Public safety ratings for eateries proposed

The state Department of Health wants consumers to be able to see how restaurants and other food establishments fare in safety inspections.

The department proposes posting placards in establishments. West Hawaii Today reports green placards mean "pass," yellow ones "conditional pass" and red cards signify "closed." A green card will be issued for one major violation or less that’s corrected before the inspection is completed. Yellow is for two or more violations, regardless of when violations are corrected. A red card means there are health hazards requiring immediate closure.

Public hearings will be held in December. Health officials plan to hire 13 inspectors. An inspector shortage two years ago meant some restaurants were inspected infrequently.

Convicted Kauai copper thief gets jail term

LIHUE » A Lihue man convicted of stealing copper from an old Kauai sugar mill was sentenced to nine months in jail.

Shawn Kamaka Cremer will serve four years of probation with Hawaii Opportunity Probation with Enforcement. The Garden Island newspaper reports the program is a more strongly supervised probation for high-risk offenders.

Cremer pleaded no contest June 24 to felony theft of copper.

Deputy county prosecutor Rebecca Vogt says Cremer was arrested on March 25 and charged with counts stemming from the theft of copper Feb. 17 from the old Kekaha sugar mill site.

She says more than 150 pounds of copper was found in his vehicle.

Defense attorney Michael Soong said Cremer committed crimes to support a dependency to methamphetamine and that he’s trying to enter drug rehabilitation.