OHA appoints new chief operating officer
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is naming a new chief operating officer.
Kawika Burgess will take responsibility for running the agency’s day-to-day operations at the end of the month.
The agency said Friday the 40-year-old previously worked in land management at Kamehameha Schools and the Trust for Public Land.
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is the state’s 13th-largest landowner, controlling more than 27,000 acres.
The state last year gave the agency about 30 acres of Honolulu waterfront real estate to settle a decades-long claim on revenue generated by Hawaiian monarchy lands. The 10 parcels in Kakaako are estimated to be worth more than $200 million.
UH scientists debut new ocean vehicle
Scientists from the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology welcomed a new remotely operated vehicle to its fleet last week.
The new vehicle, named Lu‘ukai ("sea diver"), is capable of descending more than three miles and will be used to explore waters around the state and throughout the Pacific Basin. Lu‘ukai is equipped with manipulator arms, lights, sonar and high-definition still and video cameras.
According to a SOEST release, the new vehicle will support operations at the ALOHA Cabled Observatory and provide submersible capability to UH research vessels R/V Ka‘imikai-o-Kanaloa and R/V Kilo Moana.
Lu‘ukai’s first scientific mission is scheduled for Dec. 2.
Lawyers ready to defend bill on pesticides
Two attorneys representing environmental advocacy and public interest groups are urging Kauai’s mayor to sign into law a bill requiring disclosure of pesticide use and genetically modified crops on the island.
Attorneys Paul Achitoff of Earthjustice and George Kimbrell of the Center for Food Safety are asking Mayor Bernard Carvalho to approve the legislation, The Garden Island reported Sunday.
In a letter Friday, the lawyers say they are prepared to intervene if any companies challenge the bill in court.
"Earthjustice and the Center for Food Safety would like to reiterate our commitment to defend the bill from any legal interference by the pesticide industry," the attorneys said. "We are working with interested community groups and individuals on a pro bono basis."
The County Council approved the bill last week, which requires the disclosure of pesticides use and genetically modified crops by large agribusinesses. The Council rejected Carvalho’s request to defer the measure to allow discussions with the state on enforcement.
Small fire burns brush in Lahaina
A brush fire Saturday behind the Lahaina Aquatic Center was put out quickly, Maui County fire officials said.
A caller reported around 3:30 p.m. that an old pump house near the area around Shaw and Mill streets had caught fire, but the flames were coming from a brush fire next to the structure, officials said.
About a quarter-acre of brush burned, and the abandoned structure was not involved.
Firefighters took about 30 minutes to get the blaze under control.
