No bail for alleged killer of mother of 4

A Molokai man who allegedly shot and killed Malia Kahalewai, his live-in girlfriend and mother of their four children, is being held without bail.

Maui District Judge Adrianne Heely granted the prosecution’s request at Marlin Lavoie’s preliminary hearing Wednesday to hold the 33-year-old Honouliwai man without bail on the second-degree murder and firearms charges.

Lavoie had been held on a $500,000 cash-only bail.

Lavoie is scheduled to appear in Maui Circuit Court at 8:30 a.m. April 11 for his arraignment and plea.

Lavoie and Kahalewai, 24, had been involved in a violent domestic incident March 16, police said. On March 20, Lavoie went looking for Kahalewai, found her staying at a female friend’s house in Kawela and shot her once in the chest with a rifle, police said.

Lavoie was convicted in 2008 for domestic abuse involving Kahalewai. He also was convicted in 2002 of a 1998 robbery and burglary in a home invasion case.

Rare mealy bugs found in taro shipment

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists stationed at the Honolulu Airport intercepted a nest of destructive mealy bugs in a taro shipment arriving from Fiji.

Customs officials said the interception on March 14 was the first of its kind in the United States.

The mealy bugs were discovered during a routine examination of an air cargo shipment. The shipment was held until identification could be verified.

The mealy bugs were identified as Paraputo aracearum Williams. The species infests taro and is only known to occur in Fiji.

"This is an example of the great work our agriculture specialists and officers do to protect the domestic agriculture industry from pests and diseases. This is one of the top priorities in our mission to protect the homeland and our economic security," Hilda Montoya, assistant port director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Honolulu, said in a news release.

Bail for suspect in attack is set

A state judge on Maui set bail of $260,000 for a Kihei man accused of participating in a group attack that left the victim battered and doused with gasoline in what police say was an attempt to set him on fire.

The Maui News reported that Brok Carlton, 39, is charged with robbery, assault and kidnapping in connection with the beating.

Police said four attackers forced the victim to the ground outside his West Maui apartment, hit him with baseball bats, threw gas on him and attempted to tie his hands and feet with zip ties in the March 21 assault.

Authorities say the assailants fled as residents began coming out to see what was going on.

District Judge Adrianne Heely set the bail Monday. Carlton’s attorney argued unsuccessfully for Carlton’s supervised release, and he remained in police custody.

Autopsy shows tourist drowned

Preliminary results of an autopsy performed Tuesday indicate that a 37-year-old Colorado man died of accidental drowning on Saturday in Puna.

The victim’s name was being withheld pending positive identification and notification of his family.

Puna police officers said the man jumped off the cliff at Orr’s Beach in Waa Waa when he became caught in the current and was pulled under.

Fire department personnel retrieved him from the water and took him to Hilo Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. It was the 10th drowning death of a tourist in Hawaii this year.