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Author Archives: Dan Murphy

Banker Bandit

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Molokai resident embezzles thousands from credit union

By Dan Murphy

Molokai resident Daniel Mahiai pleaded guilty last week to embezzling over $200,000 from the Molokai Community Federal Credit Union (MCU) over the past four years.

Mahiai, 32, worked as a teller at MCU since 2004 and began stealing money in January 2005, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Federal prosecutors said that Mahiai was able to carry out his scheme for over three years by doctoring account entries after customers made a transaction. The entries falsely inflated the balances so large missing sums of money went unnoticed. He also set some accounts so no statements would be mailed to the customers so withdrawals would go undetected.

Mahiai embezzled a total of $218,293 from the credit union. He replaced over $55,000 of that money before he stopped in February 2008.

MCU President Lawrence Lasua declined to comment at this time.

Mahiai, currently released on a $50,000 bond, faces up to 30 years in federal prison and fines as high as $1 million. U.S District Judge David Ezra will make a ruling on the sentence on Feb. 16, 2010. Mahiai also must pay $168,180 in restitution.

U.S. Attorney Larry Tong and the FBI were both involved with the case.

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Farmers Clinch Spot in State Tourney

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Sterner,” DeRouin said.

Sterner came in 33rd place overall with a time of 26:11. Kalani Wainwright and Candice Pauole rounded out the scoring finishers for Molokai in 43rd and 45th place.

DeRouin said that most of the girls on the team run to stay in shape for other sports like wrestling or basketball. However, he said this season both he and his runners learned how exciting race day can be.

“I think we improved greatly over the season and we all have a very different perspective on cross country as a sport,” DeRouin said.

 The Farmers were racing short-handed because of losing two runners during the race. One runner could not finish due to cramps and another was disqualified because she did not correctly complete the course.

“It was a pretty tough course. It was very confusing and things kind of zig-zagged around at the end,” DeRouin said.

Molokai wasn’t the only team that had trouble following the confusing finish. Maui High’s Rocky Balala was leading the boys’ race until the last 500 meters when he took a wrong turn and had to retrace his steps to avoid being disqualified. His mistake gave both Perez-Garreaud and Ringor a chance to pass him just before the finish line.

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Council Plans to Tackle Tough Issues

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

By Dan Murphy


Healthcare, education and the environment are always a top priority for citizens on Molokai. To make sure those needs don’t fall on deaf ears in Oahu, an island council appointed by the governor will try to tackle a few of those issues this year.

The Governor’s Council of Neighbor Island Advisors, made up of five Molokai residents, was created by Governor Linda Lingle to ensure that the needs of Hawaii’s smaller islands would not go unheard. They hold community meetings on a monthly basis where the public can come to share any information they think the governor should know about.

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Read to Succeed

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

Read to Succeed

year when I got a letter in the mail that said I was nominated and picked to go,” Jershon said.

During the forum, Jershon will visit Capitol Hill, meet a member of Congress, visit the U.S. Supreme Court and get an insider’s look at the Library of Congress – and that’s only the first day.

The rest of the five-day leadership council will be just as action-packed. A group of students from all over the world will get a behind the scenes look at many of the country’s most famous landmarks as well as break into smaller groups to learn how to be more effective leaders.

Making It Happen
Jershon was nominated for the honor by long-time Kaunakakai School teacher Kini Tokailagi. Tokailagi taught Jershon in first grade and said she thought he was a good fit because of he did well academically and always acted as a leader.

“He is very intelligent, very responsible and I could see he was a good leader,” she said.

After his acceptance to the program, the only thing standing between Jershon and the experience of a lifetime was money. The program tuition is nearly $2,500 and a round trip flight to the east coast would tack on another serious price tag.

Jershon decided that he would bring attention to his cause by holding a “Read To Succeed Read-A-Thon.” He pledged to read 2,500 pages during school vacation from Oct. 4-10 and asked that community members help him get to the leadership forum in return.

The Kaalekahis posted signs around town and set up a booth at the Molokai Film Festival on Oct. 10 that was busy throughout the night. Money poured in from close relatives, friends from the island and complete strangers who just happened to be visiting. Several paddlers who were visiting for the Molokai Hoe stopped by at the film festival to offer their support.
 
Jershon held up his end of the bargain. He spent the week reading Harry Potter, taking his only real breaks for football practice each afternoon.

“I think it went really well,” said Jershon’s mother Kristin Kaalekahi. “At times it was kind of challenging. Most of his time was dedicating to reading, but we were all so excited for him.”

The read-a-thon raised enough money to cover the cost of tuition and put a solid dent in the plane trip.

“It was actually way more than we expected we were more than pleased and really overwhelmed from the support,” Kristin Kaalekahi said.

 Jershon said he plans on holding a presentation when he returns from the mainland to share all he has learned with the local businesses and people who helped get him there.

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Exemption Please

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Planning Commission asks for Molokai exemption from new county laws

By Dan Murphy

It’s not often that everyone at a Molokai Planning Commission (MoPC) meeting is in agreement. But when the Maui County Council proposed two bills that would potentially increase population density on Molokai, the response was a resounding ‘No thanks.’

One bill would make it easier to change land zoning from agricultural to residential. The other would lower the acreage requirement to build an ohana house, allowing more people to live per acre. Joe Alueta, an administrative planning officer for the county of Maui explained the reason for the proposed changes along with their pros and cons.  

“Basically the county is giving you a tool that could be used at your discretion in the future. It is a tool that should be used sparingly if at all,” Alueta said.

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Sharp Shooters

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Sharp Shooters

, especially Nika and Christina,” Kalani said.

Senior Kerianne Mokuau had the highest finish for any Molokai shooter on Saturday ending up in sixth place. She shot a 90 in her first round from the prone position and ended up with 463 total points. She finished only 13 points away from the top five and 15 points shy of a trip to the state tournament.

Rabino was the next best wahine Farmer with a 409 overall, good enough for 13th in the conference. She was followed by Chelsea Simon (392), Mendija (392) and Kealoha Will (348).

Their combined scores were enough to hold off St. Anthony’s and secure the bronze medal. Maui High finished in second place and Baldwin High won both the girls and boys divisions with scores of 1,826 and 1,868.

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Farmers Serve Up Perfection

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Farmers Serve Up Perfection

tournament,” Helm said.

The Farmers have a little over a week off to regroup and prepare to put their undefeated record on the line against the best in the state at the HHSAA Tournament. The team leaves for Oahu on Oct. 28.

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Power Up

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Power Up

are basically geared toward improving the reliability of the system,” Awai-Dickson said. “We want to keep up with maintenance and be proactive as opposed to reactive.”

Decoupling
MECO representatives say they also hope that the new rates will be the basis for a process known as decoupling – dissolving the tie between the money they make and the amount of electricity they sell. That means that instead of paying per kWh, customers would likely pay a fixed rate per month for the electricity they use. The plan, which is far from finalized, is designed to place more emphasis on fixed rates so that a decrease in usage would not drastically hurt the companies.

“Basically, there would be an established rate decided on by the Commission,” Awai-Dickson said. “This rate increase would set the base rate that we would use should the Commission decide to pursue the method of decoupling.”

The PUC is currently reviewing the idea of decoupling and the many different methods of doing it to determine if it makes sense to use for the state’s electric utilities. The hope is that with earnings detached from the amount of electricity used, the utilities will help to provide more energy-saving and efficient ways to power the state.

PUC economist Wendy Takanisha said that if the decoupling method of charging customers is approved, there would be a public education period to make sure that all ratepayers understand the new process. Currently, there is no timeframe to implement decoupling, but it would not occur until well after the PUC makes a decision on MECO’s 2010 rate increase application.

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Kawela Bridge gets facelift

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

By Dan Murphy

Plans to replace the old Kawela Bridge were approved by the Molokai Planning Commission (MoPC) last month. The bridge, located just past mile marker five, has been known to flood during big rainstorms and block off the east end of King Kamehameha V Highway.

Mich Hirano, vice president of Munekiyo and Hiraga planning firm, reported to MoPC that the old bridge had been deemed structurally and hydraulically inadequate. Hirano said they still have plenty of work ahead of them.

“Our role is to get all of the permits for the project. There are still a number of permits that they need before they can start building,” he said.

The new plans call for an extension of the existing bridge from 44 feet to 56 feet long. Ten foot shoulders will also be added on either side of the road to provide a safe lane for bikers and pedestrians. However, the majority of the improvements will occur beneath the road.

Flooding in the area has occurred in the past because sediment piles up and blocks water from flowing beneath the bridge. During the new project, all excess sediment will be cleared and the banks will be lined with cement to keep dirt from gathering again. The bridge height will also be raised from five to seven feet, allowing enough room for equipment to clean underneath the bridge if necessary.

The Commissioners, who visited the site of the project the morning before making their decision, had two major concerns with the project. First, they wanted to make sure that a reliable backup plan was in place in case a flood hit during the construction process.

“Our discussions [at the site visit] noted that there was no contingency plan if the temporary bridge failed in anyway,” Commissioner Mikiala Pescaia said.

During construction, a temporary bridge will be built makai of the work so traffic can continue to flow. If that bridge is damaged, the Commission made sure that the contractor would have the road opened within 24 hours after a storm.

They also ensured that this project would not drag on like the recently completed Kawaikapu Bridge on the east end – it took nearly four years to construct the 30 foot bridge. MoPC told the Department of Transportation they had a maximum of three years to complete the project after breaking ground. Hirano said he did not expect the project to take longer than one year to complete.

Construction will not begin until Fall of 2010 at the earliest, and may be even later depending on how long it takes to obtain the remaining permits and select a contractor to complete the project.

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Farmers Football

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

Farmers Football

Molokai peewees drop first two games of season
By Dan Murphy

For the second week in a row, Molokai’s peewee football team came up just short of a victory last Saturday. The Farmers played a strong defensive game, but ended up falling to the Kapolei White Warriors 6-0.

The Molokai offense was moving the ball late in the fourth quarter, but time ran out before they were able to put any points on the board. Running back Noah Caparida broke off runs of 10 and 25 yards and quarterback Logan Kamali`i scrambled for 12 more on the final drive before the Warriors were able to slow them down.

“That was a hard-fought gridiron game between two very good football teams,” Molokai Head Coach Kirk Kiaha said.

The loss drops Molokai’s record to 0-2 on the season after losing to the Kapolei Silver team 7-0 in their season opener two weeks ago.

The Farmers defense looked strong this past weekend, holding Kapolei to only two first downs during the game. Middle linebacker Sione Mauala led the way for the defense with three tackles for loss.

“I’ve seen a lot of improvement so far,” Kiaha said. “The techniques are getting better and we are more aggressive.”

The game’s only touchdown came with less than a minute remaining in the first half. A Farmers’ fumble gave Kapolei the ball inside the 10 yard line with just over a minute to go in the half. Two plays later the Warriors found the end zone and took the lead for good.

A Chance to Play
Kiaha said he expects the team to be winning games soon, but the more important thing is that the keiki are getting a chance to learn the game.  

“It’s a privilege to introduce the kids to football. I hope that we can keep this going and give all kids a chance to play,” he said.

Kiaha first started coaching youth football over 15 years ago when he and his old high school teammates started a team on Oahu. Two championships and almost two decades later, he is still trying to spread the sport.

Kiaha was instrumental in bringing football to Molokai youth three years ago when the program was started. Formerly the Oahu Youth Sports League, the league changed its name this year to the Island Youth Football League, as they plan to add teams from other neighbor islands in the future.
Molokai currently has a peewee team (11-13 year olds) and a termite team (10 and under). The termite Farmers did not play last weekend, but also lost their home opener to Kapolei Silver on Oct. 3.

Molokai will play seven games this season at Duke Maliu Park.The team also hopes to go to Honolulu at the end of the season for a game at Aloha Stadium.

Kiaha said that the league wouldn’t be able to exist without team parents who feed visiting teams from Oahu and spend countless hours preparing for their arrival.

“I give a big ‘hats off’ to all of those parents as well as the coaches who give up a lot of their time to help these young men and women,” he said.

Kiaha is joined by assistant coaches Wayne Puaoi, Andy Diekroft, Kama Kiaha and one other extremely good-looking and talented anonymous coach.

The Farmers next game will be Oct. 24 against the Ewa Beach Cardinals.

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