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WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM
75¢
Kenoi campaign manager
named Aging director
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
Mayor Billy Kenoi’s campaign
manager has been hired to head
the county Office of Aging, a
$110,000-plus position that
oversees a department of 12
employees.
Kimo Alameda was selected
by a panel that did not include
the mayor, said county officials.
The position was advertised for
10 days and six people applied,
said Kenoi spokesman Peter
Boylan. He started April 1.
“Dr. Alameda was the most
qualified applicant for executive
director of the Hawaii County
Office on Aging,” Boylan said
in a statement. “His experience
(in the state Department of
Health), and his dedication to
coaching kids and working as a
counselor make him a valuable
resource to the county and our
kupuna.”
The Office of Aging, unlike
departments set by the county charter, does not require
County Council confirmation of
its director. But most council
members, when reviewing the
program budget on April 23,
praised Alameda for the office.
“I think you’ll do a great job,”
said Council Chairman Dru
Kanuha, of Kona.
Hamakua
Councilwoman
Valierie Poindexter, the council
vice chairwoman, agreed.
“We’re so fortunate to have
you,” Poindexter said.
Alameda said he didn’t think
there is any problem with his
former role chairing Kenoi’s
SEE AGING DIRECTOR PAGE 7A
Committee
passes
medical
marijuana
dispensaries
bill
BY CATHY BUSSEWITZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kimo Alameda
Student mural takes on life of its own
BY MEGAN MOSELEY
WEST HAWAII TODAY
mmoseley@westhawaiitoday.com
Five enthusiastic students
at Kahakai Elementary School
stood in front of a large mural
where hand-painted pictures of
monk seals shined on a 4-foot
by 8-foot canvass behind them.
The young scholars spent
more than two months crafting
the drawings of the endangered
species and joyfully expressed
their knowledge and pride of
the animal and a mural that has
taken on a life of its own.
“We made the mural because
we wanted to try to save the
Hawaiian species of the monk
seals. They are a part of our
culture,” said Andrey Sawinski,
a fourth-grader at Kahakai
Elementary.
“The monk seal is very native
to Hawaii and is a majestic animal,” said Sawinski’s classmate
Taylor Bear.
The mural portrays painted
blocks with pictures of monk
seals inside them. The drawings
are supported by a bright, oceanblue background and each seal
is different with its own set of
eyes that fourth-grader Brooke
Aragon described as “windows
to their soul.”
There’s also a small mirror
within the mural that Aragon
explained is to show the viewer
that “you’re the missing piece.”
The mural recently left the
school to go to the Mokupapapa
INDEX
Fourth-graders Peyton Winkel, Andrey Sawinski, Lina Amor, Brooke Aragon and Taylor
Bear smile in front of their mural of the monk seals at Kahakai Elementary School. MEGAN
MOSELEY/WEST HAWAII TODAY
Discovery Center in Hilo. When
the Ke Kai Ola Hawaiian Monk
Seal Visitor Center is completed then the artwork will travel there. Plans are also in the
works for the piece to go to
Maui and Oahu.
So how did these 9-year-olds
decide to create a painting that
Annie’s Mailbox . . . . . . 3C
HI
is now in high demand?
The idea came after a volunteer from the West Hawaii
Marine Mammal Response
Network gave a presentation on
the plight of the Hawaiian monk
seal to Tracy Foyle’s fourth grade
class.
Foyle said after her students
Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4B
Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4C
heard about the mammal and
its struggles, they felt compelled
to share the monk seal’s story
with the rest of the world.
According to the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service website, the
Hawaiian monk seal was listed
SEE MURAL PAGE 8A
Nation & World . . . . . . . . .3A
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Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4A
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B
VOL. 47, NO. 125 18 PAGES
40% OFF YOUR 2014 TAX RETURN
Applies to New and Former Clients
HONOLULU — Patients
have waited nearly 15 years for
legal access to medical marijuana in Hawaii, and they are
now one step closer to reaching
that goal.
A bill to set up a system of
medical marijuana dispensaries cleared its final committee hurdle on Monday, sending
the bill to the full Legislature,
where it’s expected to pass.
Under the proposal, dispensaries could begin operating
as soon as July 2016, bringing relief to 13,000 patients
who have been left to grow the
tricky plant on their own or to
buy it on the black market.
“We are finally closing the
loop in addressing patient
needs in a very responsible way,” said Rep. Della Au
Bellati, the lead negotiator for
the House on the bill.
That was welcome news to
Teri Heede, 60, who suffers
from multiple sclerosis and has
been growing her own marijuana in Honolulu.
“I was down for a year and
couldn’t walk,” Heede said. “I
started smoking like a burning
haystack, and I was walking in
six weeks.”
The dispensary bill had previously died when Senate and
House negotiators couldn’t
reach agreement before an
internal deadline, but leaders
from both chambers waived
the rules to give the committee
another shot.
The latest version of the proposal paves the way for eight
dispensaries to open statewide,
including three on Oahu, two
each on Maui and Hawaii’s
Big Island and one on Kauai.
Applications for dispensary
licenses would become available in January.
Each dispensary license
would cover up to two retail
dispensing locations and two
production centers, with each
production center cultivating
no more than 3,000 plants,
Bellati said.
“Hawaii finally got it right,”
said Sen. Will Espreo, who
took over as lead negotiator
for the Senate after discussions
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