Newswatch
Nurse fined $10K in neglect case
A registered nurse has been sentenced in a neglect case involving an elderly Maui man who died four years ago.
The Maui News reported Sunday that Ross Rasmussen has been ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and was placed on five years’ probation.
Rasmussen, of Honolulu, pleaded no contest to second-degree assault.
Prosecutors said he did nothing to help the 86-year-old man under his care. Deputy Attorney General Dawn Shigezawa said the 58-year-old nurse should have noticed the bed sores on the patient’s body.
The man, of Waikapu, was placed in a community care foster family home in July 2007. Rasmussen was his case manager.
Shigezawa said there were more than 11 bedsores on the patient when he was found unconscious and admitted to Maui Memorial Medical Center on Oct. 12, 2007. He died three days later.
Construction work closes Hilo park
Hawaii County is closing Reeds Bay Beach Park in Hilo for four months while workers install accessible walkways, outdoor showers and picnic tables and do some landscaping.
The closure began Monday and is scheduled to last through Dec. 31.
The gravel parking area and shoreline next to the park remain open to the public, through construction may affect the area at times.
The contractor is required to allow boaters to launch and retrieve their vessels. But kayakers, paddle boarders and other recreational ocean users must use other areas, such as Kuhio Kalanianaole Park or Hilo Bayfront Beach Park, for their activities.
