Land board gains 3 new members

Gov. Neil Abercrombie has appointed three members to the seven-member Board of Land and Natural Resources.

The governor said Friday the appointments will fill seats vacated by two members who resigned and another whose term expired.

Attorney Vernon Char is being appointed to an at-large seat.

Ulalia Woodside, a kumu hula and Kamehameha Schools natural and cultural resources manager, was appointed to the Honolulu seat. Her appointment will fulfill a requirement that a board member have experience with Native Hawaiian cultural practices.

Christopher Yuen, owner of an organic farm and former Hawaii County planning director, was appointed to an at-large seat. Yuen’s appointment fulfills a requirement that a member be experienced in conservation.

The interim appointments are effective immediately but are subject to state Senate confirmation.

Abercrombie also nominated businessman David O’Neal and Melinda Wood, a grants development specialist at the East-West Center, to the five-member Ethics Commission.

One of the five appointments arises from a slate of resignations in recent weeks spurred by a new law requiring public disclosure of financial interests of members of various state boards and commissions. Abercrombie’s office, as of Wednesday, put the number of resignations by members who cited the law in their resignation letters at 18.

One of them was Land Board member Reed Kishinami, whose vacancy was filled Friday.

Star-Advertiser staff and Associated Press

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Solo-flying teen makes it to isles

Matt Guthmiller, a 19-year-old Massachusetts Institute of Technology student, arrived Saturday in Honolulu on his quest to become the youngest person to fly solo around the globe.

The South Dakota teen was supposed to reach Hawaii a few days ago but was delayed at Pago Pago, American Samoa, due to bad weather. He arrived in Hilo early Saturday morning and flew to Oahu in the afternoon.

Guthmiller, who is raising money for Code.org, a nonprofit that promotes computer education, is flying a 1981 Beechcraft A36 Bonanza on a 29,000-mile journey across five continents.

He began his journey in El Cajon, Calif., on May 31, and is expected to take off for El Cajon on Sunday or Monday.

60 years given for crime spree

A Haiku, Maui, teenager has been sentenced to prison terms of 60 years for a crime spree that resulted in three separate incidents of robbery and assault, according to the Maui News.

Pohakuloa Kahue, who was 17 when the crimes occurred in December 2012, robbed and beat a pizza delivery driver in Waiehu, robbed and assaulted a tourist at Makena State Park, and beat an 83-year-old man during a robbery and burglary of his home in Wailuku Heights, according to police.

Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza on Friday sentenced Kahue to three consecutive 20-year terms, the newspaper reported.

In the three cases, Kahue had pleaded no contest to a variety of charges ranging from kidnapping, robbery, burglary, assault and stealing a car.

In court, Kahue apologized to the families of the victims.

Star-Advertiser staff