Alleged arsonist due in court today

An arraignment is scheduled today for a 50-year-old man, indicted on arson charges after he allegedly admitted to setting fire to a home in Nanakuli that destroyed the structure and damaged adjacent homes.

An Oahu grand jury Tuesday charged Jonathan Laronal with first-degree arson and two counts of fourth-degree arson. Laronal remains in custody at the Oahu Community Correctional Center in lieu of $50,000 bail.

He allegedly set fire to a single-story structure at 87-212 Mikana St. early on the morning of Jan. 30. Firefighters responded and extinguished the three-alarm fire, which burned down the structure. The blaze also caused significant damage to a neighbor’s home.

Shortly before 9:50 a.m. that day, a police officer saw Laronal at the scene speaking to a captain of the Honolulu Fire Department. Court documents said the officer overheard Laronal admit to the captain that he burned the house.

Laronal is the son of the late homeowner.

In 2014 he was sentenced to five years in prison after he was convicted of second-degree assault in an unprovoked attack on a 55-year-old man in 2011.

Police said Laronal stabbed the victim several times with a knife at a Waipahu care home where Laronal resided as a client. Emergency Medical Services transported the victim, described as the homeowner, to a hospital, where he was treated for his injuries. Laronal was released from prison after his sentence ended in December 2016.

HILO

Big Isle rental bill in the works

HILO >> A bill that would regulate vacation rentals on the Big Island has drawn interest from part-time residents who rent out their homes and condos to help pay the bills.

Supporters say regulation is needed to keep residential neighborhoods from being overrun with vacationers, West Hawaii Today reported.

North Kona Councilwoman Karen Eoff said “short-term rental of residential units, as an alternative to traditional resort and hotel accommodations, is an emerging trend in the visitor industry.”

She said the bill would “provide visitors the opportunity to stay in this form of vacation accommodation, while at the same time, preserving our residential neighborhoods.”

The bill has a grandfather clause for existing owners, but there are still more questions than answers for Heather Bandt, who lives in her Aloha Kona home four months a year and rents it out as a vacation home the rest of the year.

“If they denied my application for whatever reason, I would absolutely have to sell,” Bandt said.

Bandt said her family built their home, so it has a lot of sentimental value. But she said she needs to be able to pay her mortgage, property taxes and other expenses.

Planning Director Michael Yee said the bill is written generally, with specifics to be worked out.

“We’re trying to address a shortage of housing, we’re trying to address integrity of neighborhoods and trying to find that balance,” Yee said.