Kaʻū News Briefs, Saturday, June 1, 2019

CENTRAL PACIFIC HURRICANE SEASON BEGINS TODAY. The first four tropical cyclone names would be Aikoni, Ema, Hone, and Iona. Central Pacific Hurricane Center predicts a busier than usual storm season, running through Nov. 1.

Hurricane Walaka ripped across northern Hawaiian Islands where green sea turtles from Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach go to nest.

     The regional shelter for Kaʻū is the Kaʻū District Gym, adjacent to the Kaʻū High School campus. The American Red Cross is seeking volunteers. To volunteer for the Red Cross, call 935-8305.
     County Civil Defense recommends that every household develop a plan with water and food on hand.
     Last year, Hurricane Walaka, the strongest storm of the Pacific season, at 160 mph, tore across the northern Hawaiian Islands. Walaka destroyed nesting sites for the green sea turtles, which swim there every few years to nest, temporarily leaving their Kaʻū homes, like Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach. Others, such as Lane, hung off South Point for several days, then passed south, causing damage all over the  state. Kaʻū experienced some flooding, with roads temporarily washed out, but damage from winds and surf was minimal. Hurricane Olivia made landfall on Maui and Lanaʻi.
     Hawaiʻi Island was threatened by six hurricanes in 2018 – the average is four or five. Other storms not powerful enough to be called hurricanes also caused flooding and wind damage.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.

FLAGS WILL FLY HALF STAFF IN HAWAIʻI in memory of the victims of the mass shooting yesterday in Virginia Beach. A message today from Gov. David Ige said the state flag, along with the U.S. flag, "will be flown at half-staff at the State Capitol and upon all state offices and agencies as well as the Hawaiʻi National Guard in the State of Hawaiʻi, beginning immediately until sunset, June 4, 2019. This action is taken as a sign of respect for the victims of the mass shooting in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where 11 public servants and one member of the public were killed on Friday, May 31, 2019," wrote the governor.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.

THE EIGHTY-NINTH HAWAIʻI COUNTY POLICE RECRUIT CLASS recognition brought families of future police officers to ceremonies on Friday at Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, after six months of academic training. Public officials thanked families and asked for much emotional support.

     Police Chief Paul Ferreira said the event marks achieving "their first goal in their arduous journey in becoming full fledged solo police officers with the Hawaiʻi Police Department... With the pinning of this badge by those special persons in your lives, you're taking an oath of honor that you'll never betray your integrity, your character, or the public trust. You'll always have the courage to hold yourself and others accountable for your individual actions. You swear that you'll always maintain the highest ethical standards and to uphold these standards and the values of the Hawaiʻi Police Department and the Hawaiʻi island community that you serve."

     Recruits raised their right hands and said: "I solemnly affirm that I will faithfully support the constitution and laws of the United States of America and the laws of the State of Hawaiʻi, and will conscientiously and impartially discharge my duties as a police officer in the police department in the County of Hawaiʻi, State of Hawaiʻi, and any and other duties devolving upon me in connection with such office."

     Ferreira thanked families and friends of the recruits "for sharing your loved ones with us, for allowing them to make the sacrifices, and I want to thank you personally for making the sacrifices that you have until now and you will continue to do so throughout their careers."

     Mayor Harry Kim addressed the recruits and families: "From today on, they don't have a first name. From today on, with the public, they don't even have a last name. They are, 'Officer.' And with that comes a tremendous burden... No one out there will ever ask you how long have you been on the force when you're doing your job. They expect you to be letter perfect all the time - all the time," he emphasized. "Even when you are confronted with situations that most everybody in this room will never have that kind of responsibility of that kind of control and confrontation... They will not know that you've been in less than a day, a week, a month, or five years. They see a police officer and we are so unfair to you because we expect you to be letter perfect, every single time."

     The mayor told the families, "You got to know - whether it be your son, your daughter, your husband, or just a friend - that's how the public sees them... But what you have to know, from here on in, they need you more, more than ever, in regards to communication."

     The mayor asked friends and family to put themselves in the police officer's situation, like a tragic vehicle accident, involving children, innocent people, "and all of the emotions. You don't know that's happening," he told the loved ones. "You're just waiting for him to come home from work, after shift, whether it be on the first, second, or third watch. And because you had the day planned... whether it be a party, a dinner, or even a conversation... and you expect these people... to be the John, or the Joe, or the Jane. How can they switch over so fast to be that... the happy person or whomever they were, before they went to work.  And to come home - and you were anxious to go to a birthday party, or shopping, or dinner, or whatever, or to help take care of the daughter or the son - you must open up that line of communication to them, because it's not going to be easy many, many times."

     The mayor said that he told the recruits from the first day, to "help each other, lean on each other." He asked loved ones to "let them lean on you too."

     President of the 89th Class, Lawrence Davis, said, "Everyone in this class has confronted and overcome a personal weakness, and come out a better and more confident officer. Every one of them has tasted a failure before conquering it. Every one of them passed a breaking point and survived. Every one of them was given every opportunity and reason to say 'I quit,' but didn't. Be proud of them."