Suit filed over school’s canceled isle trip

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster has sued a Utah-based travel agency to recover about $360,000 that a Missouri high school band turned over for a trip to Hawaii.

Koster’s office said Present America Tours LLC accepted the money from the Willard High School band for a planned summer trip to the islands. But the school canceled the trip after the company stopped returning phone calls and emails.

A phone number for the company — with a Hawaii area code — was disconnected Friday.

Nene relocated to other islands

State workers have removed 300 nene geese from around Kauai Airport in the past few months to reduce the risk they will get in the way of airplanes taking off and landing.

KITV reports wildlife biologists have been taking the birds to Maui and Hawaii island.

The nene is an endangered species and the Hawaii state bird.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie last year signed a proclamation suspending some state laws so officials could swiftly move nene from Kauai Lagoons, the resort next to the airport where the geese have been nesting.

The geese have thrived among the resort’s golf course fairways and ponds. The population there exploded from just 18 birds in 1999 to about 400 last year.

Measure will aid agritourism

Hawaii island agencies are making it easier for farms to lure and accommodate tourists.

West Hawaii Today reports the Windward Planning Commission on Thursday unanimously endorsed a measure creating a new category of "minor" agritourism businesses that can bypass rules imposed on larger operations.

Minor agritourism operations are defined as operations with 15,000 visitors or less a year, with a weekly maximum of 350 visitors. Businesses that size won’t need approval before starting operations.

Hawai‘i Agritourism Association President Medina Weigert says the measure will create a more dependable revenue stream for the operations. The measure must be approved by the Leeward Planning Commission before going to the County Council.