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‘No justice, no accountability’

Henrietta Stone was sentenced to probation and time served for the manslaughter death of her granddaughter, Shaelynn Lehano Stone.

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She made no statement at her sentencing, no “I’m sorry” — not that it would have meant or changed anything. She offered no acknowledgement of her actions that caused the horrific death of granddaughter.

Judge (Henry) Nakamoto went against the recommendation of probation from a department that is tasked with completing an investigation to determine what would be an appropriate sentence for this kind of crime. Instead, he said that he read the report and noted the defendant’s actions caused serious harm to the child, and the defendant’s action contributed to her granddaughter’s death.

However, because of the defendant’s age and health, further incarceration would be a hardship. So, instead of the recommended 20 years, she got time served and will be on probation. It’s appalling.

Let’s be clear, this child was starved to death. Starvation was a calculated decision by Ms. Stone to withhold life-sustaining food to this completely dependent 9-year-old girl.

This action didn’t contribute to her death, it caused her death — a painful, tortuous death.

To continue and state that further incarceration would cause a hardship to the defendant defies all logic and reason. A hardship?! She killed a child! What about the hardship Shaelynn experienced in her short life? Does that not count for anything??

I can’t make sense of this. Why doesn’t this young girl’s life matter?

Her parents and her grandmother all received minimal jail time and probation. What does this say about our justice system, about accountability, and about children in our community?

The message I received was, there is no justice, no accountability, and children’s lives don’t matter.

Deborah Chai

Honokaa

Take action to save NOAA’s funding

It is shocking to learn that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is facing potential funding and staff cuts.

As authorized and funded by Congress, NOAA plays a critical role in weather forecasting, extreme weather warnings and climate science. The agency’s research is also the gold standard for tracking the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and oceans (https://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/).

Keeling Curve measurements capture, more than any other single number, the extent to which we are changing the world — for better or worse. This is a gift of understanding that Hawaii generates and gives freely to the world.

We should be immensely proud that Mauna Loa is the home of the Keeling Curve — a record that began in 1958 (when CO2 concentrations were at 315 parts per million), and has continued with daily measurements for 67 years — more than 24,000 days!

CO2 now measures 426 ppm, a whopping 35% increase in the span of one human life time, rising to levels not seen in over 800,000 years (per ice core sampling). And, climate scientists report that 2024 was the Earth’s hottest year since record keeping began in 1880. Our expectations for a relatively stable climate is now replaced by record-breaking weather extremes.

Hindering NOAA’s ability to carry out its core functions not only goes against congressional authority and intent, but would have catastrophic consequences for the fight against climate change and jeopardize the safety of American communities nationwide.

Please urge our Hawaii members of Congress (Sens. Schatz and Hirono and Reps. Case and Tokuda) to take whatever actions are available to preserve NOAA’s staff and funding.

Ron Reilly

Volcano