-day Saints for an
11 a.m. service, followed
by cremation. Family
requests casual attire be
worn and no flowers.
He is survived by wife,
Nancy Kaaekuahiwi
of Honokaa; sons, Lon
Kaaekuahiwi of Honokaa,
Dale Kaaekuahiwi of
Oregon; daughters,
Gay (Michael) Regohos
of Kona, Kim (Jason)
Ayoso of California; 10
grandchildren; six greatgrandchildren; numerous
nieces and nephews.
Arrangements by
Dodo Mortuary.
Gerald Reiss
Gerald L. “Jerry” Reiss,
79, of Kurtistown died
March 13, 2015, at Life
Care Center of Hilo.
Born May 30, 1935, in
Indianapolis, he was a
retired Navy chief petty
officer who earned a
Bronze Star and South
Vietnamese Training
Service Medal and
member of the Volcano
Community Emergency
Response Team, Puna
Tammy Hatori
Tammy Michiko
Hold on,
I’m coming..
Arrangements by
Dodo Mortuary.
Amako Kozohara
Amako “Amy” Kozohara,
98, of Hilo died March
4, 2015, in Hilo. Born
in Mountain View, she
was a homemaker and
member of Hilo Hooganji
Mission and Honpa
Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin.
Friends may call at
3 p.m. March 28 at
Dodo Mortuary chapel
for a 4 p.m. service.
Family requests casual
attire be worn.
She is survived by son,
Edwin (Irene) Kozohara
of Hilo; daughters, Joyce
(Willis) Motooka and
Gayle (Clyde) Kimura,
both of Honoloulu;
brother, Don (Helen)
Nakamura of Hilo; sisters,
Betty Nakamura of
Mountain View, Janice
Turnburke of Keaau,
Emogene (Gerald)
Kimura of Honolulu;
four grandchildren; two
great-grandchildren.
Arrangements by
Dodo Mortuary.
Boardwalk Games • Popcorn
Cotton Candy • Food Trucks
Animal Fun Facts Booth
Arts & Crafts • Country Store
SAVE 20%
Pre-Sale Activity
Tickets 20% Off at:
Hospice Of Kona 324-7700
& Memory Lane 326-9293
WEST HAWAII TODAY | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015
IN BRIEF | NATION & WORLD
Obama agrees to
slow US pullout
from Afghanistan
exchange under an amendment to the law crafted
by Sen. Chuck Grassley,
R-Iowa.
WASHINGTON —
President Barack Obama
agreed Tuesday to slow
the U.S. military pullout
from Afghanistan at the
request of its new govern ment but insisted the delay
won’t jeopardize his com mitment to end America’s
longest war before leaving
office.
In a shift from his pre vious plan, Obama said
the U.S. would leave its
9,800 troops currently in
Afghanistan in place rather
than downsizing to 5,500
by year’s end. The size of
the U.S. footprint for next
year is still to be decided,
he said, but he brushed
aside any speculation the
withdrawal will bleed into
2017 when the next presi dent takes over.
“The date for us to have
completed our drawdown
will not change,” Obama
declared.
Afghan President Ashraf
Ghani’s inaugural visit to
the White House offered
a stark contrast to visits
by his predecessor, Hamid
Karzai, who was viewed
by U.S. officials as prickly
and unreliable. Ghani went
out of his way to thank the
U.S. for its sacrifices in his
country, offering a window
into the efforts by Obama
and him to rehabilitate the
U.S.-Afghan relationship.
Obama: Dim hope for
negotiated two-state
solution to IsraeliPalestinian conflict
Cruz to buy health
care insurance for
family through law
he vows to scrap
WASHINGTON — Sen.
Ted Cruz said Tuesday he
is signing up his family
for health care coverage
through the Affordable
Care Act, a law the
Republican presidential
candidate has vowed to
repeal should he win the
White House.
Cruz formally launched
his presidential campaign
on Monday, and his wife,
Heidi Cruz, began an
unpaid leave of absence
from her job as a manag ing director in the Houston
office of Goldman Sachs.
That meant the family
would soon lose access to
health insurance through
Mrs. Cruz’s job, triggering
a need for the Cruz family
to find a new policy.
The first-term sena
tor from Texas said he is
looking at options avail able on a health insurance
exchange, or a clearing house of policies avail able to Americans who
don’t receive coverage
through their employers.
The Democrats’ health
care law, also known as
Obamacare, created the
exchange system.
Members of Congress
and their staff not other wise covered, such as via a
spouse’s health care insurance, are required to enroll
in a plan sold through an
WASHINGTON —
President Barack Obama
said Tuesday the U.S. is
weighing whether to back
Palestinian efforts to seek
U.N. recognition for an
independent state and
that recent remarks by
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu dim hope for a
negotiated two-state solu tion.
Obama’s comments
at the White House did
little to repair rocky U.S.Israeli relations, which
were aggravated by a
Wall Street Journal report
Tuesday alleging Israel
spied on sensitive negoti ations about Iran’s nuclear
program. The report said
Israel acquired informa tion from confidential U.S.
briefings and other means
and shared it with mem bers of Congress to build a
case against making a deal
with Iran, which has threatened to destroy Israel.
Netanyahu is feuding
with the White House over
an emerging deal with Iran
and also has come under
fire for comments he
made in the final days of
Israel’s election last week.
Netanyahu has voiced
opposition to Palestinian
statehood and warned his
supporters that Arab vot ers were heading to the
polls “in droves.”
US stocks decline
as investors assess
economy, earnings
NEW YORK — U.S.
stocks dropped Tuesday
as investors weighed com pany news and the latest
report on consumer prices.
Signs the dollar could
resume its recent surge
also made investors ner vous.
Homebuilders bucked
the trend, gaining after
sales of new U.S. homes
in February climbed to
their fastest pace in seven
years.
The stock market
has drifted lower for two
straight days. The declines
follow a rally in the mar ket last week when Federal
Reserve policy makers
surprised investors by
suggesting they were in
no hurry to raise interest
rates. Those low rates have
helped power a six-year
bull run for stocks.
The Standard & Poor’s
500 index fell 12.92 points,
or 0.6 percent, to 2,091.50
Tuesday. The Dow slipped
104.90 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 18,011.14. The
Nasdaq composite fell
16.25 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 4,994.73.
By wire sources
3A
Plane crash kills 150 people in
French Alps; Europe in shock
BY GREG KELLER
AND ANGELA CHARLTON
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEYNE-LES-ALPES,
France — A black box
recovered
from
the
scene and pulverized
pieces of debris strewn
across Alpine mountainsides held clues to what
caused a German jetliner to take an unexplained
eight-minute dive Tuesday
midway through a flight
from Spain to Germany,
apparently killing all 150
people on board.
The victims included two babies, two opera
singers and 16 German
high school students and
their teachers returning
from an exchange trip to
Spain. It was the deadliest
crash in France in decades.
The Airbus A320 operated by Germanwings,
a budget subsidiary of
Lufthansa, was less than
an hour from landing in
Duesseldorf on a flight
from Barcelona when it
unexpectedly went into a
rapid descent. The pilots
sent out no distress call
and had lost radio contact
with their control center,
France’s aviation authority said, deepening the
mystery.
While
investigators
searched through debris
from Flight 9525 on steep
and desolate slopes, families across Europe reeled
People comfort each other as they arrive at the Barcelona airport in Spain,
Tuesday, March 24, 2015. A Germanwings passenger jet carrying 150
people crashed in the French Alps region as it traveled from Barcelona to
Duesseldorf in Germany. AP PHOTO/MANU FERNANDEZ
with shock and grief.
Sobbing relatives at both
airports were led away by
airport workers and crisis
counselors.
“The site is a picture of
horror. The grief of the
families and friends is
immeasurable,” German
Foreign Minister FrankWalter Steinmeier said
after being flown over the
crash scene. “We must now
stand together. We are
united in our great grief.”
It took investigators
hours to reach the site,
led by mountain guides to
the craggy ravine in the
southern French Alps, not
far from the Italian border
and the French Riviera.
Video shot from a helicopter and aired by BFM
TV showed rescuers walking in the crevices of a
rocky mountainside scattered with plane parts.
Photos of the crash site
showed white flecks of
debris across a mountain
and larger airplane body
sections with windows. A
helicopter crew that landed briefly in the area saw
no signs of life, French
officials said.
“Everything is pulverized. The largest pieces
of debris are the size of
a small car. No one can
access the site from the
ground,” Gilbert Sauvan,
president of the general council, Alpes-deHaute-Provence, told The
Associated Press.
The White House and
the airline chief said there
was no sign that terrorism
was involved, and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel
urged reporters not to
speculate on the cause.
High nursing home bills squeeze insurers
BY MATTHEW CRAFT
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Thirty
years ago, insurance companies had the answer to
the soaring cost of caring
for the elderly. Plan ahead
and buy a policy that will
cover your expenses.
Now, there’s a new problem: Even insurers think
it’s unaffordable.
Life insurance firms
pitched long-term care
policies as the prudent
way for Americans to
shoulder the cost of staying in nursing homes. But
those same companies
have found that long-term
care policies are squeezing
their profits. Earnings for
life insurers slid 11 percent
in the most recent quarter, according to Moody’s
Investors Service, and
long-term care was the
chief culprit.
“Insurers that sell these
COOL HOMES
START AT THE TOP
products lose money on
them,” said Vincent Lui,
a life-insurance analyst at Morningstar. “So
they’re raising prices and
also trying to get out of
the business right and
left.”
Four of the five largest providers — including
Manulife
and
MetLife — have either
scaled back their business or stopped selling
new policies, according
to Moody’s. The largest provider, Genworth
Financial,
continues
to offer them, yet has
struggled under the
weight of rising costs.
The trends behind the
industry’s troubles sound
like good news outside the
world of insurance. Older
Americans are healthier
and living longer. But that
makes it difficult for the
industry to turn a profit.
Stays in nursing homes
tend to last longer, so
insurers have to pay out
more in benefits than they
had planned.
For older Americans
and their families, however, there are few options
besides private insurance. Medicare doesn’t
cover nursing home stays
except in certain circumstances. The Obama
Administration
had
planned to make a longterm insurance program
part of the Affordable Care
Act but eventually abandoned it.
Sean Dargan, an analyst at Macquarie Group,
an Australia-based investment bank, expects to
see more people turning
to Medicaid, the government’s health insurance
for the poor, to cover the
costs of care.
“It could really blow a
hole through state budgets,” he says. “I think
states and the federal government are going to need
to think creatively to find a
way out of this.”
For insurance companies, long-term care
has proven to be a tough
business.
Genworth, based in
Richmond, Va., has turned
in losses for two straight
quarters. On March 2,
the company reported it
discovered errors in its
accounting for funds set
aside to cover long-term
care claims, knocking its
stock down 5 percent in
a single day. Analysts say
problems with these policies explain why Genworth
has lost more than half its
market value over the past
year, plunging from $17 to
a recent $7.79.
“Their single biggest
product is long-term care,
and look at their share
price,” Lui says. “It’s one
trouble after another.”
Homes with HPM Custom Metal Roofing are naturally
cooler due to the Cool Roof pigments in its Durapon 70™
with DuPont™ Teflon® surface protector. This ENERGY
STAR rated finish reflects more of the sun’s rays to keep
you cool year-round.
Visit our website to learn more about Cool Roofs and
to see all of the roofing colors available for your home.
WE’LL HELP YOU
BU I LD B ETTER
NEED A
PRO BUILDER?
Use our online Better
Builder Directory to
find one today!
WWW.HPMHAWAII.COM
4A
OPINION
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015 | WEST HAWAII TODAY
EDITORIAL
THE WASHINGTON POST
A boost
for defense
T
wo pieces of good news about U.S.
defense spending: Both President
Barack Obama and congressional
Republicans have recognized that cuts
imposed by the 2011 “sequester” scheme
are unacceptable, and both have moved to
restore tens of billions of dollars in funding
for next year’s budget. Two pieces of bad
news: The proposed increases still face
thorny political challenges — and even the
revised spending plan remains far from
adequate at a time when the United States
has returned to war in the Middle East
and faces mounting threats elsewhere.
Obama was the first to propose
breaching the spending level for fiscal
year 2016 mandated by the sequester,
adding $34 billion to that baseline in
the plan he released in January. His total
of $612 billion has now been roughly
matched by budget outlines passed by
Republican-controlled committees in the
House and Senate. If those survive floor
votes in the coming days, Republican
defense hawks will have succeeded in
overcoming tea party conservatives who
pushed to retain the sequester limits and
force devastating cuts on the Pentagon.
The politics, however, remain tricky.
Obama proposed matching the defense
increase with an equal amount of added
domestic spending, but the Republican
budget plans exclude that. That may
make it difficult to win the floor votes, if
Democratic support is needed, and Obama
might eventually resist a defense increase
if there is no domestic counterpart.
The apparent consensus on a spending
figure also veils some GOP budget
gimmickry. While the administration
added its additional defense spending
to the base budget, Republicans tried to
balance fiscal and military hawkishness
by leaving the sequester-mandated base
budget unchanged and pouring additional
funds into a contingency account meant
to cover temporary war expenses. That
tactic has been used before, but it is a
poor way to do business that may end
up constricting spending on long-term
defense needs. At a minimum, it means
a necessary fight over the base budget
will have been kicked down the road.
The urgency of adjusting that spending
plan was spelled out by a bipartisan
commission last summer, as well as in
recent testimony from the Joint Chiefs of
Staff. Thanks to the sequester and earlier
cuts by Obama, defense spending has
dropped more than 20 percent in real
terms since 2010. The Army is headed
for its lowest staffing levels since the
Eisenhower era, the Navy will soon have
the fewest ships in a century and the Air
Force has fewer planes than it has had
since its creation in 1947. Calling that
reduction a “serious strategic misstep,” the
National Defense Panel urged restoration
of the 10-year Pentagon budget drawn
up by Obama’s first defense secretary,
Robert Gates. That would require tens of
billions of additional spending in 2016
alone beyond the level now proposed by
Obama and the budget committees.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin
Dempsey described even that proposed level
as “at the bottom edge of manageable risk to
our national defense.” At a time when U.S.
forces are fighting in Iraq and Syria and
attempting to deter Russian aggression in
Europe, that is a perilous place for it to be.
Tell us about it
Do you have a story idea or news tip?
Is there a community problem that has not
been addressed?
Do you know someone unique, whose story
should be shared and enjoyed with the rest of
the community?
We want to know.
Call the West Hawaii Today newsroom at 3299311 or email [email protected] and share the
information with our readers.
It’s our community — and we care.
Letters policy
Letters to the editor should be 300 words or
less and will be edited for style and grammar.
Longer viewpoint guest columns may not exceed
800 words. Email or address letters to:
EDITOR
WEST HAWAII TODAY
PO BOX 789
KAILUA-KONA HI 96745
EMAIL: [email protected]
BARBARA SCOTT | VIEWPOINT
ITE guidelines would negate
speed humps on Nani Kailua Drive
I
live in the Kona
Heights subdivision
in Kailua-Kona, a
neighborhood that has
access to and from Queen
Kaahumanu Highway via
the only ingress/egress
point for the subdivision:
Nani Kailua Drive.
Perhaps Brad Main
is unfamiliar with the
Institute of Traffic
Engineers Guidelines that
the County of Hawaii,
and all other counties
in Hawaii, acknowledge
in the County Code
as the engineering
standard to follow for
consideration of speed
hump installation. The
County Code requires the
director of the Department
of Public Works to
provide speed hump final
approval. A lawsuit could
be generated if speed
humps are approved
in an area that violates
engineering standards.
I understand that Mr.
Main originally wanted
a speed hump directly in
front of his home, but ITE
criteria prohibit a speed
hump in that location.
Nani Kailua Drive is
a designated collector
road with the only access
to Queen Kaahumanu
Highway for four
subdivisions and private
residences. ITE standards
require speed hump
installation of road grades
that are no greater than
8 percent; Nani Kailua
Drive has several steep
sections that are well over
that 8 percent limitation.
Further guidelines
prohibit speed hump
installation where the road
provides the only ingress/
egress for emergency
vehicles, because of
impeding response times
for fire and police vehicles
and added misery for a
person being transported
in an ambulance.
Mr. Main has stated that
he followed procedures
to gain support from
the majority of residents
who live on Nani Kailua
Drive. For the sake of
argument, if a collector
road is allowed to have
speed humps, Nani Kailua
Drive residents should
also include all residents
of cul de sacs that have
to use Nani Kailua Drive
for ingress/egress to their
property. On that point of
procedure, a collector road
should include speed hump
approval from the majority
of all of the residents of
the four subdivisions and
private residences served
by Nani Kailua Drive, the
only ingress/egress road
to Queen Kaahumanu
Highway. There is no
record of where, when and
how Mr. Main conducted a
traffic study, but it is likely
that the volume of traffic
using Nani Kailua Drive is
well over the 3,000 vehicle
daily maximum limit, as
stated in ITE criteria.
Residences in the Kailua
View Estates subdivision
were built in the late
1980s and early 1990s;
1990s in the Kona Heights
subdivision and residential
construction has steadily
continued in northerly,
southerly and easterly
directions throughout the
area served by Nani Kailua
Drive. There is already a
level of traffic congestion
at the intersection of Nani
LETTERS | YOUR VOICE
It’s time to pull plug
on power company
I just spent more than
$20,000 to install a solar
system on my home. My
thinking was that it would
save money and stop
me from contributing to
global warming as a result
of using fossil fuels to
generate power. I signed
a contract with Hawaii
Electric Light Co. to
produce power that it could
sell at retail in exchange
for a power bill of $20.50
for grid use. Within a few
months, HELCO decided
to raise that monthly
charge to $21.79 with no
input from me. Further,
they sold out to NextEra
with no input from me.
NextEra now seems
to want to do away with
net metering rates and
sell energy to me at retail
rates during the times
I am not producing.
Broken promises and
contracts. Lots of excuses.
The days of centrally
produced power are
coming to an end and
people are willing to
stay connected to the
grid only if NextEra
continues to honor its
commitment to reduce
fossil fuel generation and
encourage solar (and other
sustainable) generation.
Tesla home power packs
that can store energy
from home generation
will soon be available
to everyone for around
$3,300. New homes will
be built with solar and
storage. Old homes will
install them. Why would
someone producing energy
at home want to fool
around with a company
that does not seem to care
about its producers?
I strongly urge all of you
who are considering solar
to buy storage and go off
grid. No more excuses for
jacking up rates. No more
Kailua Drive and Queen
Kaahumanu Highway. The
addition of speed humps,
which requires vehicles
to slow to 15 to 20 mph
to avoid damage, will
increase the existing traffic
congestion exponentially.
Mr. Main has stated that
he has great concern for
vehicles speeding on Nani
Kailua Drive. I submit that
the majority of vehicles are
not speeding anywhere;
the minority who choose
to violate the law should
not inconvenience that
majority. Speeding is a
law enforcement issue.
I would encourage Mr.
Main to put some energy
into lobbying for more
traffic enforcement on
Nani Kailua Drive and the
surrounding community.
Our County tax dollars are
better spent by enforcing
traffic laws than by
creating traffic problems.
Barbara Scott is a
resident of Kailua-Kona.
Viewpoint articles are the
opinion of the writer and
not necessarily the opinion
of West Hawaii Today.
[email protected]
broken promises. And no
more lies and cheating.
Just free electricity. Morgan
Stanley thinks Tesla will
kill your power company.
I agree. It is time to pull
the plug on NextEra.
Tom Beach
Waimea
Mahalo for
blocking larger
enterprise zones
Bigger enterprise zones
would definitely hurt the
pristine nature of the Big
Island in the eyes of many.
That’s why I give much
thanks to Councilwomen
Valerie Poindexter and
Margaret Wille for
postponing such a measure.
First of all, bigger
enterprise zones would
destroy the heavenly nature
of the beautiful Big Island
in addition to adding to
the degradation of Mother
Earth’s environment. The
Big Island has already
experienced bewildering
weather recently. Just
look at the devastation in
Puna within the past year.
The majority of California
is experiencing severe
drought conditions which
is leading to a desert-like
state. I don’t think you
would like it to happen
to the Big Island, too.
With extreme weather
conditions becoming
more devastating and
unpredictable, it is
definitely time to go on
conservation mode. More
planting of permanent
forests is definitely a
plus. All in all, the Big
Island should focus on
agriculture so the Big
Island can feed the entire
state of Hawaii. Food is the
most important factor in
human life and it would
be sad if Hawaii Island
became another concrete
jungle. Think about it.
Dean Nagasako
Honokaa
FROM PAGE ONE
WEST HAWAII TODAY | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015
5A
Feds close review of court system’s language access
BY JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONOLULU — Hawaii’s
court system has improved
the way it serves people with
limited English skills, the U.S.
Department of Justice said.
The department announced
Tuesday it is closing its review
of the Hawaii Judiciary’s
Language Access Program. The
department intervened in 2012
and provided assistance after
receiving complaints about language assistance services provided by Hawaii’s state courts.
Hawaii has made improvements including changing the
way interpreters are assigned
and launching informational Web pages in each of the
14 most commonly used languages that explain the right
to an interpreter at no cost, the
department said.
Hawaii State Judiciary
spokeswoman Tammy Mori
said that during the 2013 fiscal year, the courts provided
interpreter services for more
than 8,000 proceedings. “We’re
fourth in the country for the
amount of folks who speak
English as a second language,”
she said. “We’re geographically
isolated. On the mainland,
sometimes courts can call upon
other states when there’s a rare
language … but that’s not feasible over here.”
Finding qualified interpreters
continues to be a challenge for
the Judiciary, Mori said.
The top five languages
requested in Hawaii’s courts
are Chuukese, Ilokano, Korean,
Marshallese and Spanish, she
WATER: Board also passes $53M budget
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
a static standby charge,
a water usage rate and a
power charge that fluctuates with the cost of
electricity.
Under the proposed
rate plan, agriculture
users would experience
increases from 3.1 percent
to 8.9 percent, depending
on usage.
The
Water
Department’s conservation oriented rate structure has been working
so well that water usage
has actually dropped
over the years, despite
population gains. This
is
a
double-edged
sword for the Water
Department.
“How do we tell people, ‘Great job conserving. You’re using less, but
you’re going to pay more
for it,’” asked board member Susan Lee Loy.
Board member David
Greenwell agreed.
“Conservation is a wonderful thing,” he said,
“but we sell less water, we
make less money.”
Board member Brenda
Iokepa-Moses had no
problem with that.
“We’re not a money-making business,” she
said, adding that a plateau
is just fine.
Hajnosz
cautioned
the board against big
increases in the standby charge, the charge
everyone pays regardless
of how much water they
use. The system needs
to cover its fixed costs,
without escalating rates
too rapidly and possibly
leading to “rate shock,”
she said.
The Water Board also
passed on first reading
a $53.17 million annual operating budget, a 2
percent increase over this
year, that was proposed by
the Department of Water
Supply.
Increases in salaries,
employee benefits, repair
and maintenance and
safety account for most
of the increased expenses. Budget cuts in utilities,
interest and reserves help
hold the line at a 2 percent
increase.
said.
In addition to the improvements noted by the Justice
Department, Hawaii’s state
courts have also instituted
an “international day,” where
interpreters are flown from
Honolulu to neighbor islands
on a certain day of the month
when proceedings are assigned
for those who require interpreters, Mori said.
Astronaut twins to test
effects of space on cognition
BY TOM AVRIL
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER (TNS)
Water rates will increase under the proposal
floated by the county Water Board. LAURA
SHIMABUKU/WEST HAWAII TODAY
PHILADELPHIA —
The astronaut Scott Kelly
is about to take off for
the International Space
Station, and if he is like
some space travelers, he
may temporarily feel a bit
foggy or disoriented once
in orbit.
Scientists have not
had much luck measuring this subtle effect
with standard cognitive tests, but now, a
group of University of
Pennsylvania researchers
is trying a new tack.
While Kelly is in space,
they will compare his
mental
performance
with that of a uniquely
qualified individual who
stays behind on Earth.
An individual whose
brain is about as similar to Kelly’s as you can
imagine: his identical
twin, Mark.
The Penn study of
the twins, who grew up
in West Orange, N.J., is
one of 10 that NASA has
approved for the one-year
mission, which could
launch as early as Friday.
Scientists from other
institutions are tackling
such topics as space-induced changes in Kelly’s
immune system, intestinal bacteria and genetic
expression. All of it will
be compared with test
results from his brother,
a retired astronaut.
The goal is to get a better idea of what happens
to the human body on
a prolonged mission, in
preparation for an eventual journey to Mars.
NASA has lots of
data on astronauts who
have spent six months
in space, said Mathias
Basner, assistant professor at Penn’s Perelman
School of Medicine.
Astronauts may suffer
from sleep deprivation,
stress, and elevated levels
of carbon dioxide in the
air they breathe, among
other factors. Then there
is the impact of weightlessness, which saps
bone strength and causes
bodily fluids to accumulate in unfamiliar places.
We Go the Distance!
“I have been going to Dr. Doi for several years and I keep coming back
because of his professional work. He and his staff are so great to work
with. The quality of service plus the communication are excellent.
They are rated 10 in my book”
~Max of Lanai, Hawaii
Hawaii HOLISTIC Dentistry
David T. Doi, DDS and Trevor Hartwell, DDS
ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS - NOW ACCEPTING HMSA
Want to know more? PH 808-885-7144
Open 6 days/week Mon.-Sat.
“Coming from Alaska for my dental visit may seem strange, but to me it
is money well spent. Your office staff is great, the equipment is state of the
art, the hygenist superb, and last but not least is your kind, compassionate,
professional demeanor. I have been going to dentists for over 50
years now and truly have never found anyone that I trust as much with
my teeth. Thank you again and again, and see your next year!”
P.S. Thanks for squeezing me in for an additional appointment with
your wonderful new associate, Dr. Hartwell.”
~Virginia of Anchorage, Alaska
Voted “Best Dentist of North Hawaii” for 6 years in a row!
Saturday, April 4th
Queens’ MarketPlace
12noon – 2:00pm
Pualani Cottontail is hopping on down to the
Coronation Pavilion at Queens’ MarketPlace together
with Koloa the Duck waddling his way in to this
“springtime celebration”. Join us for two hours of fun!
FREE face painting, sweet treats and giveaways for
the Keiki. Don’t forget to bring your cameras to take a
picture with Pualani Cottontail and Koloa the Duck!
Enjoy FREE popcorn, cotton candy, face painting
and coloring booths for the entire family
For more information call:
(808) 886 - 8822
Sunday, April 5th 2015
Hilton Waikoloa Village
EASTER BRUNCH
Palm Terrace
10:00am – 2:00pm
$69 Adults, $25 Children ages 5 – 12
Plus tax, 15% service charge will be added
Complimentary for Children ages 4 and under
*Photo opportunity with the Easter Bunny
*Live Entertainment
*Complimentary Self Parking
Reservations - Call (808) 886 -1234, Ext.54
Waikoloa Beach Marriott
Resort & Spa
EASTER BRUNCH
Hawaii Calls Restaurant & Lounge
9:00am – 2:00pm
$60 Adults, $25 Children ages 6 – 12
Excludes Tax & Gratuity
18% Gratuity Automatically added to all checks,
Children ages 5 and under eat free
Reservations - Call (808) 886 - 8111
Visit us at Waikoloa Beach Resort.com for more information.
COMICS
6A
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015 | WEST HAWAII TODAY
PEANUTS
GARFIELD
DILBERT
DOONESBURY
BEETLE BAILEY
FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE
BIZARRO
BLONDIE
HAGAR THE HORRIBLE
THE WIZARD OF ID
FRANK AND ERNEST
THATABABY
B.C.
THE BORN LOSER
SHOE
FAMILY CIRCUS
ZITS
DENNIS
THE MENACE
WEST HAWAII TODAY | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015
FROM PAGE ONE
7A
TMT: Project has faced strong opposition from Native Hawaiian groups
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
that same year in Chile.
After a “lengthy seven-year public agency review,” TMT partners were excited to
see the project move
forward, Dawson said.
The TMT International
Observatory, based in
California, is supported
by researchers from the
United States, Canada,
India, China and Japan.
While expected to keep
Hawaii at the forefront
of astronomy, the project also has faced strong
opposition from Native
Hawaiian groups opposed
to further development on
a mountain they consider
sacred.
TMT will be the 13th
observatory on Mauna
Kea. It will be about 40
percent larger than either
of Keck Observatory’s
twin 10-meter telescopes,
and will collect about nine
times more light.
About 20 protesters
were present Tuesday,
said Dan Meisenzahl,
spokesman for University
of Hawaii, which leases
the summit. No disruptions were reported.
In October, dozens of
protesters disrupted the
telescope’s ground breaking ceremony.
Attempts to reach protesters were unsuccessful
Tuesday.
The Mauna Kea access
road was closed at midnight Monday to allow the
oversized trailers to traverse the winding path up
the mountain, Meisenzahl
said. It was reopened at
about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday
after the last trailer
returned.
Six plaintiffs are continuing to appeal decisions
to grant the project a
conservation district use
permit and a sublease for
the site. Those appeals
are pending in Third
Circuit Court and the
state Intermediate Court
of Appeals, said Kealoha
Pisciotta, a spokesperson
for the plaintiffs.
Dawson said the project
has all of the regulatory
approvals it needs to move
ahead with construction.
While she wasn’t on
the mountain Tuesday,
Pisciotta, a former telescope technician, said
she expects protests to
continue.
“It makes you feel pretty sick,” she said, knowing that construction
was moving forward. “It
makes you feel that more
determined, that justice
needs to occur.”
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@
hawaiitribune-herald.com.-
Michael B. Russo MD
UTILITY: Bills would
urge PUC to oversee sale
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
the
Energy
and
Environmental Protection
Committee recommended
HR 159 and HCR 227 be
passed with amendments.
Two members were
excused and did not vote.
“I think everybody can
agree that we need to be
extremely cautious,” Lee
said following the hearing, which was held in
Honolulu. “There’s been
a lot of concerns raised
about how NextEra does
business and how it infiltrates politics.”
The resolutions, he
said, are about ensuring
community concerns are
addressed.
HCR 9, which requests
the PUC conduct a public
hearing on the approval
of the sale of HEI, also
received support from
EEP, which voted 8-0 that
the measure be passed
unamended. Rep. Calvin
Say of Oahu voted with
reservations, and two other
members were excused.
Four of Hawaii Island’s
seven
representatives,
including Rep. Mark
Nakashima,
D-Hilo,
co-introduced HCR 9.
Nakashima said one of his
concerns is that NextEra
coming in could end up
looking a lot like Hawaii’s
hotel industry — owned by
multinational corporations
that make decisions about
Hawaii from outside the
state.
“Decisions that are
made, I don’t want to be
done just on the bottom
line,” he said.
In written testimony,
PUC Chairman Randy
Iwase said the commission intends to provide
members of the public an
“
Decisions
that are
made, I
don’t want
to be done
just on the
bottom line.
REP. MARK NAKASHIMA, D-HILO
”
opportunity to address
the commission during
upcoming public listening sessions conducted on
each of the island served
by HEI.
Finally, the Energy and
Environmental Protection
Committee voted unanimously in favor of HR 105
and HCR 169. Introduced
by Rep. Nicole Lowen,
D-Kailua-Kona,
both
express support of further
discussion on efforts to
facilitate local ownership
and control of electric utilities and local generation of
electricity. Two committee
members were excused.
Last
month,
the
Hawaii Island Energy
Cooperative, a nonprofit
group of Big Island community and business leaders, filed a motion with the
state PUC to intervene in
the pending sale of HEI to
NextEra in order explore
the idea of public ownership, similar to Kauai
Island Utility Cooperative
on Kauai.
By press time Tuesday,
the resolutions had not
yet been scheduled for
additional hearings.
CORRECTION
Kuikahi Kaiaulu event organizer Mehana Kihoi’s name
was mispelled in a correction, which ran March 20.
It is the policy of West Hawaii Today to correct promptly
any incorrect or misleading information when it is brought
to the attention of the newspaper.
Sleep
Disorders
808-638-7667
ABOVE: “A‘ole TMT” is written with spray paint on a sign
outside the Thirty Meter Telescope construction site Tuesday.
Aole means no in Hawaiian. LEFT: A vehicle displays two Hawaii
flags upside down as it drives past a telescope Tuesday on
Mauna Kea. PHOTOS BY HOLLYN JOHNSON/HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
WEATHER
8A
TODAY’S WEATHER
Hanalei
Kekaha
77/68
74/69
Kapaa
77/69
Kalaheo
75/66
Shown is today’s weather.
Temperatures are today’s
highs and tonight’s lows.
SATELLITE VIEW
KONA TIDES TODAY
First
High
Low
Second
High
Low
Time
Height
6:53 a.m. 1.0’
2:07 a.m. 0.5’
Time
Height
8:49 p.m. 1.6’
1:15 p.m. 0.5’
Waialua
79/66
Laie
80/69
Mokapu
81/70
Ewa Beach Honolulu
81/67
82/69
Kaunakakai
78/67
Lanai
78/64
SUN AND MOON
Sun
Rise
Set
Today 6:25 a.m. 6:37 p.m.
Thursday 6:24 a.m. 6:37 p.m.
Moon
Rise
Set
Today 10:55 a.m. none
Thursday 11:47 a.m. 12:16 a.m.
First
Full
Last
New
Mar 26
Apr 4
Apr 11
Apr 18
Kihei
83/69
Hana
81/69
Honokaa
80/65
Captain Cook
79/66
City
Hi/Lo/W City
Hi/Lo/W City
Mountain View
78/64
Naalehu
80/69
Hi/Lo/W City
Hi/Lo/W City
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and
precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
Hilo
82/68
Kailua-Kona
83/70
NATIONAL CITIES TODAY
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Wailuku
80/69
Kapaau
81/69
As of 3 p.m. yesterday.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015 | WEST HAWAII TODAY
Hi/Lo/W City
Albany, NY 48/37/pc
Bismarck
44/21/pc Cincinnati
72/49/t Fairbanks
41/14/s Juneau
43/37/r
Albuquerque
67/36/pc Boise
56/39/pc Cleveland
58/38/t Fargo
40/21/sn Kansas City 60/31/r
Amarillo
70/32/s Boston
45/37/pc Columbia, SC 74/61/sh
Grand Rapids 49/33/r
Key West 83/76/pc
Anchorage
43/34/s Buffalo
49/38/sh Dallas
80/50/s Green Bay 46/31/sf
Lansing
51/34/r
Atlanta
75/57/pc Charleston, SC 74/62/pc
Denver
49/29/sh Honolulu
82/69/pc Las Vegas 79/55/pc
Austin
77/56/pc Charleston, WV 71/55/sh
Des Moines 50/29/c
Houston
77/62/pc Little Rock 80/54/pc
Baltimore
51/46/c Charlotte, NC 68/55/c
Detroit
54/38/r Indianapolis
63/42/pc Los Angeles 82/62/s
Billings
52/38/sf Cheyenne
43/28/sn Duluth
41/21/sf Jackson, MS 79/53/pc
Louisville
76/55/t
Birmingham
77/56/pc Chicago
51/33/pc El Paso 78/50/pc
Jacksonville
80/62/pc Madison
45/26/pc
Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
NATIONAL SUMMARY: A surge of warm air will trigger areas of rain and thunderstorms
from the Midwest to the Southeast today. Locally severe storms will erupt from northcentral Texas to Indiana. Colder air will allow snow to fall over northern Minnesota.
Showers will occur from the central Rockies to the Northwest. The Southwest will be
sunny and warm.
Hi/Lo/W City
Memphis
76/57/pc
Miami
86/74/pc
Milwaukee
51/32/pc
Minneapolis
43/25/c
Nashville
75/60/c
New Orleans 78/63/pc
New York City 47/43/pc
Norfolk
62/55/pc
Oklahoma City 80/42/t
Hi/Lo/W City
Hi/Lo/W City
Hi/Lo/W
Omaha
48/26/c Reno
67/40/pc Seattle
57/47/r
Orlando
87/66/pc Sacramento
79/50/s Spokane
51/39/c
Philadelphia
51/46/pc St. Louis 70/42/t
Syracuse
46/37/sh
Phoenix
88/63/pc Salt Lake City 54/36/pc
Tampa
83/67/pc
Pittsburgh
63/49/sh San Antonio 80/60/pc
Tucson
82/53/s
Portland, ME 43/36/pc
San Diego 75/60/pc
Tulsa
76/43/t
Portland, OR 61/45/sh
San Francisco 70/53/s
Washington, DC 56/50/c
Providence
45/37/pc San Juan, PR 86/74/s
Wichita
65/33/r
Raleigh
64/57/c Santa Fe 63/27/pc
Wichita Falls 86/43/t
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2015
More Big Islanders without a job in January
BY CHELSEA JENSEN
WEST HAWAII TODAY
[email protected]
A higher percentage
of the Big Island labor
force was without a job in
January than the month
prior, Hawaii Department
of Labor and Industrial
Relations data reveals.
Hawaii County’s unemployment rate notched
up half a percentage
point to 5.2 percent in
January from 4.7 percent
in December, according to
the state-compiled data.
That’s down from January
2014 when 6 percent of
the island’s workforce was
without work.
The island’s labor force
in January comprised
86,450 people of whom
81,950 held jobs, according to preliminary statistics kept by the state. In
December, 80,850 of the
84,850 people in the civilian labor force held jobs.
The Big Island, which
has historically the highest unemployment rate
among Hawaii’s four counties, wasn’t the only area in
the state to see an increase
in the percentage of its
labor force out of work.
Honolulu and Kauai
counties each saw unemployment increase by a
half-percentage point to 4
percent and 4.8 percent,
respectively. Maui’s unemployment rate increased
from 3.8 percent to 4.4
percent between the two
months.
Statewide, the unemployment rate increased
from 5.6 percent to 5.7
percent in January. In
January, 27,450 people remained unemployed, up from 27,100
in December. In January,
646,100 people in Hawaii
held jobs, according to the
department.
Statewide, major job
gains were reported in the
trade, transportation and
utilities sector where 1,900
jobs were added. Close
behind were the leisure
and hospitality, construction and professional and
business services sectors,
which added 1,200, 1,1000
and 1,000 jobs, respectively, according to the state.
Ranks
were
also
increased in other sectors
statewide, including the
other services sector where
600 jobs were added, and
the educational and health
services and manufacturing sectors, which each
saw 300 jobs added in
January.
Hawaii County recorded 200 jobs added in both
the construction and trade,
transportation and utilities
sectors in January over
December, according to the
department’s preliminary
data sheets. Job expansion
was also noted in the leisure and hospitality sector.
The increase in jobs in
trade, transportation and
utilities sector was primarily seen in retail areas
and was attributed to a
“smaller than typical drop
off of holiday season workers,” the state said. Job
expansion in the leisure
and hospitality sector was
concentrated in food service and drinking establishments while the jump
in construction jobs was
related to the construction
of buildings.
January’s job expansion
was also met with cuts.
In the government sector, the number of people
employed, primarily by
the state, declined by 400,
according to the department’s data.
Nationwide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.7
percent in January, down
a tidbit from 5.6 percent
the month before, according to the federal Bureau
of Labor Statistics. That’s
down from 6.6 percent in
January 2014.
In February, the national unemployment rate
decreased to 5.5 percent,
the feds said.
The state Department
of Labor and Industrial
Relations had not released
February data for Hawaii
as of Tuesday. A schedule posted on the department’s website said the
data should be released
today.
Christine’s Deli
SPECIALTY FOODS FRESHLY MADE-TO-ORDER
LUNCH • DINNER • TAKE-OUT or DELIVERED!
Homemade Italian Foods
Fresh Fish Catch of the Day
& so much more…
Straight from our kitchen to your table!
CALL US at 808-326-2000
Tuesday – Friday 11am to 8pm
See Our Full Menu at ChristineDelivers.com
JamesAttorney
C. Clay
Clay
James
C.
• Personal Injury
• Business
• Real Estate
• 1031 Tax Deferred Exchanges
• EB-5 VISA
[email protected] •• 808-386-1335
[email protected]
808-386-1335
www.facebook.com/jcclaylaw.com
Going On Now!
AN EXAMPLE
STOREWIDE SAVINGS! HERE’S
OF THE SAVINGS...
WAREHOUSE
SPECIAL! FABRIC
Huge group of former favorites priced
to move! Prints, Solids, Kids, Fancy,
Famous Names. Orig. priced to
$5.99 yd. Min. 1 yd cut. 100 yd. max.
$
1.88
YD
DFE;8PÛ¤ÛJ8KLI;8Pۆ‘‡‡Û8D§ƒ‘‡‡ÛGDÛÝÛJLE;8PÛ~‡‘‡‡Û8D§‘‡‡ÛGDÛÝÛ<OG@I<Jۀ£€~£~‚
READY TO TAKE YOUR GAME TO THE NEXT LEVEL?
WANT TO BREAK 100, 90, 80 OR EVEN 70?
WE CAN HELP!
www.SwingVisionPro.com
333-5071
CALL TODAY TO SCHEDULE YOUR FREE VIDEO DEMO
Gift Certificates Available – Give The Gift Of Better Golf
Located In Old Industrial – Corner Of Alapa & Eho St • 74-5616 Alapa St
WEST HAWAII TODAY | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015
9A
ISLAND HEALTH
The
mighty
bean
A coffee beverage is served at Kona Coffee and Tea Co. on March 19. PHOTOS BY LAURA SHIMABUKU/WEST HAWAII TODAY
HEALTH BENEFITS OF BEVERAGE, CHERRY ARE NUMEROUS
BY BRET YAGER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
[email protected]
Brew it strong —
because the news for
coffee lovers in a coffee-growing region just
keeps getting better.
Remember the bad old
days, when reaching for
that second — or fourth
— cup meant you had to
cut the buzz with a dose of
guilt? Because coffee was
supposed to be bad for the
nerves, bad for the bowels, bones and everything
else? Well, the tide started
to turn some years back,
and a steady percolation
of new studies only continues to boost the purported
health benefits of the drink
to near mythic status.
Here’s just a sampling
of what a slurry of studies
are telling us:
Coffee is good for the
heart and protects against
liver cancer, degenerative
brain diseases and Type II
diabetes.
Diabetes, a growing
scourge worldwide, is 50
percent less likely to develop in people who drink at
least four cups of coffee a
day, according to a 2011
study published in the
Journal of Agriculture &
Food Chemistry. Another
study published in 2012 in
the Journal of Alzheimer’s
Disease found higher caffeine levels in the blood of
Shots of expresso are poured at the Kona Coffee
and Tea Co. on March 19.
Coffee is ground to make a beverage at the Kona
Coffee and Tea Co. on March 19.
those 65 and older led to
a substantial delay in the
onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
Some of the latest
news: People who drink
four or more cups of coffee a day are about 1.5
times less likely to develop multiple sclerosis than
those who drink no coffee. That’s from a study
by researchers with the
Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine,
scheduled to be presented
to the American Academy
of Neurology in April.
In a world where it’s
easy to reach for a sugary
snack to boost energy and
many people struggle with
obesity and depression,
coffee offers the ability to
boost energy and mental
outlook while triggering
a response in the body to
produce adrenaline and
burn fat, researchers say.
Some of the best news
may be that — with more
than half of Americans
older than age 18 taking
coffee into their systems
on a daily basis — the
bean comprises the single
largest source of antioxidants in the diets of most
Americans. According
to a 2005 study by the
University of Scranton,
the antioxidants — which
neutralize free radicals
and have anti-cancer and
anti-aging benefits — are
highly absorbent when
delivered via the bean.
Now, the benefits of coffee are extending beyond
the roasted bean, and a
growing industry is devoted to researching and
creating healthy products
from the coffee fruit, ripe
and green.
Five years ago, Shaun
Roberts, CEO and founder
of KonaRed, was mulling
over the fact that millions of
pounds of skin and fruit of
coffee cherry were being discarded during the processing of Kona’s famous product. A developer of consumer products for two decades,
Roberts, of Kauai, had gathered from his research that
ancient cultures of Ethiopia
and Yemen were using coffee
fruit for teas and powders
before they ever used the
bean.
That knowledge helped
set Roberts on the trail of
an enterprise that would
put KonaRed — an antioxidant-laden a drink made
from the fruit of the coffee
cherry — on the shelves
of some 2,100 Walmarts,
1,000 Kroger stores and
a total of around 5,000
outlets across the country.
“Over the last five years,
I’ve been working with
Tommy Greenwell to take
the cherry out of his waste
stream,” Roberts said. “It’s
not an energy drink. The
caffeine is in the bean; the
antioxidants are in the
skin.”
In conjunction with
FutureCeuticals, a licensing partner, Roberts’
nutrient and antioxidant-rich extracts and
powders from coffee cherry — as well as food bars
and chocolate featuring
the cherry — are going
strong in vitamin sections
nationally as well. Other
products related to the
mighty cherry are in the
research and development
phase, Roberts said.
At The Mountain
Thunder
Coffee
Plantation, coffee extract
is the basis of a line of
health and beauty products, from anti-aging
creams to bubble bath and
moisturizing products.
In the future, the fruit
could be used for yet
another product shown to
have some health benefits
— in moderation.
“When you separate the
skin, you end up with a
lot of fruit, and it’s very
sweet, and it could very
easily be fermented,” said
Holualoa coffee farmer
Bruce Corker. “If you can
do that, then why not produce a coffee wine?”
Outreach program teaches students healthy eating
Students at
Kanu o ka Aina
New Century
Public Charter
School make
their own
healthy snack
as part of
North Hawaii
Community
Hospital’s
new nutrition
and education
outreach
program. SPECIAL
TO WEST HAWAII TODAY
SPECIAL TO WEST HAWAII TODAY
North Hawaii Community
Hospital is looking to change
the conversation from healing sickness to health prevention with a new nutrition and education outreach
program that teaches North
Hawaii students through a
hands-on, holistic approach.
“Encouraging
healthy
living through a holistic
approach is the foundation
of our mission,” said Gary
Goldberg, chief medical officer. “With the creation of this
revolutionary new program,
we are living our commitment to our community by
providing tools and education that enable one to
make healthy choices to live
healthier lives.”
Over the last year, more
than 100 North Hawaii students ages 5 to 13 participated in the hospital’s nutrition and education outreach
program. Topics covered
include: the various food
groups, the effect food has on
the body, that “you are what
you eat,” how to read a food
label, appropriate meal and
snack portions, how food
can help prevent diseases,
in addition to engaging in
hands-on food preparations.
“After learning about
healthy nutrition, students
get to go into the kitchen
and prepare a snack putting into action what they
just learned,” said Laurie
Edmondson, the hospital’s
community outreach coordinator, who developed and
spearheads the program.
Working in collaboration with Kanu o ka Aina
New Century Public Charter
School, the hospital’s nutrition and education outreach
pilot program was launched
in spring 2014, teaching 15
students from sixth to eighth
grade the relationship and
impact nutrition has on leading a healthy life.
The program has grown
into an eight-week afterschool class and six- to eightweek summer school opportunity for keiki from first to
sixth grade at the school and
will soon expand tailored
versions of this program
at Waimea Country Day
School and North Kohala
Village Hub in Kohala. “We
hope to continue to grow
this program throughout
all of North Hawaii,” said
Edmondson.
For more information
about the program, contact
Edmondson at 881-4425 or
laurie.edmondson@nhch.
com.
BIG ISLAND & STATE
10A
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015 | WEST HAWAII TODAY
IN BRIEF | BIG ISLAND & STATE
Kitchen fire closes
Volcano House
restaurants
Both restaurants in
Volcano House are closed
for at least two days while
officials investigate the
cause of a kitchen fire that
sent a hotel employee to
the hospital Tuesday morning.
Both The Rim restaurant
and Uncle George’s Lounge
will be temporarily closed
as National Park Service
investigators determine the
cause of the small blaze,
said Hawaii Volcanoes
Lodge Co. LLC General
Manager David Macilwraith.
They plan to reopen both
restaurants Thursday.
The Volcano House hotel
remains open, he said.
Park rangers, Hawaii
County medics and engine
19 responded quickly to the
fire alarm and calls to park
dispatch, around 10:30
a.m. Tuesday. A 42-year-old
hotel employee suffered
burns to his upper arms,
and was transported by
medics to the hospital.
Surtees
Soderlund
Lee
block pending his initial
court appearance sched uled for Wednesday.
Division was stolen late
last week from the medi an strip of Highway 11 near
Hale Nani Correctional
Facility on the southern
outskirts of Hilo. Hawaii
Police Department Lt. Greg
Esteban said workers had
Hawaii Island police are
left the keys in the ignition
searching for a 59-year-old
and “somebody jumped
woman wanted for abuse.
in and drove the vehicle
Catherine Surtees is
toward Hilo and abandoned
described as 5-foot-2, 110
the vehicle.”
pounds with blond hair and
No arrests have been
blue eyes. Her last know made in the case. The truck
address was in Kailua-Kona. has since been recovered.
Police ask anyone with
In a separate case, a
information on her where - 17-year-old boy was arrest abouts to call the Police
ed Thursday for allegedly
Department’s nonemer stealing a Hawaii County
gency line at 935-3311.
truck the night before.
Those who prefer to
Police say the truck,
remain anonymous may
which had keys in its igni call the islandwide Crime
tion, was stolen at about
Stoppers number at 96111:45 p.m. from outside
8300 and may be eligible
the Hilo Civic Auditorium.
for a reward of up to $1,000.
County workers were cleaning the facility at the time
and reported the vehicle
missing. The vehicle was
located about an hour later.
Hawaii Island police are The driver attempted to
searching for a 27-year-old evade police and fled after
ditching the vehicle while a
man wanted for abuse.
22-year-old man who was
Damon Soderlund is
described as 5-foot-9, 190 a passenger stayed in the
pounds with blue eyes and truck.
The 22-year-old was
brown hair. He frequents
arrested but not charged.
the Kailua-Kona area.
The teen was arrested and
Police ask anyone with
information on his where- charged with auto theft,
driving without a license
abouts to call the Police
Department’s non-emer - and marijuana possession.
Police declined to name the
gency line at 935-3311.
boy because he’s a minor.
Those who prefer to
His case was turned over to
remain anonymous may
call the islandwide Crime Family Court.
Stoppers number at 9618300 and may be eligi
ble for a reward of up to
$1,000.
Woman sought
for alleged abuse
Purse theft nets
Hilo man 16 charges
Police seek man
for alleged abuse
A Hilo man has been
charged with 16 offenses
stemming from the theft of
a purse, police report.
The purse was stolen
from an 87-year-old woman
at a drug store on Puainako
Street in Hilo just before
1:30 p.m. Sunday, accord ing to the Hawaii Police
Department. Shortly there after, the woman’s credit
card was used at two busi nesses in the vicinity.
At 2:40 p.m., police
arrested the suspect,
25-year-old Bronson I.K.
Lee, in the parking lot of
a home improvement store
on Makaala Street. He was
taken to the Hilo police
cellblock while detectives
from the Area I Criminal
Investigations Section con tinued the investigation.
At 2:25 p.m. Tuesday,
Lee was charged with
five counts of theft, three
counts of forgery, four
counts of ID theft and four
counts of fraudulent use of
a credit card, according to
police. His bail was set at
$44,250.
He remains at the cell -
Fight against albizias
stalls in Legislature
Two gov’t trucks
stolen last week
Two government trucks
were stolen in apparently
unrelated incidents last
week, police said.
A truck belonging to
the state Department of
Transportation Highways
A Senate bill seeking
funding to control albizia
trees on Hawaii Island has
stalled after failing to cross
over to the state House of
Representatives.
Proponents of the bill
say they were surprised by
the failure of the measure,
in light of the devastation
wrought by the invasive
trees following Tropical
Storm Iselle.
Senate Bill 591 was sponsored by state Sen. Russell
Ruderman, D-Puna, and
sought an appropriation
of about $2 million to the
Hawaii Invasive Species
Council to fund a coordinated management effort
of albizia trees on the Big
Island and across the state.
It failed to pass through the
three committee hearings
required by the March 12
first crossover deadline to
be handed off to the House
of Representatives for
approval.
The Puna legislator said
Tuesday that the bill died
as a result of a tight state
budget that allows very little room for new projects.
In addition to SB 591, six
other bills seeking funding
for albizia control failed to
gain traction this session.
Marshals arrest
Hawaii fugitive
in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS — U.S. mar shals say a 48-year-old
fugitive sought in Honolulu
in a home contractor theft
case has been arrested in
Las Vegas.
The marshal service
identified Alexander Nebre
as a “most wanted” fugitive
in Hawaii, and said he was
arrested Tuesday on felo ny warrants issued after he
failed to appear for a Jan.
15 trial readiness hearing in
Honolulu.
Officials in Honolulu said
Nebre is accused of identi fying himself as a licensed
contractor but failing from
2012 to 2014 to complete
three home contracting
jobs.
Deputy Marshal Melinda
Kormos said members of
a joint local and federal
task force found Nebre a
few blocks west of the Las
Vegas Strip.
Records show Nebre
is being held at the Clark
County jail pending an extradition hearing on Thursday.
Ferry between
Molokai, Maui sees
decline in ridership
WAILUKU, Maui — A ferry
that runs between Molokai
and Maui is reducing service
in an attempt to stay afloat.
Wailuku newspaper
Maui News reported
Tuesday Lahaina Cruise
Co. President and Senior
Captain Dave Jung said ridership has plummeted. He
blamed that on airlines that
are able to offer cheaper
interisland trips.
The company plans
to reduce twice-daily
roundtrips to once per day.
Jung said the state Public
Utilities Commission regu lates ferry fares, but airline
fares aren’t under the same
oversight.
A one-way ferry trip costs
$62 and takes an hour and
45 minutes.
Hawaiian Airlines has
fares as low as $59 and
Mokulele fares are as low
as $54. A flight takes about
20 minutes.
County Councilwoman
Stacy Crivello, who rep resents Molokai, called the
ferry a lifeline that must
continue.
Lava actiºvity
persists upslope
Numerous breakouts
persisted in the upper areas
of the June 27 lava flow,
Hawaii County Civil Defense
reported Tuesday morning.
The lava breakouts,
described as “small,” were
located within the flow pad
and along both margins of
the flow, extending from
about 8 miles upslope of
the flow’s stalled leading
edges to Kilauea Volcano’s
Puu Oo vent, Civil Defense
said.
A breakout on the
northern flank of Puu Oo,
which started Feb. 21,
remained active on the
northeastern base of the
cone while the northern
arm of another breakout
near Kahaualea contin
ued to burn trees north of
Puu Kahaualea, the U.S.
Geological Survey Hawaiian
Volcano Observatory said.
Breakouts also persist
about 3 to 4 miles north east of Puu Oo.
Activity in the downslope
areas of the June 27 lava
flow remained quiet
Tuesday morning, officials
said. They said there was
“very little activity” in the
area.
None of the activity
posed an immediate threat
to area communities, how -
ever, Civil Defense said.
Sharks feeding on
dead baby whale
prompts Maui
beach closure
KAHULUI, Maui — Maui
ocean safety officials
have closed the beach
and waters off Kaa Point
because of a decomposing
baby whale that’s attracting
sharks.
Tuesday’s closure is 1 mile
in either direction of Kaa
Point, which is also known
as Kite Beach near Kanaha
Beach Park in Kahului.
The Maui Fire Department
said a 10-foot-long tiger
shark was seen feeding on
the carcass Tuesday morn ing. In the afternoon, several large sharks were seen in
the area.
The state Department
of Land and Natural
Resources towed the whale
carcass far offshore to be
disposed of.
Ocean safety officials will
re-evaluate the area by air
today.
2 drown in separate
incidents off Kauai
LIHUE, Kauai
—
Authorities say two people
have drowned in separate
incidents off Hawaii’s Kauai
Island.
The Garden Island news paper reported a 48-yearold Arizona man died
Sunday after he showed
signs of distress and strug gled with his mask and
snorkel off Mahaulepu
Beach in Poipu.
Responders said CPR
was performed on the vic tim, David Deville, but he
was pronounced dead at
Wilcox Memorial Hospital.
Kauai police say the
other drowning occurred
Saturday afternoon about
30 yards offshore from
Plantation Hale in Wailua.
Responders said 72-yearold Michael Stone of
Boston appeared to be in
distress and was unresponsive when he was brought
to shore.
CPR was performed, but
Stone was pronounced
dead at Wilcox Memorial
Hospital.
By West Hawaii Today staff and
wire sources
at convenient
Big Island
Locations
at at
convenient
Big
Island
Convenient
Big
IslandLocations
Locations
NOW
W in the heart of Kailua-Kona
Dr. Ng, Board-Certified Ophthalmologist, and Johns Hopkins and Harvard
trained Retina Specialist warmly welcomes all patients to his practice.
Specializing in the treatment of:
• Diabetic eye disease
• Ocular Inflammation
• Macular degeneration
& trauma
• Epiretinal membrane
• Complex eye disorders
• Retinal detachment
• Pediatric retina care
Please Call
808-356-3820
888-776-0855 (Toll Free)
For Appointments.
75-170 Hualalai Road, Suite B-105, Kailua Kona
670 Ponahawai Street, Suite 115, Hilo
Hale Ola Pono Medical Center:
65-1267 Kawaihae Road, Kamuela
www.hawaii-retina.com
WE CAN HELP YOU!
LEG
SWELLING
NORMAL
LOOKING
VARICOSE
VEINS
SKIN
ULCERS
CHANGES
NO VEIN STRIPPING
“No incision” relief
for REFLUX
No more pain. No more pills. No scar.
SYMPTOMS
Leg Heaviness
Restless Legs
Aching/Pain/Burning Swelling
Itching
Cramps at Night
Call us to learn more about the TIF
TIF® proced
procedure.
All 5 of the above patients have different stages of
Venous Insufficiency which is progressive.
(808) 747-8321 Option #2
MODERN TREATMENTS ARE:
1. Covered by Medicare and Most Insurance
2. Non-Surgical / Minimally Invasive using Radiofrequency
3. No Downtime / No Hospital
4. Office Based Treatment Under Local Anesthesia
Call
1-800-VEIN-DOC
(1-808-834-6362)
Colin E. Bailey, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Board Certified in
Venous & Lymphatic Medicine
Cosmetic Surgery
Cardiovascular Surgery
O‘ahu and Big Island!!!
www.baileyveininstitute.com
Randall Juleff, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Board Certified in
Venous & Lymphatic Medicine
Cardiovascular Surgery
General Surgery
78-6833 Alii Dr., Ste. 422 • Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
808-747-8321 #2 • www.kch.hhsc.org
The TIF procedure may or may not be appropriate for your health condition; only your doctor can explain the benefits and
risks of all treatment options. Results may vary; visit GERDHelp.com for more clinical data. The TIF procedure for reflux was
developed by EndoGastric Solutions, Inc. who may have co-funded this marketing material.
BIIF GLANCE | PAGE 2B
B
SPORTS
ONLINE
WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM/SPORTS
Westbrook,Thunder
Thunder
take down Lakers
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015 | WEST HAWAII TODAY
COLLEGE
BASKETBALL
Midnight
has come
early for
Cinderellas
BY GREG COTE
TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
This is the break at the
midpoint of the annual
American basketball bacchanalia March Madness,
the pause that allows
your brackets to breathe
— always assuming your
brackets have any life left
and have not been ripped
to confetti in frustration
by now.
The men’s NCAA
Tournament
resumes
Thursday night with the
original 68 teams pared
now to the Sweet 16 survivors, and what remains
of the bracket has almost
everything left on it that
you’d want (except perhaps your favorite team).
It has kings, champions, legends, blue bloods
and pedigrees.
It has everything but a
Chair-man.
I miss that chair, man.
So
does
this
tournament.
Embodied in that chairon-casters that Georgia
State coach Ron Hunter
rode courtside was the
last true Cinderella. Her
glass slipper had wheels.
Hunter had torn his
Achilles’ celebrating his
team’s unlikely Sun Belt
Conference championship
the week before, leaving
him to coach off his feet
in the NCAA Tournament
on a rolling chair. That
was until his son hit a
game-winning 3-point
shot to stun heavily
favored Baylor, which sent
the coach spilling from his
seat in sheer joy, cheering
prone on his side.
It was a bizarre,
delightful snapshot — the
most memorable of the
Madness thus far.
One more win and he’d
have rolled into this Sweet
16 tall as John Wayne on
a saddle. (As it was, his
chair already had its own
Twitter site.)
In two weeks this event’s
crowning moment might
very well be Kentucky
coach John Calipari, on
a ladder, snipping pieces
of the net to mark what
would be college hoops’
first unbeaten national
champion since Bobby
Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers
of 1976.
I’d propose though that
Calipari up on a ladder
won’t stick in your mind
like Hunter down on the
SEE CINDERELLA PAGE 3B
MMA
Brock Lesnar finally rules out return to MMA
told The Associated Press
he was in training for a
UFC return as recently as
last week, even though he
had developed conflicted
feelings about it over the
previous month.
He finally decided to
stick with professional
wrestling only in the past
two days, signing his new
three-year deal with the
WWE on Monday night
when the promotion
increased its financial
offer.
“The fighter in me
wants to continue, but at
BY GREG BEACHAM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES —
Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock
Lesnar ruled out a return
to mixed martial arts on
Tuesday, ending three
years of speculation about
the biggest pay-per-view
star in the sport’s history.
Lesnar announced he
had re-signed with the
WWE in an interview on
ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”
Moments after his
announcement, Lesnar
this stage in my life, it ain’t
just about me anymore,”
Lesnar
told The
AP. “You
put your
pride to
the side.
You hug
your
Lesnar
wife and
your kids. I’m a 37-yearold man, and some days I
feel like I’m 80, just with
all the things I’ve experienced, all the things
I’ve done. I feel fortunate
about it. It’s like, what
else can I do? Why go
backward?”
More than a year after
Lesnar first began working on an MMA comeback, he decided his
long-term health was
more important than his
hunger to return to competitive sports.
The UFC didn’t allow
Lesnar to shut the octagon door easily: Lesnar
said he turned down an
offer worth “10 times”
what he was making earlier in his MMA career.
UFC
Chairman
Lorenzo Fertitta even
attempted to increase the
temptation when Lesnar
phoned Fertitta and UFC
President Dana White
to tell them his decision
while driving into the
parking garage at ESPN’s
downtown Los Angeles
studios.
“I’m riding the caboose
of my sports career,”
Lesnar said, waving his
hand in the air. “I just
barely caught this thing.
I’ll see you the next time.”
VOLLEYBALL
BATTLE AT THE TOP
Keala Watson of Pilipaa tips over the Cuzins’ Shalia Wilber-Gabrielle at the Haili Volleyball Tournament at Afook-Chinen Civic
Auditorium. Pilipaa won in straight sets. The tournament continues through Saturday. RICK OGATA /SPECIAL TO WEST HAWAII TODAY
BY KEVIN JAKAHI
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
In the long history of the Haili
Volleyball Tournament, a Big
Island team has won the men’s
AA title — the top division —
only twice, but with an asterisk
both times.
The 58th edition of the Haili
kicked off Monday, and all the
locals know that Oahu’s Kailua
club team (usually filled with
TOP SPOT IN MEN’S ELITE
ELUSIVE FOR BIG ISLE AT HAILI
former Rainbow Warriors) will
likely be in the championship.
Last year, Culture Club, powered by local boys Ikaika Marzo
and Andrew Dunn, defeated
Oahu’s Leviticus for the men’s
AA championship.
Kailua skipped the Haili last
year and in 2012, and instead
played in the USA open national
championships.
Leviticus
took
the
championship final in two
games, forcing a sudden-death
match because Culture Club earlier won the double-elimination
round-robin.
That safety net helped Culture
Club, which had a roster of eight
players, including seven from the
Big Island.
Culture Club was basically
SEE HAILI PAGE 2B
BIIF SOFTBALL
Hilo rebounds from first loss with victory over Honokaa
BY MATT GERHART
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
For at least one day,
Honokaa coach Wesley
Fujimoto wishes the
dimensions at Honokaa
Park weren’t as deep
as they are. If so, the
Dragons might have had
a thrilling comeback
Tuesday.
As it was, Hilo was
able to exhale.
Zoe Cabarloc overcame 12 hits allowed in
a complete game, and
eight Vikings had at
least one hit as they held
off Honokaa 5-4.
Trailing by two runs
entering the bottom of
the seventh, the Dragons’
Neve
Ebreo-Castillo
doubled and scored on
Taylor Tabucbuc’s single.
With runners on first
and second and two outs,
Maluhia Sanchez put a
charge into the ball, but
it was caught just short
of the fence at Honokaa
Park.
“If we had 200foot fences, I think it
would have been gone,”
Honokaa coach Wesley
Fujimoto said. “It’s about
215-220 here. The outfielders were playing
deep.”
That
helped
the
Vikings (3-1) rebound
from their first loss since
2013. They lost 16-2 at
Konawaena on Saturday.
Hilo’s Shalyn Guthier
finished 2 for 4 with two
RBIs and a run scored,
and Gaylynn Ha was
2 for 3 with a triple a
run scored and an RBI.
Cabarloc struck out
three.
Keesha
Matsuoka
didn’t walk a batter in
going the distance for
the Dragons (1-3), striking out two.
Tabucbuc
led
Honokaa’s 12-hit attack,
finishing 3 for 4 with a
double, RBI and scoring
a run. Sarah Sedillo and
Ebreo-Castillo each doubled among their two
hits.
“We improved a lot
since Saturday,” said
Fujimoto, whose team
was coming off a 18-0
SEE SOFTBALL PAGE 2B
SPORTS
WEST HAWAII TODAY | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015
2B
HAILI: 125 teams in the tournament this year, but no boys division
GLANCE
BASEBALL
DIVISION I
W-L
Waiakea
5-0
Keaau
4-1
Hilo
3-2
Kealakehe
2-2
DIVISION II
W-L
Kamehameha
3-1
Kohala
2-2
Hawaii Prep
1-3
Pahoa
1-2
Konawaena
1-4
Honokaa
0-5
Wednesday
Hilo at Pahoa, 3 p.m.
Keaau at Kamehameha, 3 p.m.
HPA at Konawaena, 3 p.m.
Kohala at Honokaa, 3 p.m.
Saturday
HPA at Kamehameha, 1 p.m.
Keaau at Kealakehe, 1 p.m.
Pahoa at Kohala, 1 p.m.
Waiakea at Konawaena, 1 p.m.
March 31
Pahoa at Kamehameha, 3 p.m.
Keaau at Waiakea, 3 p.m.
HPA at Kealakehe, 3 p.m.
Konawaena at Honokaa, 3 p.m.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
DIVISION I
Kamehameha
Hilo
Waiakea
Kealakehe
Keaau
DIVISION II
Hawaii Prep
Konawaena
Pahoa
Ka’u
Laupahoehoe
Honokaa
Kohala
Ke Kula O Ehunuikaimalino
Christian Liberty
March 23-28
Haili Tournament week
W-L
3-0
5-1
4-1
4-1
1-5
W-L
2-0
4-2
3-2
3-1
1-3
0-3
1-3
0-4
0-4
GOLF
March 30
At Waikoloa Kings’ Course, 10 a.m.
JUDO
Saturday
At Kealakehe High School, 10 a.m.
Kealakehe vs. Ka’u
Keaau vs. Kamehameha
Waiakea vs. Hilo
Konawaena vs. Kamehameha
Hilo vs. Ka’u
Waiakea vs. Kealakehe
Konawaena vs. Keaau
Ka’u vs. Kamehameha
Hilo vs. Kealakehe
Waiakea vs. Keaau
Kealakehe vs. Konawaena
SOFTBALL
DIVISION I
Keaau
Hilo
Kealakehe
Waiakea
DIVISION II
Kamehameha
Konawaena
Honokaa
Ka’u
Kohala
Pahoa
Hawaii Prep
Tuesday
Hilo 5, Honokaa 4
Kamehameha 14, Kealakehe 9
Keaau 12,Konawaena 7
Thursday
Hilo at Keaau, 3 p.m.
W-L
3-0
3-1
3-1
1-1
W-L
3-0
2-2
1-2
1-2
1-3
0-3
0-2
Waiakea at Kamehameha, 3 p.m.
Pahoa at Ka‘u, 3 p.m.
Konawaena at Kealakehe, 3 p.m.
TENNIS
BOYS
W-L
Konawaena
8-0
HPA
6-0
Kealakehe
5-0
Waiakea
5-2
Hilo
5-2
Kohala
3-1
Makua Lani
2-3
Keaau
2-4
St. Joseph
1-3
Parker
0-4
Kau
0-6
Kamehameha
0-6
Honokaa
0-6
GIRLS
W-L
Konawaena
7-0
Waiakea
6-1
HPA
5-0
Kealakehe
4-1
Kohala
2-1
Makua Lani
2-3
Hilo
2-4
Parker
1-3
Keaau
1-4
Kamehameha
1-5
Kau
0-0
St. Joseph
0-3
Honokaa
0-6
Wednesday
Waiakea at Hilo, 2 p.m.
Keaau at St. Joseph, 2 p.m.
Kamehameha at Pahoa, 2 p.m.
Honokaa at Makua Lani, 2 p.m.
Kohala at Parker, 2 p.m.
Kealakehe at Konawaena, 2 p.m.
Saturday
Hilo at Konawaena, 10 a.m.
Makua Lani at Kamehameha, 10 a.m.
Ka‘u at Parker, 1 p.m.
Honokaa at Pahoa, 10 a.m.
Kealakehe at St. Joseph, 10 a.m.
Waiakea at Kohala, 11 a.m.
TRACK AND FIELD
March 28
at Kamehameha, field 9 a.m./running
10 a.m.
WATER POLO
Standings
W-L
Kamehameha
3-0
Konawaena
3-1
Hawaii Prep
2-0
Waiakea
1-2
Kealakehe
1-3
Hilo
0-4
Saturday
At Kona Community Aquatic Center
HPA vs. Kealakehe, 9 a.m.
Waiakea vs. Konawaena, 10:15 a.m.
Hilo vs. Kamehameha, 11:30 a.m.
Kealakehe vs. Waiakea, 1:15 p.m.
Hilo vs. HPA, 2:30 p.m.
Konawaena vs. Kamehameha,
3:35 p.m.
Reporting scores
Host schools are responsible for
reporting scores, but visitors are
welcome to report as well.
Information should include JV
score, and varsity score. Stats are
optional but welcome.
Scores may be reported by phone
to 930-8616 or emailed to sports@
westhawaiitoday.com.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
Hilo’s Hemolele in 2012
with Marzo and Dunn on
a roster complemented
with players from Oahu’s
Quiksets.
That year, Hemolele
defeated Oahu’s RZN
to capture the men’s AA
crown.
It was a good feeling,
but not a complete one.
Kailua was elsewhere,
and the roster was not
completely Big Island
grown.
The most memorable
Haili was in 2009, when
Big Island Roots won the
men’s AA title, but lost it
to Kailua on a phantom
point.
Our locals led 14-9, and
after a flurry of errors, the
score was tied 14-14. But
the scoreboard showed
Kailua ahead 15-14.
Cory Enriques tied it
15-15 with a kill, and a
Kailua error should have
given Big Island Roots
the distinction as the first
homegrown championship team.
But the phantom point
was in play. It was too
much of a helpful hurdle to overcome. Kailua
eventually
prevailed
19-17.
Then everyone went
to Aunty Sally’s Luau
House wondering how
the scoreboard operator
from Oahu got the score
wrong.
A record 187 teams
showed up in 2009,
and Hilo Civic was jam
packed with people getting a neck strain watching the women’s AA
championship. (Both AA
finals play at the same
time.)
Sarah Mason, a 2003
St. Joseph graduate,
played for the Rusty
Wahine, which also
included Hedder Illustre,
Jennifer Carey and
Elizabeth Kaahue.
The Rusty Wahine
swept Hilo Volleyball
Club, aka the UHH
SOFTBALL: Keaau beats
Konawaena to remain undefeated
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
loss to Keaau.
Hilo 100 220 0– 5 10 3
Honokaa 000 201 1 –4 12 2
KEAAU 12,
KONAWAENA 7
Ranchell Berinobis
and Rylann Hacoba
each hit two-run dou bles as the Cougars
scored 11 runs in the first
inning in Kealakekua
and remained unde feated.
Lohi Kamakea-Wong
pitched a complete
game for the Cougars
(3-0) and survived 13
hits – including home
runs by Bethany
Batangan and Teizha
Kaluna.
Konawaena starter
Jayssa Asuncion-Grace
lasted just a third of
an inning and was hurt
by five walks. She was
charged with eight
earned runs and two
hits with a strikeout.
Kamakea-Wong
helped her cause with
two doubles and two
RBIs. She was 3 for 4 at
the plate with two runs
scored, and she struck
out five in the circle
with a walk. Only four
of the runs she gave up
were earned. Berinobis
also doubled twice and
scored twice.
After launching a
two-run home run in
the first, Kaluna added
a run-scoring single in
the seventh, going 3
for 4 with three RBIs
and three runs scored
for the Wildcats (2-2).
Shyla Victor also was 3
for 4 and doubled, and
she worked the final 6
2/3 innings in the circle.
Lihue Wessel collected
two doubles and drove
in a run and Sierra
Amor was 2 for 4.
Keaau (11)00 100 0 – 12 10 1
Konawaena 200 101 3 – 7 13 3
KAMEHAMEHA 14,
KEALAKEHE 9
The Warriors went
on the road to improve
to 3-0, handing the
Waveriders (3-1) their
first loss of the season.
have to register with the
USA Volleyball Moku O
Keawe region early in the
year.
Then
BIIF
players would need to get
approval from their
coaches, and be on a club
team.
Waiakea coach Ecko
Osorio has his Pilipaa
club team, so his diehard
Warriors will stay sharp.
It’s the same thing
for Kamehameha coach
Guy Enriques with his
Southside club team.
Those Warriors will be in
the Haili, too.
It would be a nice
treat if the Pilipaa/
Waiakea team meets the
Southside/Kamehameha
club in a men’s B division
final.
Vulcans,
featuring
Josimara Pinheiro and
Fabiane Seben, for the
title.
By far, the best women’s AA championship was in 2010, when
UH VBC with Kanani
Danielson,
Brittany
Hewitt, Dani Mafua and
Kaaihue came to town.
The Wahine were coming off a 32-3 season and
loss to Penn State in the
NCAA tournament semifinals, and Danielson
needed to polish herself
before starting her UH
junior season.
She smoked 23 kills
and the young Wahine
put the old-timer Rusty
Wahine to bed 26-28,
25-15, 15-8 before a full
house at Hilo Civic.
In 2010, the Haili honored longtime UH coach
Dave Shoji. That was the
last year the Rainbow
Wahine played in the
Haili.
Ryan Tsuji, who was
a team manager for the
Rainbow Wahine, was
instrumental in arranging for UH players to
participate in the Haili.
THANKS OLD FRIEND
One of the longtime
Haili helpers was Ken
Griffin, who passed away
Feb. 1, 2015. He was 87.
He was in real estate
and lived on Oahu, and
was honored before at
the Haili, but Lindsey
wanted to note his
contributions.
Griffin was instrumental in coordinating the
Pacific Rim Tournament
in Hilo, as well as two
USA Volleyball National
Tournaments in 1978 and
83.
“Both he and his wife
Alexa were wonderful
people,” Lindsey said.
“We’ve very grateful
for all they did for the
tourney.”
BUMMER NO BOYS
There are 125 teams in
the Haili this year, down
from last year’s 132 clubs.
There is no boys division and the BIIF boys
volleyball season takes a
one-week break because
of limited officials and
gyms.
“There are too many
things they have to do,”
Haili director Lyndell
Lindsey said. “That’s the
reason there’s no boys
division.”
For one, players would
CORRECTION
An article in the
Tuesday edition of West
Hawaii Today reported
that Konawaena’s Casey
Flores was the last BIIF
athlete to beat 11 seconds.
Flores is the record-hold er for the BIIF champi
onships, running 10.84 in
1996.
Avery Hardie-Jordan
won the 100 meters in
10.92 seconds at the 2013
Big Island Interscholastic
Federation track and
field championships as
a Waveriders senior, the
last sub-11.00 time in the
BIIF until Konawaena’s
Luca Vartic ran 10.98 on
Saturday.
It is the policy of West
Hawaii Today to correct
promptly any incorrect or
misleading information
when it is brought to
the attention of the
newspaper.
MASONRY & LANDSCAPING
Lisiate Fainga, Owner
808.345.3876
808.333.6967
Rockwall Repair • Concrete Repair • Hollow Tile
Concrete Slabs • Sidewalks • Keystone • Driveway
Retaining Wall • All Types of Landscaping Needs
Free Estimate
[email protected]
www.kepamasonry.com
Insured & Bonded
C33805
SOCIAL SECURITY DIRECTORY
For those who have applied and have been denied,
or have cases on appeal or have just given up.
808-341-9568
Frank A. Ury
www.HawaiiSocialSecurity.com
500 Ala Moana Blvd.,
Honolulu, HI 96813
SLIPPAHS
GET YOUR OOFOS® ON!
• Unparalleled impact absorption
• Superior arch support • Insane comfort
Try OOFOS today. You will thank you.
Available at Waimea General Store 885-4479
Custom Cabinets
• Custom Cabinetry & Furniture
• Architectural Millwork
• Custom Doors & Windows
• Closet Systems
Individually Designed With
Attention to Detail!
www.roylambrechtwoodworking.com
LIC #C-17669
329-2877
73-5573 Kauhola Street • Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
SPORTS
WEST HAWAII TODAY | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015
SCOREBOARD
WEDNESDAY’S TV SCHEDULE
HORSE RACING
9:30 a.m.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
10 a.m.
10 a.m.
FSNW
SNLA
Cleveland vs. L.A. Angels
San Diego vs. L.A. Dodgers
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
1 p.m.
3 p.m.
NBA
1 p.m.
1 p.m.
2 p.m.
3:30 p.m.
NHL
2 p.m.
SOCCER
9 a.m.
NIT, Murray State vs. Old Dominion
NIT, quarterfinal Louisiana Tech vs. Temple
ESPN2
ESPN2
Chicago at Toronto
L.A. Clippers at New York
L.A. Lakers at Minnesota
Oklahoma City at San Antonio
ESPN
FSNW
TWSN
ESPN
NBCSN
Chicago at Philadelphia
Men’s national teams, exhibition, Denmark vs. United States
ESPN
THURSDAY’S TV SCHEDULE
AUTO RACING
8 p.m.
BOXING
3 p.m.
GOLF
1 a.m.
4:30 a.m.
9 a.m.
Noon
Formula One, practice for Malaysia Grand Prix
NBCSN
Welterweights, Breidis Prescott vs. Fredrick Lawson
ESPN2
European PGA Tour, Trophee Hassan II
European PGA Tour, Trophee Hassan II
PGA Tour, Texas Open
LPGA, Kia Classic, first round TGC
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
6:30 p.m.
9:30 a.m.
FSNPT
Trackside Live!
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
10 a.m.
1 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers vs. Chicago White Sox
L.A. Angels vs. Chicago Cubs
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
1 p.m.
1:15 p.m.
3:30 p.m.
3:55 p.m.
NHL
1 p.m.
1 p.m.
SOCCER
9:55 a.m.
TGC
TGC
TGC
OC16
Campbell vs. Waipahu
HORSE RACING
NCAA Tournament, Notre Dame vs. Wichita State
NCAA Tournament, North Carolina vs. Wisconsin
NCAA Tournament, Kentucky vs. West Virginia
NCAA Tournament, Xavier vs. Arizona
SNLA
ESPN
CBS
TBS
CBS
TBS
Los Angeles at N.Y. Islanders
Anaheim at Boston
FSNW
FSNPT
Men’s exhibition, France vs. Brazil
ESPN2
*Tape-delayed broadcast
MLB
BASEBALL
SPRING TRAINING
AMERICAN
W
L
Pct
Kansas City
13
8
.619
Oakland
14
9
.609
New York
13
9
.591
Los Angeles
11
8
.579
Toronto
12
9
.571
Houston
9
8
.529
Boston
10
9
.526
Tampa Bay
9
9
.500
Minnesota
9 10
.474
Seattle
9 10
.474
Cleveland
9
11
.450
Texas
8 10
.444
Baltimore
9
13
.409
Chicago
7
11
.389
Detroit
7
15
.318
NATIONAL
W
L
Pct
Los Angeles
11
6
.647
Arizona
12
9
.571
Colorado
12
9
.571
St. Louis
9
7
.563
Miami
11
9
.550
New York
12 10
.545
Pittsburgh
10
9
.526
Philadelphia
11 10
.524
San Diego
11 10
.524
Cincinnati
9
9
.500
Washington
9
9
.500
Chicago
9
12
.429
Milwaukee
8
11
.421
Atlanta
9
13
.409
San Francisco
6
16
.273
San Francisco
6
16
.273
NOTE: Split-squad games count
in the standings; games against
non-major league teams do not.
Tuesday’s Games
Minnesota 6, Toronto 5
Baltimore 9, Pittsburgh 2
Philadelphia 5, Atlanta 3
Miami 9, Boston 4
Houston 4, N.Y. Mets 3
Colorado 7, Chicago White Sox 6
Texas 15, L.A. Angels 8
San Diego 6, Seattle 4
Oakland 14, Chicago Cubs 2
N.Y. Yankees 9, Detroit 8
NBA
BASKETBALL
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic
W L
Toronto
42 29
Boston
31 39
Brooklyn
29 40
Philadelphia
17 54
New York
14 57
Southeast
W L
y-Atlanta
53 17
Washington
40 31
Miami
32 38
Charlotte
30 39
Orlando
22 50
Central
W L
x-Cleveland
46 26
x-Chicago
43 29
Milwaukee
35 36
Indiana
30 40
Detroit
27 44
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Southwest
W L
x-Memphis
50 21
Houston
47 23
San Antonio
44 26
Dallas
45 27
New Orleans
37 33
Pct
.592
.443
.420
.239
.197
Pct
.757
.563
.457
.435
.306
Pct
.639
.597
.493
.429
.380
GB
-10½
12
25
28
GB
-13½
21
22½
32
GB
-3
10½
15
18½
Pct GB
.704
-.671 2½
.629 5½
.625 5½
.529 12½
Northwest
W L Pct GB
Portland
44 25 .638
-Oklahoma City
41 30 .577
4
Utah
31 39 .443 13½
Denver
27 44 .380 18
Minnesota
16 54 .229 28½
Pacific
W L Pct GB
x-Golden State 58 13 .817
-L.A. Clippers
46 25 .648 12
Phoenix
38 33 .535 20
Sacramento
25 45 .357 32½
L.A. Lakers
18 51 .261
x-clinched playoff spot
y-clinched division
Tuesday’s Games
Detroit 108, Toronto 104
Oklahoma City 127, L.A. Lakers 117
Dallas 101, San Antonio 94
Milwaukee 89, Miami 88
Sacramento 107, Philadelphia 106
Golden State 122, Portland 108
Wednesday’s Games
Indiana at Washington, 1 p.m.
Chicago at Toronto, 1 p.m.
Atlanta at Orlando, 1 p.m.
Brooklyn at Charlotte, 1 p.m.
L.A. Clippers at New York, 1 p.m.
Miami at Boston, 1:30 p.m.
Houston at New Orleans, 2 p.m.
Cleveland at Memphis, 2 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Minnesota, 2 p.m.
Philadelphia at Denver, 3 p.m.
Portland at Utah, 3 p.m.
Oklahoma City at San Antonio, 3:30 p.m.
Sacramento at Phoenix, 4 p.m.
COLLEGE
MEN’S
CINDERELLA: Even low seeded
teams are storied programs
RADIO SCHEDULE
FSNPT
Trackside Live!
NCAA TOURNAMENT
EAST REGIONAL
Round of 32
Sunday’s Games
Michigan State 60, Virginia 54
Oklahoma 72, Dayton 66
Louisville 66, Northern Iowa 53
Regional Semifinals
Friday’s Games
N.C. State (22-13) vs. Louisville (26-8),
1:37 p.m.
Michigan State (25-11) vs. Oklahoma
(24-10), 4:07 p.m.
SOUTH REGIONAL
Round of 32
Sunday’s Games
Duke 68, San Diego State 49
Gonzaga 87, Iowa 68
Regional Semifinals
Friday’s Games
UCLA (22-13) vs. Gonzaga (34-2), 1:15
p.m.
Duke (31-4) vs. Utah (26-8), 3:45 p.m.
MIDWEST REGIONAL
Round of 32
Sunday’s Games
West Virginia 69, Maryland 59
Wichita State 78, Kansas 65
Regional Semifinals
Thursday’s Games
Wichita State (30-4) vs. Notre Dame
(31-5), 1:15 p.m.
Kentucky (36-0) vs. West Virginia (296), 3:45 p.m.
WEST REGIONAL
Round of 32
Sunday’s Games
Wisconsin 72, Oregon 65
Regional Semifinals
Thursday’s Games
Wisconsin (33-3) vs. North Carolina
(26-11), 1:47 p.m.
Arizona (33-3) vs. Xavier (23-13), 4:17 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
2:45 p.m.
College baseball: Hawaii vs Loyola Marymount 790/1420AM
NATIONAL INVITATION
TOURNAMENT
Quarterfinals
Miami 63, Richmond 61
Stanford 78, Vanderbilt 75
WOMEN’S
NCAA TOURNAMENT
ALBANY REGIONAL
Second Round
Monday’s Games
UConn 91, Rutgers 55
Louisville 60, South Florida 52
Regional Semifinals
Saturday’s Games
UConn (34-1) vs. Texas (24-10), 6 a.m.
Dayton (27-6) vs. Louisville (27-6), 8:30 a.m.
SPOKANE REGIONAL
Second Round
Monday’s Games
Maryland 85, Princeton 70
Tennessee 77, Pittsburgh 67
Regional Semifinals
Saturday’s Games
Maryland (32-2) vs. Duke (23-10),
10:30 a.m.
Gonzaga (26-7) vs. Tennessee (29-5),
1 p.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY REGIONAL
Second Round
Monday’s Games
Stanford 86, Oklahoma 76
Regional Semifinals
Friday’s Games
Iowa (26-7) vs. Baylor (32-3), 1:30 p.m.
Notre Dame (33-2) vs. Stanford (26-9),
4 p.m.
GREENSBORO REGIONAL
Second Round
Monday’s Games
North Carolina 86, Ohio State 84
Arizona State 57, UALR 54
Florida State 65, Florida Gulf Coast 47
Regional Semifinals
Friday’s Games
South Carolina (32-2) vs. North
Carolina (26-8), 1 p.m.
Arizona State (29-5) vs. Florida State
(31-4), 3:30 p.m.
HOCKEY
NHL
Tuesday’s Games
Minnesota 2, N.Y. Islanders 1, SO
Los Angeles 4, N.Y. Rangers 2
St. Louis 3, Pittsburgh 2, OT
3B
Columbus 5, Anaheim 3
Arizona 5, Detroit 4, OT
Tampa Bay 4, Florida 3
Nashville 3, Montreal 2, OT
Vancouver 5, Winnipeg 2
Wednesday’s Games
Chicago at Philadelphia, 8 p.m.
Colorado at Edmonton, 8 p.m.
Dallas at Calgary, 10 p.m.
TRANSACTIONS
BASEBALL
American League
CHICAGO WHITE SOX -- Optioned INF
Leury Garcia, LHP Onelki Garcia and INF
Andy Wilkins to Charlotte (IL) and RHP
Frankie Montas to Birmingham (SL).
Reassigned RHP Logan Kensing, RHP
Nolan Sanburn and LHP Joe Savery to
minor league camp.
MINNESOTA TWINS -- Agreed to terms
with 2B Brian Dozier on a four-year
contract. Optioned RHP A.J. Achter
to Rochester (IL). Reassigned C Tyler
Grimes, INFs James Beresford and Jose
Martinez, and OFs Eric Farris and Danny
Ortiz to minor league camp.
TEXAS RANGERS -- Optioned INF Hanser
Alberto to Round Rock (PCL). Assigned
RHPs Alex Gonzalez and Ross Wolf to
minor league camp.
National League
MIAMI MARLINS -- Optioned RHP Carter
Capps to New Orleans (PCL). Reassigned
RHP Vin Mazzaro, RHP Ryan Chaffee, LHP
Pat Misch, LHP Pat Urckfitz and C Vinny
Rottino to minor league camp.
MILWAUKEE BREWERS -- Assigned INF
Pete Orr and OF Bryan Petersen to minor
league camp.
NEW YORK METS -- Optioned LHP Jack
Leathersich to minor league camp.
FOOTBALL
National Football League
CHICAGO BEARS -- Agreed to terms with
DT Ray McDonald and DE Jarvis Jenkins
on one-year contracts.
HOUSTON TEXANS -- Re-signed LB
Akeem Dent.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS -- Agreed to terms
with LB Casey Matthews and S Taylor
Mays.
NEW YORK JETS -- Signed DEs Stephen
Bowen and Kevin Vickerson and OT Corey
Hilliard.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
floor.
What’s expected seldom is as interesting as
what isn’t.
There is ample greatness in this Sweet 16,
and in Kentucky there is
even an ultimate favorite to root against if you
are so inclined.
What there ISN’T is
a warm ‘n fuzzy underdog left like No. 14-seed
Georgia State and its
rolling coach would
have been.
Or like 15th-seeded
Florida Gulf Coast was
in getting to this round
in 2013.
The fascination in
March Madness isn’t
found in Kentucky’s perfection or in the officepool payout you’re playing for. The fascination
is that, every year, there
are double-digit-seeded teams whose nicknames you don’t know,
from conferences you’ve
barely heard of, and this
is their Powerball.
This is one big shot.
Just like you never win
the lottery, the Georgia
States never hit the
ultimate prize, either.
A double-digit seed has
never won the NCAA
championship let alone
reached the title game.
Only three (all No. 11s)
have reached the Final
Four: Louisiana State
in 1986, George Mason
in 2006 and Virginia
Commonwealth in 2011.
This year, no Cinderella
left. No little team aiming a slingshot high.
What’s left is big,
storied
programs
like Kentucky, Duke,
Louisville and Michigan
State. Ten of the 16
schools left have won a
combined 38 national
championships.
The ultimate proof
that Cinderella has left
the building? The only
double-digit seed left
in the Sweet 16 is only
the most successful college basketball program
ever: UCLA.
The other worst-seeded teams still in it are
No. 8 North Carolina
State, which ousted No.
1-seeded Villanova; No.
7 Michigan State, playing in its 13th Sweet
16 in 20 seasons under
Izzo; and No. 7 Wichita
State, which reached the
Final Four two years ago
and arrived here 35-0
last year.
Oh, and, by the way,
when North Carolina is
described as a “sleeper,”
your bracket officially has no sleepers. It is
wide awake. The UNC
Tar Heels sneak up on
nobody.