A cloud hung over the Honolulu Police Department for much of 2017, making it the most dominant news story in local headlines.
In just a year, the city’s top law enforcement officer retired under the specter of a criminal probe, then — along with his city deputy prosecutor wife, three HPD officers and another who had retired — was hauled into federal court on conspiracy and corruption charges. A department rocked by scandal would also begin a new era with the selection of Chief Susan Ballard and the promise that confidence would be restored.
That North Korea might be able to bomb Hawaii once was only occasional, curious news. But in 2017 the continuing threat of a nuclear missile attack led to the return of a World War II-era air raid siren notification to residents across the islands that they’ll have 20 minutes to prepare for catastrophic devastation.
Although, it was an unprecedented seven-alarm fire at the 36-story, 568-unit Marco Polo high-rise that led to the death of four people in one of the year’s biggest tragedies.
In 2017, a chapter would close in one of Hawaii’s most notorious unsolved child murders, with guilty pleas by the parents of “Peter Boy” Kema 20 years after his disappearance.
But there was also much to celebrate in 2017, led by the rejoicing when thousands welcomed home the voyaging canoe Hokule‘a following a three-year journey around the world promoting the message “Malama Honua,” or “Care for Island Earth.”
Here’s a closer look at Hawaii’s top stories of 2017:
1. Louis and Katherine Kealoha
The downfall of Honolulu’s top cop, Chief Louis Kealoha, began last December when he placed himself on paid administrative leave after being served a letter from federal authorities informing him he was the target of a criminal investigation. The embattled Kealoha retired at the end of February but remained in the headlines for months, culminating in his indictment in October.
Kealoha and his wife, Katherine, a city deputy prosecutor, face charges of bank fraud, conspiracy, witness tampering, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators. Katherine Kealoha also was charged with aggravated identity theft, while indictments were returned against four current and former members of the Honolulu Police Department’s Criminal Intelligence Unit for allegedly conspiring to frame Katherine Kealoha’s uncle in the theft of a mailbox from the couple’s home. At the heart of their alleged wrongdoing: a Kealoha family dispute over money.
2. Marco Polo
In one of the worst local tragedies of the year, a July 14 blaze at Honolulu’s Marco Polo condominium complex claimed the lives of four people and caused more than $100 million in damage.
Investigators have yet to determine what caused the deadly fire, although the Honolulu Fire Department pinpointed where the fire started and eliminated arson, cooking and use of a flammable liquid as factors.
The blaze that quickly spread throughout the 36-story building also touched off new debate over sprinklers in hundreds of high-rises. Marco Polo was built in 1971, before sprinklers became mandatory for new construction. Despite local lawmakers’ efforts to require installation in older buildings, officials estimate about 300 skyscrapers on Oahu are still without sprinklers.
3. Hokule‘a
In June, the Hokule‘a returned home after sailing 40,000 nautical miles — a three-year journey that took the voyaging canoe and its revolving crew across three oceans and to 19 countries using traditional “wayfinding” navigation techniques without the benefit of modern instrumentation.
It was the latest chapter for a canoe built in the 1970s that has become a symbol of Hawaiian cultural pride — and proved the navigational skills of the original Polynesians who settled the islands.
The trip also represented a global triumph for Hokule‘a, which capsized off Molokai in 1978 during a storm. Crew member Eddie Aikau, a legendary surfer and lifeguard, set off on a surfboard to find help but was never seen again.
Today, Aikau’s sacrifice is remembered by the motto, “Eddie Would Go.”
Polynesian Voyaging Society president Nainoa Thompson, who was aboard the 1978 voyage, said he hoped Hokule‘a’s worldwide trip helps inspire indigenous cultures to find solutions to modern-day problems such as climate change.
4. North Korean threat
The final month of 2017 would begin with nearly 400 sirens across the islands blaring an “attack warning” test that had not been heard in decades — eerily, the same sound that followed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Designed to let people know what sound to listen for in what officials call the “unlikely” event an intercontinental ballistic missile heads toward Hawaii from North Korea, the attack warning tests will be “the new normal,” said Gov. David Ige.
5. ‘Peter Boy’ Kema
Peter Kema Sr. passed a polygraph test verifying that he dumped his son’s body into the ocean in Puna after he died in 1997 of septic shock following years of abuse in one of Hawaii’s most high-profile child murders.
Kema was sentenced to 20 years in prison in July for manslaughter in the death of 6-year-old “Peter Boy,” whose fate remained a mystery for two decades until his parents this year acknowledged their roles in his death.
In October, Hawaii island Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura formally declared Peter Boy dead.
In 2016, both parents were indicted on second-degree murder charges, and both accepted plea deals. As part of the plea deal, Kema had to reveal where he left Peter Boy’s body. If his remains could not be found, the father had to pass a lie-detector test.
Police, Coast Guard and Department of Land and Natural Resources personnel have been unable to find the child’s remains.
