Flores gives $1 million to UH college

Eddie Flores Jr., founder of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, has donated $1 million to the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

UH announced the donation, from Flores and his wife, Elaine, on Thursday. It will go toward creating the Eddie and Elaine Flores Jr. Real Estate Lecture Series.

“This lecture series would not be possible without the vision and support of Eddie and Elaine,” Vance Roley, dean of the Shidler College of Business, said in a statement. “Eddie is a successful entrepreneur and an accomplished real estate investor, author and educator.”

The Flores Real Estate Lecture Series will highlight issues and trends in Hawaii’s real estate industry and elsewhere. The program also will provide participants networking opportunities.

Flores created his brokerage firm, Sun Pacific Realty, in 1972 and now operates a real estate school.

This is Flores’ second million-dollar donation to the college. In 2007 he established a scholarship endowment that has provided more than 160 scholarships to students.

“I am a very proud graduate from Shidler College of Business,” Flores said. He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1970. “The college taught me everything and provided all tools to be successful in business. This gift is my way of giving back to the college and to the community.”

Roley said the college plans to name the Shidler courtyard after Flores.

“We are proud to have the L&L legacy attached to the college forever,” Roley said.

Hawaii island

Jaylin Kema is released from jail

The mother of Peter “Peter Boy” Kema Jr. was freed Thursday on supervised release.

Jaylin Kema was released from Hawaii Community Correctional Center shortly after 10 a.m. after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter in December under a plea deal in exchange for her testimony against her husband, Peter Kema Sr.

In April 2016 a Hilo grand jury indicted the Kemas, charging them with second-degree murder in the death of Kema Jr., who was 6 years old when he was last seen by his siblings in July 1997.

Under the terms of Jaylin Kema’s supervised release, a judge ordered her not to have any contact with son Allan Acol and daughters Lina Acol and Chauntelle Woods. She was also ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device and remain on the Big Island, according to a court document.

Kema is expected to be sentenced June 13.

Under a plea deal, Peter Kema Sr. pleaded guilty April 5 to manslaughter and hindering prosecution in exchange for information on the location of his son’s remains. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 5 to 20 years in prison with a mandatory minimum of six years.

On Wednesday, law enforcement, Hawaii County Prosecutor Mitch Roth and his team led four of “Peter Boy’s” family members to a site in Puna where Peter Kema Sr. had led police Sunday. Kema told prosecutors and police that he placed his son’s body in a box and disposed of it in the ocean.

Police are expected to call in experts to assist in the search.

2 more rat lungworm cases confirmed

Two additional cases of rat lungworm disease have been confirmed on the Big Island, bringing the total there to seven and the statewide total to 13 cases.

Six cases have been reported on Maui, including two visitors.

The highest confirmed number of cases in recent history was 11 in 2016. Prior to that the annual number of rat lungworm cases since 2007 had been in the single digits statewide.

Since 2007 more than 50 people have contracted the tropical disease in Ha­waii, including two who died, state health officials said.

State Department of Health spokeswoman Janice Okubo said the department is continuing to ask people to wash their vegetables and fruits thoroughly, especially leafy vegetables.

Okubo said people with gardens should exercise control by eliminating snails, slugs and rats around their vegetable plots and areas surrounding fruits.

Okubo said the department hasn’t been able to discover the source of the contamination.

Rat lungworm disease occurs when parasitic worm larvae infect a person’s brain. The parasite is carried by rats and transmitted by snails and slugs.

The severity of the condition varies, depending on the part of the brain damaged by the parasite. Meningitislike symptoms range from headaches to encephalitis.

Most patients recover fully, but there is no medical treatment for it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health officials believe the disease is contracted by eating raw vegetables containing the parasite Angiostrongylus cantonensis.