Man files excessive force lawsuit ADVERTISING Man files excessive force lawsuit HONOLULU (AP) — A man arrested after National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration volunteers called police to report he was harassing a Hawaiian monk seal at a Nanakuli beach has
Man files excessive force lawsuit
HONOLULU (AP) — A man arrested after National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration volunteers called police to report he was harassing a Hawaiian monk seal at a Nanakuli beach has filed an excessive force lawsuit.
The lawsuit filed last week in federal court in Honolulu says Jamie Kalani Rice stood motionless as a Honolulu police officer used a baton to hit him in the arms, torso and legs in September 2014.
Rice claims he was “falsely and unlawfully detained, unlawfully assaulted, battered and arrested” by Officer Ming Wang, who is named as a defendant, along with the city and the Honolulu Police Department. A police spokeswoman said the department won’t comment on pending litigation.
Rice is bipolar, suffers from schizophrenia and hears voices, his attorney Michael Green said Monday. “He said he was praying and trying to get the seal to go back in the water,” Green said. “He was rubbing sand on his hands and body and chanting.”
Those actions didn’t warrant a beating, Green said.
Video recorded by the NOAA volunteers shows Rice kneeling next to the endangered animal. The video shows the officer approach and pull out pepper spray and a baton. Rice walks away and the officer follows. The officer is seen hitting Rice with the baton until Rice hits the ground.
Wang arrested Rice for allegedly harassing a monk seal and resisting arrest. In October, he pleaded no contest to a charge of obstructing a government operation, said Honolulu prosecutor spokesman Dave Koga. He was sentenced to five days in jail, with credit for time served.
Ige allocates $9M for Lihue Airport upgrades
LIHUE, Kauai (AP) — The district manager for Kauai Airports is hoping to secure enough state funding to support major upgrades at Lihue Airport.
Dennis Neves said the goal is to make the airport “just like any other airport” in the country.
“What I’m trying to develop is an airport where everything’s processed behind the scenes, and make it look like a real airport,” Neves said.
Gov. David Ige released an executive supplemental budget proposal Dec. 21 for the 2016 legislative session. The proposal would increase the overall fiscal 2015-17 budget to $30.7 billion, with $9.2 million going toward reconstructing Lihue Airport’s check-in area and holding area to accommodate increasing flights.
The project is expected to take about five years to complete.
The proposed improvements to the airport have drawn criticism from those who say the $9.2 million could be used to address more pressing matters on Kauai.
“I’m not the governor, but I do feel he should reach out to us, the residents of Kauai, for input on a higher level, because I don’t feel like the airport improvements are necessary right now, as a lifetime resident of Kauai,” said County Councilman Ross Kagawa, who suggested the money be used to address Kauai’s traffic problem.
However, Neves said the supplemental budget money is needed to help the airport support the growing number of passengers it has seen it recent years. He said things have changed since the airport first started operating and only served two airline companies, Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines.
“Today we have six and five of them provide trans-Pacific flights to the Mainland, and Hawaiian goes to Canada,” Neves said. “All of them are carrying at least 120, maybe 230 passengers per airplane. That’s quite a significant increase in a 10- or 15-year period.”
