Beauty Queens, Married Business Owners, Among Candidates for Public Office
By 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 5, all Hawaii candidates will need to have filed their paperwork for public office.
On Monday, the Hawaii GOP sent several candidates down to register in a group, including Marissa Capelouto, who is running for state House in the Makakilo to Kapolei area, and her husband Dean Capelouto who will be running for State Senate in Ewa.
Republicans Jeremy Low and Lori Wingard are hoping to replace Rep. Barbara Marumoto in the state House because Marumoto is retiring. The winner will likely have to take on Rep. Mark Hashem, a freshman Democrat, who would have been pitted against Marumoto because of reapportionment.
Former state GOP Senator John Carroll also filed his paperwork for the U.S. Senate.
Other Republican candidates include Miss Hawaii Lauren Cheape and 2012 Narcissus Queen Tiffany Au.
Democrats had some surprises: Gary Hooser, who served in the Kauai County Council and State Senate, will run for Kauai County Council again.
Harry Kim, the former mayor on the Big Island, who left public office for health reasons, will run for mayor again, challenging incumbent Mayor Billy Kenoi.
Reapportionment, which occurs every 10 years, continues to have a major impact on this election.
All 76 legislative seats are up for re-election and there are newly created districts where there is no incumbent.
After a Year of Controversy, Walgreens Opens in Hawaii Kai
Remember the controversy in Hawaii Kai last June, when the owners of the Koko Marina Shopping Center and Foodland were not able to come to a lease agreement?
At a town meeting held by Sen. Sam Slom and Rep. Gene Ward, residents protested because they would be left with one grocery store. They said prices would increase and groceries would be more difficult to find and they were concerned about what would happen in a crisis.
When residents heard Walgreens and Petco would take Foodland’s space, angry residents promised a boycott.
Today, Walgeens officially opens its doors in the old Foodland space.
Managers are promising to address community concerns by stocking more groceries than they have in other stores.
Hawaii Reporter Won’t Appeal Secrecy Ruling in Deedy Murder Case
Hawaii Reporter will not appeal Judge Karen Ahn’s decision to keep a video tape under seal that could clear U.S. State Department special agent Christopher Deedy of the murder of Collin Elderts.
Deedy, who was in Honolulu to provide security at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, shot Elderts during an early morning altercation.
Deedy has pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge and maintained he was acting in his capacity as a law enforcement officer.
His lawyer, Brook Hart, attached a copy of a surveillance video at McDonalds to a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that it showed Deedy acted in defense of himself and others in the restaurant.
Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro’s office asked Ahn to seal the video and related materials, so prospective jurors would not be tainted.
Hawaii Reporter went to court with the Star Advertiser and Hawaii News Now to ask the judge to make the tape public. But at a hearing last week she refused.
Instead of appealing Ahn’s ruling, we will wait to see what happens in July at another hearing where the defense will ask the court to dismiss the entire case.