STAR-ADVERTISER
Michael Kahapea listens at his trial as Malcolm Tom, deputy managing director, takes the stand.
Select an option below to continue reading this premium story.
Already a Honolulu Star-Advertiser subscriber? Log in now to continue reading.
Crime doesn’t pay, huh? Michael Kahapea, convicted in the city’s Ewa Villages corruption case, did OK. Paroled after doing five years of five consecutive 10-year prison terms, he started to collect his pension. That includes years on the 1990s scandal- plagued housing project, when he siphoned $5.8 million from a relocation fund.
An appeals court now agrees that the state can collect Kahapea’s nearly $1 million in unpaid penalties. Let’s see how the government, never good at enforcing fines, will manage.
A patriotic appeal for lei
On Sunday afternoon, Scouting Hawaii will stage its biggest annual Oahu service project, placing flower lei and a flag on every gravesite inside the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. An estimated 38,000 lei are needed.
The public is invited to donate fresh flowers and pre-made lei, or take part in lei-making events. For a list of drop-off locations and details about events — including about the 70th annual Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony, slated for 8:30 a.m. Monday at Punchbowl — check out the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation’s Memorial Day website, www.honolulu.gov/parks/program.