GMO papaya gets EPA pass

WAILUKU » U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials told a Maui County Council committee they haven’t heard of any health issues related to eating genetically engineered rainbow papaya.

EPA biotechnology special assistant Chris Wozniak told the committee Tuesday eating rainbow papaya is the same as eating a papaya with a virus, which is a "common occurrence."

The Maui News reported a Maui doctor told the committee there could still be risks. Dr. Lorrin Pang says just because it occurs naturally doesn’t make it safe.

The committee is reviewing a voter-initiated measure that would place a moratorium on the cultivation of genetically modified organisms in Maui County.

Vendor found with stun guns

Hawaii County police are investigating the sale of stun guns at a farmers market in Pahoa.

Police said they recovered two stun guns that looked like cellphones from a vendor at the Maku‘u Farmers Market on Sunday morning and have received information that other devices that looked like a "Maglite-type flashlight" had previously been on display.

Police said possession and sale of electronic guns by civilians is illegal in Hawaii. Under the law, an "electronic gun" is any electrically operated portable device operated to project a missile or electromotive force.

Police are asking for any information on vendors selling similar devices. Anyone who has stun guns is advised to destroy them or turn them in to law enforcement, police said.

Damaged wall blamed for chimp’s escape

An investigation found that a Honolulu Zoo chimpanzee climbed a damaged wall to escape from the outer edge of his exhibit, the zoo said in a news release Wednesday.

The zoo is expediting repairs to the wall and exhibit mod- ifications and hopes to reopen the exhibit in a month.

Pu‘iwa, a 14-year-old chimpanzee, escaped from his ex- hibit on June 25 and was free for about an hour until he was subdued with a tranquilizer dart and returned to the enclo- sure. A visitor saw the chimpanzee outside the exhibit about 4 p.m. June 25. People in the zoo were ushered to a protected area until the chimpanzee was returned.

Pu‘iwa appears to be recovering well with his troop, and all eight of the zoo’s chimpanzees are living in their sleeping quarters until the repairs are made, the news release said.