Author Archives: Megan Stephenson

Humane Society Goes Social

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

The Molokai Humane Society (MHS) has been setting new goals including more community outreach through the popular social network website, Facebook. One supporter was so impressed MHS reached their goal of 100 new members in one week, she donated $500 through the Shields Animal Foundation to Molokai.

“Facebook is so huge right now as a way to spread information,” said Jenn Harrington Whitted, president-nominee of the MHS Board of Directors. By connecting online, MHS will be able to give updates on the clinic’s progress and seek more volunteers.

MHS runs mainly on volunteer hours and donations, and with this recent donation, the organization was able to add on to the structure of their office. The mobile building along Maunaloa Hwy, notable for the cats and dogs painted on its side, holds the administrative office as well as the veterinarians’ work space.

is huge because almost everybody has an animal on this island,” she added. The clinic hosts four to five vets regularly, with at least one on-island each week.

MHS will also be providing animal education which includes pet care, and procedures for those who find strays. Whitted said the board will be taking the classes to Tutu and Me Traveling Preschool and into Molokai’s schools.

“The best time to inform people is at a young age,” she said.

For more information, contact Molokai’s clinic at 558-0000. To report animal abuse anonymously, call the Humane Society’s toll-free number 877-TIP-HSUS (847-4787). Don’t forget to check out their Facebook page by searching Molokai Humane Society.

Kalaupapa Patient Sentenced to Five Years

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

Norbert Palea, a patient resident of Kalaupapa, has been sentenced to five years in prison, to be served in a mainland prison beginning this July, according to his lawyer, Matthew Winter.

Palea received his sentencing last Monday, Feb. 14 from the U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright. He was arrested and charged for transporting methamphetamine, commonly known as crystal meth or ice, to Kalaupapa from Oahu on two occasions, once in Nov. 2009 and another in Feb. 2010.

Seabright also sentenced Palea to four years of supervised release after completing his prison sentence, and will also be subjected to unannounced home searches, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Palea, 69, has had run-ins with the law before. In 1993, he pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana and served time at Halawa Prison on Oahu, according to a previous interview with the Molokai Dispatch.

In November 2009, Palea was found with 5 grams of meth in his luggage at the Honolulu Airport. He was again caught after attempting to send 18 grams of ice in a box to Kalaupapa from Oahu in February 2010. He was in Honolulu for medical treatment.

He told authorities the drugs were for workers in Kalaupapa, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Palea is Kalauapapa’s youngest patient. He was sent to Kalihi Hospital at the age 5 where he was first diagnosed with Hansen’s disease. After being sent to Kalauapapa, it was found he was misdiagnosed. However, after returning to Oahu, he later developed the disease and was sent back to Kalaupapa, according to OHA.org.