The federal court has named the lawyers who will represent former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his deputy prosecutor wife, Katherine, against charges that they obstructed justice, lied to investigators and committed bank fraud and identity theft.

The court has tapped Rustam Barbee to represent Louis Kealoha and Cynthia Kagiwada to represent Katherine Kealoha.

According to the Hawaii State Bar Association, Barbee got his law degree from the University of Wisconsin and entered the state bar in 1992. Before starting his private practice, Barbee worked as a prosecutor for the Wisconsin attorney general’s office, then as an assistant federal public defender for Hawaii and Guam.

Kagiwada got her law degree from University of California, Davis, and entered the Hawaii bar in 2003.

As court-appointed lawyers, Barbee’s and Kagiwada’s services will be paid for by taxpayers.

Barbee said, “Ex-Chief Kealoha, having served and protected the city for more than 30 years, has earned the right to the benefit of the doubt and presumption of innocence that applies to all defendants.”

Kagiwada could not be reached for comment.

The Kealohas’ previous lawyers, Myles Breiner, Gary Modafferi and Kevin Sumida, withdrew last week, stating that the Kealohas had no money to pay them.

Hearing to ban foam food boxes set today

A bill proposing a ban on polystyrene foam on Oahu is scheduled for a hearing before a Honolulu City Council committee this afternoon.

The Committee on Public Works, Infrastructure and Sustainability is expected to vote on Bill 71, introduced by Councilwoman Kymberly Pine, which proposes a ban on the use of polystyrene foam containers by food vendors as well as food packagers.

The bill, which amends an existing ordinance, passed first reading in early September and is similar to one that passed on Hawaii island that same month.

The bill calls for fines up to $250 for the first violation within a one-year period, and up to $500 for second and subsequent violations in a one-year period. Exemptions are in place if compliance would cause undue hardship.

Maui

Bill OK’d against sunscreens that pose danger to coral

Sunscreens containing chemicals harmful to corals would be banned in Maui County under a bill passed Monday by a County Council committee.

The bill, which is headed for the full Council, would prohibit the sale and use of sunscreen carrying oxybenzone and octinoxate, the Maui News reports.

“I think it’s really about time,” Council Vice Chairman Bob Carroll said. “It’s something that we need to have done, and the sooner we do have this in effect, it gives our ocean and our fish and our limu a chance to recover and prosper.”

During this year’s legislative session, state Sen. Will Espero (D, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) introduced a measure that would have banned products with the same chemicals. However, Senate Bill 1150 stalled in conference committee.

If passed, Maui County’s ban would be the first in the country, said Joe DiNardo, a retired scientist and toxicologist from Virginia who gave a presentation to the Infrastructure and Environmental Management Committee on Monday.

Oxybenzone and octinoxate can be found in a range of materials, from plastic bottles to printing inks, and are popular in the manufacture of sunscreen. But scientists say the two chemicals can lower the resiliency of coral reefs to bleaching and can affect the development and endocrine systems of fish.

Hawaii island

New bids will be taken to widen Mamalahoa Highway in Waimea

Hawaii County will ask for new bids on a project to widen 2.8 miles of Mamalahoa Highway in Waimea.

The move came last week when one of the bidders protested the procurement process, West Hawaii Today reports.

The work on Mamalahoa Highway — which will include widening at 18 major intersections, adding left-turn pockets and making drainage improvements — has been in the planning stages for years.

Kiewit Infrastructure West Co., which has offices in Honolulu, last month came in with the lowest bid of $19.11 million. But one of the five competitors complained that the county used a three-tier system to structure the bid, which Department of Public Works spokesman Barett Otani admitted was a mistake.

“It shouldn’t have been put out that way. It should have been put out as just a package bid,” he said.

A new bid solicitation should be out within weeks. But now, Otani admitted, Kiewit must rebid against competitors who know its initial offer.