Retired state Supreme Court justice named to police panel ADVERTISING Retired state Supreme Court justice named to police panel HONOLULU (AP) — Retired Hawaii Supreme Court Associate Justice Steve Levinson was appointed to serve on the Honolulu Police Commission. The
Retired state Supreme Court justice named to police panel
HONOLULU (AP) — Retired Hawaii Supreme Court Associate Justice Steve Levinson was appointed to serve on the Honolulu Police Commission.
The appointment made by Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell still needs approval from the City Council. If confirmed, Levinson would replace current chairman Ron Taketa.
Levinson was a Hawaii Circuit Court judge before serving on the state’s high court from 1992-2008.
He has been a director with the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union since 2009.
Levinson was the justice who wrote the 1993 opinion in the Baehr v. Lewin case, which said the state needed to show a compelling interest for denying marriage licenses to same sex couples.
Deadly cat poop causes rift among animal defenders in Hawaii
HONOLULU (AP) — Two wildlife issues have collided in Hawaii, pitting one group of animal defenders against another in an impassioned debate.
The point of contention? Deadly cat poop and the feral felines that produce it.
Federal researchers think feces from the legions of stray cats roaming Hawaii is spreading a disease that is killing Hawaiian monk seals, some of the world’s most endangered marine mammals. Some conservationists advocate euthanizing those cats that no one wants, and that has cat lovers up in arms.
The problem stems from a parasite common in cats that can cause toxoplasmosis, a disease that has killed at least five female Hawaiian monk seals and three males since 2001, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Stray cats, meanwhile, have no predators in Hawaii and have ballooned in numbers throughout the state. Some 300,000 feral cats roam Oahu alone, according to marketing research commissioned by the Hawaiian Humane Society in 2015.
Felines are the only animals that can shed Toxoplasma gondii eggs. The parasites enter their digestive tract through infected prey, then multiply in the small intestine and produce eggs. Cats excrete the eggs in their feces, which researchers think washes into the ocean and accumulates in invertebrates along the sea floor.
The eggs can survive in fresh water, saltwater and soil for up to two years, and any warm-blooded animal can become infected.
Many cities struggle with feral cats, but the problem is particularly acute in Hawaii because of its sensitive ecosystem and at-risk native species, experts say. Only two mammals are native to Hawaii: the hoary bat and the Hawaiian monk seal.
2 rescued after canoe breaks in Maui waters
HONOLULU (AP) — A Wailuku couple was helped to safety after their canoe broke apart in waters off Maui’s Keawakapu Beach.
Firefighters responded to reports Saturday afternoon that the boat started taking on water about a mile offshore.
A kayaker spotted the couple and helped bring the 56-year-old woman to shore.
Fire crews then located the kayaker as he was going back out to rescue the 55-year-old man. Firefighters assisted both men in getting back to shore with the broken canoe.
Officials determined the couple was making a downwind run when they got hit by a large wave, causing their canoe to break in two.
No one was injured.
