Local businessman Peter Adler was appointed by Mayor Kirk Caldwell last week to fill a vacant post on the seven-member Honolulu Ethics Commission.

Adler, a longtime conflict resolution specialist, will replace Katy Chen, whose term expired at the end of 2015.

The five-year appointment is subject to confirmation by the City Council.

The commission’s makeup is being closely watched after Executive Director Chuck Totto was placed on an unpaid one-month leave after an investigation found internal management and personnel issues.

After Totto returned, the commission directed attorneys and investigators with its staff to complete daily work time sheets detailing their tasks in six-minute increments.

Separate trials sought in suit

Kamehameha Schools says it requested separate trials for 32 former students who allege they were repeatedly molested by a now-deceased Kamehameha Schools psychiatrist.

The plaintiffs are suing Kamehameha Schools and the estate of psychiatrist Robert Browne, who they say repeatedly sexually abused them during therapy sessions between the 1960s and 1980s.

A Kamehameha Schools statement Thursday says that each of the men should have individual trials because the facts and circumstances around each case are different.

The school says keeping students safe is a high priority and its policies are designed to protect students.

The plaintiffs’ attorney says the trials are set to begin June 1, 2018.

Kamehameha Schools gives admission preference to students of Native Hawaiian ancestry and enrolls nearly 7,000 at three campuses statewide.

Charity Walk tops ’15 tally

The annual Visitor Industry Charity Walk for Maui County on Saturday raised $974,773.

Nearly 2,600 people participated in the walk, sponsored by the Maui Hotel & Lodging Association.

The funds topped last year’s tally by $213,612, the association said in a release.

The week before, MHLA hosted walks on Molokai and Lanai, bringing in $40,356 and $18,254, respectively, for a grand total of $1,033,383.

Participants included workers in the visitor industry, with nonprofit agencies and business representatives. Many of them began their fundraising efforts months earlier by collecting pledges and hosting bake sales, chili and stew cook-offs, benefit luau, car washes, golf tournaments and more.

The top nonprofit fundraiser was West Side Hoops, which collected $91,730.

The top individual fundraiser was Mitch Mitchell of Hale Makua Health Services, who collected $31,175.

Panel defers safety project

A $70,000 project aimed at improving pedestrian safety on Waikomo Road was deferred in committee by the Kauai County Council last week.

The project, called the Safe Routes to School project, has been in the works for six years, said Lyle Tabata, acting county engineer for Kauai.

As part of the project, the county has been working with Koloa Elementary School, which promotes walking as an alternate mode of transportation through the Walk to School program.

During public comment, Koloa and Poipu residents said the improvements were unnecessary and would make traffic worse, the Garden Island reported.