Missing teens sought ADVERTISING Missing teens sought Hawaii Island police are searching for a 17-year-old Hilo girl who was reported missing. Brianna Kehaulani Freitas-Jones was last seen March 21 in Hilo. She is Caucasian, 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing
Missing teens sought
Hawaii Island police are searching for a 17-year-old Hilo girl who was reported missing.
Brianna Kehaulani Freitas-Jones was last seen March 21 in Hilo. She is Caucasian, 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 130 pounds with green eyes and brown hair.
Police are also looking for a 15-year-old Pepeekeo girl who was reported missing last week.
Shaniyah Das-Laro was last seen in Pepeekeo Saturday. She is 5 feet 1, weighing about 100 pounds with brown eyes and black hair.
Police ask that anyone with information on her whereabouts call the police department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311.
Those who prefer to remain anonymous may call the islandwide Crime Stoppers number at 961-8300. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.
Kona man charged on drug offenses
A Kailua-Kona man has been charged with meth trafficking and other offenses after being found with crystal methamphetamine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia, according to the Hawaii Police Department.
Officers from the Area II Vice Section made contact with a man and a woman in a car in Kailua-Kona during the course of a drug investigation Wednesday. After searching the car, officers recovered 248.5 grams of a crystalline substance, a small amount of a dried green leafy substance, paraphernalia associated with meth distribution and $2,200 in cash for forfeiture, police said. They also recovered 3.1 grams of a crystalline substance and paraphernalia associated with meth use from the man, 26-year-old Derwin Breithaupt of Kailua-Kona, according to a press release.
Breithaupt and a 29-year-old Kailua-Kona woman were arrested and taken to the Kona cellblock while detectives continued the investigation.
Wednesday night, after conferring with prosecutors, detectives released the woman pending further investigation. Breithaupt was charged Wednesday with two counts of meth trafficking, two counts of possessing drug paraphernalia and one count of promoting a detrimental drug. His bail was set at $59,250. He remained in the cellblock until his initial court appearance Thursday.
DCCA issues warning about car-sharing
The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ Insurance Division and Office of Consumer Protection is warning Hawaii residents to be informed and exercise caution before participating in a car-sharing program.
If individuals live in Hawaii and are seeking to rent a vehicle through an online car-sharing program, they are advised to be aware that they may be responsible for damages and injuries stemming from accidents during the rental period. In addition, anyone renting his or her personal vehicle through a car-sharing program may be subject to Hawaii’s motor vehicle rental law, DCCA officials said.
The Insurance Division recommends that car owners check with their insurers before participating in a car-sharing program to determine if there is any impact on their personal motor vehicle insurance policies. People who rent their own vehicles through car-sharing programs may have to pay out of their own pockets for damages and injuries stemming from any accidents that occur during the rental period, as they would in any rental car arrangement.
Kihara charged
A Hilo man has been charged with burglary and theft for allegedly stealing items from a Hilo home in February.
On Feb. 25, a 27-year-old Hilo man reported he had video surveillance of the suspect removing tools from his carport.
On Wednesday, South Hilo patrol officers located and arrested the suspect, Mitchell Kihara, 30, and held him in the Hilo police cellblock while detectives continued the investigation.
Thursday morning, detectives charged Kihara with first-degree burglary and third-degree theft. His bail was set at $5,500.
He remains at the cellblock pending his initial court appearance scheduled for Monday.
Overturned tanker truck leads to highway closure
An overturned tanker truck caused the closure of Mamalahoa Highway Thursday afternoon, two miles south of the Saddle Road junction.
According to the Police Department and Hawaii County Civil Defense officials, the truck blocked both lanes of traffic. A Civil Defense official said it was not immediately clear whether the tank’s contents had spilled.
Traffic was rerouted along Waikoloa Road and Kaiminani Drive. The road was reopened at about 8 p.m.
Some blood donation restrictions removed
People with new tattoos and body piercings, as well as some cancer survivors, may now be eligible to donate blood in Hawaii, Blood Bank of Hawaii officials announced this week. They said thanks to changes in medical research and technology, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determined these new requirements to be safe for both donors and patients. These changes will help expand the population’s donor pool and better meet hospitals’ needs.
One of the biggest changes in donor eligibility is for those with previous health issues. New medical research has shown that cancer is not spread through blood transfusion. This means that cancer survivors, other than blood or bone marrow types — leukemia and lymphoma, who have completed treatment, and have been cancer-free for one year or more, are now eligible to donate blood. In addition, those with autoimmune disorders, who have had a stroke, or have lung and heart conditions, once considered permanent deferrals are also eligible as long as no symptoms are present at the time of donation.
Another highlight of the new eligibility changes is the elimination of temporary deferrals such as a waiting period for tattoos and piercings. The recently tattooed can now donate as long as the process was performed at a state regulated tattoo shop; piercings need to have been performed using a sterile procedure or gun method with new jewelry.
For eligibility information and changes, visit bbh.org. Individuals currently deferred who think they may be eligible under the new criteria may call 848-4745 for more information regarding an eligibility review.
Maui sugar plantation: Still need to burn cane
KAHULUI, Maui — The state’s last remaining sugar company has been researching alternatives to burning leaves off its sugar cane crop before harvest.
But Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. said it hasn’t found an alternative yet, The Maui News reported. For now, the company still needs to continue burning cane to stay in business, it said.
“We do care about what happens in the community, and we’re working very hard to mitigate and minimize the impacts we have on the community, whether from smoke or whatever else,” HC&S General Manager Rick Volner said at an open house meeting Tuesday night.
More than 100 residents and company employees attended the three-hour meeting at Maui Waena Intermediate School.
Burning cane can cause plumes of smoke to drift downwind, blanketing cars and sidewalks with black ash. Some residents believe it contributes to the flare-up of asthma and other acute respiratory diseases, especially in young children.
One resident asked why HC&S does not practice an alternative method known as mechanical green harvesting, which would not require traditional cane burning.
Volner said the company has tried the method. It purchased two “top-of-the-line” John Deere harvesters several years ago to collect sugar cane without burning, but the sloped terrain and rocks characteristic of HC&S fields have resulted in “significantly reduced yield” of sugar cane crop, making it not “economically viable,” he said.
The company, which owns 36,000 acres on Maui, burns an average of 400 acres per week during its nine-month burn season. The season began March 13 this year.
Experts have tried for years to determine whether cane burning on Maui has led to an increase in respiratory illnesses, though the prevalence of volcanic smog or “vog,” rainy weather and other factors have made it nearly impossible.
By local and wire sources
