{"id":470,"date":"2014-08-26T14:00:20","date_gmt":"2014-08-27T00:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teresadawson.wordpress.com\/?p=462"},"modified":"2014-08-26T14:00:20","modified_gmt":"2014-08-27T00:00:20","slug":"permitting-missteps-threaten-to-unravel-commercial-boating-regime-in-kaanapali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=470","title":{"rendered":"Permitting Missteps Threaten to Unravel Commercial Boating Regime in Ka`anapali"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Whatever the outcome, someone is going to end up heartbroken, pissed off, or both.<\/p>\n<p>Since mid-November, the luxury catamaran <i>Queen\u2019s Treasure<\/i> has been taking passengers on snorkel and whale-watch tours off West Maui\u2019s Ka`anapali Beach under a temporary agreement with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR).<\/p>\n<p>A competing catamaran operator, Kapalua Kai, which has spent more than a decade on the state\u2019s waiting list for a Ka`anapali ocean recreation management area (ORMA) catamaran permit, has threatened to sue if the DLNR allows Ka`anapali Tours, LLC (KTL), which owns <i>Queen\u2019s Treasure<\/i>, to continue to operate without waiting its turn. (KTL owner Janice Nolan is herself number five on the list.)<\/p>\n<p>Attorneys for KTL, on the other hand, claim its current, one-of-a-kind permit to operate either a monohull or a catamaran in Ka`anapali is valid, despite a host of procedural missteps surrounding its issuance and the fact that DLNR\u2019s boating rules do not seem to allow for it.<\/p>\n<p>In September, after the DLNR\u2019s Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) blocked KTL from using <i>Queen\u2019s Treasure<\/i> at Ka`anapali, KTL sued the DLNR, the Board of Land and Natural Resources, its chair William Aila, Jr., DOBOR administrator Edward Underwood and Maui DOBOR chief Nicholas Giaconi in their official and individual capacities.<\/p>\n<p>KTL argues in its pleadings that the DLNR\/DOBOR unlawfully refused to allow the company to change its vessel of record from a 14-foot monohull Zodiac to the 65-foot <i>Queen\u2019s Treasure<\/i>, which KTL had ordered custom-built more than a year ago. KTL claims the cost of designing, building and delivering the catamaran exceeds $1 million. KTL is seeking a permanent injuneciton preventing the DLNR\/DOBOR from interfering with the operation of <i>Queen\u2019s Treasure.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>On April 5, U.S. District Magistrate Richard Puglisi will hold a settlement conference if the state and KTL fail to reach an agreement before then. Should negotiations fail, the court would have to decide whether or not to allow <i>Queen\u2019s Treasure<\/i> to continue to operate pending the outcome of a jury trial, tentatively set to begin January 8, 2013.<\/p>\n<p>Kapalua Kai, for one, does not support a settlement, at least according to its attorney, Bryan Ho.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t see where a permanent settlement is possible unless the Ka`anapali Tour operators quit or put another boat [a monohull]\u201d on the permit, he says. In either case, Queen\u2019s Treasure would be put out of business.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>A Desperate Plea<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>In the 1980s, DOBOR created special rules to control the glut of ocean-related activities occurring in the tourist centers of Waikiki and Ka`anapali. In Ka`anapali, those rules cap the number of commercial catamaran vessels at ten and limit monohull vessels to five. Should any of those permits become available, DOBOR is required to select a new permittee from a waiting list. Prospective permittees must pay to maintain their position on the list.<\/p>\n<p>In the past, the Land Board issued and renewed the commercial use permits for Ka`anapali. On May 9, 2008, the board approved DOBOR\u2019s recommendation to renew all ten catamaran (C-01 through C-10) and all five monohull (M-01 through M-05) vessel permits for Ka`anapali. All but one of the monohull permits, M-05, were for charter fishing vessels. M-05 was for a shuttle. Although the permit itself was held by Kellam Brothers, Inc., which had operated under that permit since the 1970s, the boat itself was owned by W. Kyle Bebee, a real estate investor based in Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n<p>A few months after the Land Board approval, it voted to delegate its authority to grant permits for commercial activities and uses on and off Ka`anapali Beach to the DOBOR administrator.<\/p>\n<p>When it came time to renew permits in mid-2009, DOBOR declined to reissue M-05 to Kellam Brothers, which had reportedly failed to pay its monthly permit fees to DOBOR (the higher of $200 or 3 percent of gross receipts).<\/p>\n<p>Bebee was distraught by the action and appealed to DOBOR to reinstate the permit. In a letter he sent September 30, 2009, to DOBOR, Bebee said brothers Terry and Don Kellam let his boat, <i>Big Kahuna,<\/i> sit for months at a time, without maintenance, while they appropriated money he had provided for DOBOR fees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was furious when I recently heard that the Kellams, for a number of months, had not been using these funds to keep the permit in good standing, nor had they been filing required gross receipts statements and other necessary paperwork,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Bebee claimed he had invested more than $1 million in buying, rebuilding, and transporting <i>Big Kahuna<\/i> from North Carolina to Maui. He reclaimed the boat in November 2008, but failed get the Kellam brothers to transfer permit M-05 to him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese problems are certainly none of the state\u2019s concern and I apologize for wasting time with the history, but I felt the need to paint the picture of the very fractured business relationship. &#8230; Should the state decide to re-[in]state the permit, its affairs will be handled in a prompt and professional manner in every regard,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Mutant Permit<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>After negotiating with boat captain Jeffrey Kirschner, who was Bebee\u2019s representative on Maui, Bebee\u2019s newly created company, Ka`anapali Tours, LLC, received a new M-05 permit. But the permit, issued on December 21, 2009, was rife with anomalies.<\/p>\n<p>For one thing, the permit had become something never envisioned by DOBOR for Ka`anapali and not described in any of its rules. Permit M-05 was now a \u201cMONOHULL\/MULTIHULL\u201d permit. And despite the cap on catamaran vessel registrations, the vessel of record for M-05 was not <i>Big Kahuna,<\/i> but the catamaran Ali`i Nui.<\/p>\n<p>Had M-05 been strictly a monohull permit, it should have been offered to the two applicants on the Ka`anapali monohull permit waiting list, the first of which, LH Water Taxi, has been waiting since December 1996.<\/p>\n<p>With seven applicants as of 2008, the line for a catamaran permit is even longer with the top two having waited since the early 1990s.<\/p>\n<p>For another, DOBOR boating regulations officer Douglas Smith signed the permit, despite the Land Board\u2019s decision designating the DOBOR administrator as its authorized representative to sign permits.<\/p>\n<p>The permit was to expire on December 20, 2010.<\/p>\n<p>No sooner did Bebee get his permit back than he turned around and sold it to Janice Nolan and Amy Sutherland. Nolan, former director of operations for Ka`anapali Kai Charters, one of the more successful catamaran operators in West Maui, had herself been on the catamaran permit waiting list since February 17, 2009. (KTL\u2019s attorney, Robert Frame, declined to comment on how Nolan and Sutherland came to buy the permit without consulting them first.)<\/p>\n<p>In a March 12, 2010 letter, DOBOR\u2019s Smith spelled out exactly what kind of permit they had bought. Addressed \u201cTo Whom it May Concern\u201d and copied to the DLNR\u2019s Lahaina office, the letter stated that DOBOR had approved the permit transfer and that all permit terms would remain intact, including \u201cthe ability of permittee to utilize either a Monohull or Multihull vessel, as well as passenger carriage for up to 115.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added, \u201cIt is understood that the vessel \u2018Alii Nui\u2019 &#8230; will remain as the vessel of record until which time permittee will change the vessel of record to the operating vessel, such that this change of vessel shall take place no later than 6 months after closing. This approval is subject to the payment of transfer fees in the amount of $XX (49 passenger) to be paid at the Lahaina office of the DLNR.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Why <i>Ali`i Nui<\/i> was the vessel covered by the permit is unclear, since, according to Bebee, permit M-05 was for <i>Big Kahuna.<\/i> In any case, after Nolan paid DOBOR a transfer fee of $15,000 on March 30, DOBOR issued a revised M-05 permit to KTL naming <i>Big Kahuna<\/i> as the vessel attached to the permit. DOBOR also reduced the passenger carriage limit to 49 and changed the expiration date to March 31, 2011. Again, the permit was not signed by Underwood, the DOBOR administrator. Instead, it appears to have been signed by DOBOR\u2019s Maui branch staff and by Smith.<\/p>\n<p>Before that permit expired, a contractor for KTL, Gold Coast Yachts, had begun building the catamaran that KTL named Queen\u2019s Treasure. But when DOBOR renewed the permit on March 22, 2011, the \u201cQT\u201d vessel listed was not the 65-foot catamaran, but a 14-foot Zodiac.<\/p>\n<p>Even so, KTL argues it was no secret to DOBOR that the vessel the company intended to operate was a catamaran. DOBOR\u2019s Underwood signed the permit on April 14.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Foul!<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u201cQT WILL RULE WEST MAUI,\u201d wrote one commenter on <i>Queen\u2019s Treasure\u2019s<\/i> Facebook page on May 20. That same day, DLNR director Aila received a letter from Carlsmith Ball LLP attorney Dean Robb. Robb, who did not name a client, asked Aila to investigate the circumstances and background of permit M-05.<\/p>\n<p>After reviewing DOBOR\u2019s permit records, Robb had found several problems with the permit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe basic and most fundamental problem associated with Permit M-05 &#8230; is that it is issued for a \u2018monohull\/multihull\u2019 vessel,\u201d he wrote. \u201cSomehow or other this has been translated by DBOR as constituting State approval to operate a catamaran at Ka`anapali, Maui,\u201d despite regulations capping catamarans at 10 and requiring DOBOR to offer available slots to those on the waiting list first.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTherefore, the first question is how and why was a permit issued for a monohull\/multihull which morphed into a catamaran permit when there were already nine outstanding catamaran permits issued, and no one on the waiting list was contacted or had an opportunity to obtain a catamaran permit. Permit M-05 apparently circumvents the catamaran limits and regulations,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>If M-05 is allowed to remain as is, DOBOR\u2019s management system for Ka`anapali \u201chas no integrity and will be perceived as such,\u201d he wrote. \u201cPermits to operate catamarans at Ka`anapali are quite valued and sought after.\u201d Gross receipt records provided by DOBOR bear out his claim: several Ka`anapali catamarans brought in revenues between $1 million and $1.7 million last year.<\/p>\n<p>Robb noted that DOBOR rules state that a commercial permit holder may transfer its permit only after operating continuously for one full year. The ownership of KTL was transferred only five months after it had been formed, he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is absolutely in violation of HAR [Hawai`i Administrative Rules] 13-231-62(b)(i) and should not have been permitted, and the permit should be revoked for no other reason than this one,\u201d he argued.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Robb added that <i>Ali`I Nui<\/i> was not owned or leased by KTL when DOBOR issued the initial permit to KTL and that it renewed the permit in violation of HAR 13-231-61, which requires a minimum of $85,000 in annual gross receipts as a condition of renewal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn fact, [KTL] reported <b>NO<\/b> gross income for the period in question. &#8230; Moreover, THE BIG KAHUNA was located in Honolulu and did not generate the required minimum annual gross receipts,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding the current permit, Ross pointed out that although the QT was a 14-foot Zodiac, M-05 showed up on DOBOR records as a catamaran permit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, in sum: Ka`anapali Tours first obtained a monohull\/multihull permit for a vessel it had no legal interest in; that permit expired; a new permit was obtained for a vessel that never operated in Ka`anapali and, last, a permit is obtained for a 14-foot Zodiac. None of the permits are expressly for catamarans, but rather for monohull\/multihull, but permit M-05 now magically shows up on the record as being a catamaran permit held by Ka`anapali Tours. &#8230; None of the renewals of permits were supported by the required minimum gross receipts, and the transfer of ownership was illegal. And for over two and a half years, Ka`anapali Tours has been allowed to sit on a permit to operate a commercial vessel, but <b>NO<\/b> vessel has been operated by Ka`anapali Tours to date,\u201d he wrote. (Robb would not discuss the case with <i>Environment Hawai`i<\/i>, stating that he is no longer involved.)<\/p>\n<p>DOBOR responded within a week, with its Maui branch chief, Nicholas Giaconi, informing KTL that the permit had been forged, KTL\u2019s court filings state.<\/p>\n<p>A May 25 email from Giaconi to Bebee, however, suggests that Giaconi had only just begun to grasp what had transpired. Nolan, Giaconi said, had told him that Smith had agreed to reissue permit M-05 to Bebee after fees and penalties had been paid to the department.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am seeking to demonstrate that Douglas Smith responded to your request,\u201d Giaconi told Bebee and asked for any letters, memos, emails or cancelled checks showing any communication with Smith that \u201cindicates an arrangement was discussed or agreed upon for the re-issuance of the commercial permit for Terry Kellam.\u201d Giaconi stated that he had been unable to locate any such material on Maui. (Smith no longer works for DOBOR.)<\/p>\n<p>A day later, without waiting for Bebee\u2019s response, DOBOR chief Underwood informed KTL attorney Robert Frame that based on a preliminary investigation, DOBOR would be asking the Land Board to cancel KTL\u2019s permit. Underwood raised some of the same concerns Robb had listed in his letter to the DLNR, i.e., KTL\u2019s failure to attain minimum gross receipts and the business transfer made before continuous commercial operation of one year. He also cited KTL\u2019s failure to submit evidence regarding its not having attained minimum gross receipts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[W]e believe that at the time Ka`anapali Tours LLC was purchased by your client the company did not possess a valid commercial use permit. Under [HAR], the commercial use permit currently held by your client should have been issued to the next qualified applicant on the waitlist. During our investigation we have also noted other irregularities with the permit when it was issued to [KTL] on March 22, 2010, and renewed on March 22, 2011,\u201d Underwood wrote.<\/p>\n<p>On May 31, Bebee finally responded to the DLNR, but his explanation did not change DOBOR\u2019s decision to cancel the permit.<\/p>\n<p>Bebee explained that to recoup his losses, he had asked his local operator, Jeff Kirshner, to seek an agreement with DOBOR \u201cwhereby a similar permit (don\u2019t know if it was a \u2018replacement,\u2019 \u2018reissuance,\u2019 or a \u2018new\u2019 permit in the eyes of the DLNR) would be issued to my entity Ka`anapali Tours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The only fee DOBOR requested was the transfer fee at the closing of KTL\u2019s sale to Nolan and Sutherland, he wrote. Regarding DOBOR\u2019s request for records of communication with Smith, Bebee stated that all communication went through Kischner, who stopped operating his vessel in April 2010.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am not in communication with him. I understand he lives on the mainland today. I\u2019ve never met in person, spoken with or corresponded w\/ Mr. Smith,\u201d Bebee wrote.<\/p>\n<p>He stated that he, Nolan and Sutherland had taken as proof that the DLNR was satisfied with the legality of the situation \u201c(such that we could close on the sale to Jan with confidence that she was getting what she thought she was getting) was the actual issuance of the mooring permit and commercial permit under the signature of an authorized permit on behalf of DLNR, and subsequent delivery of those permits to the permittee,\u201d Bebee wrote.<\/p>\n<p>He added that the Lahaina harbormaster, Hal Silva, had also been involved in the process.<\/p>\n<p>Kirschner did not respond by press time to <i>Environment Hawai`i\u2019<\/i>s questions about his negotiations with Smith.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Lead-up to a Lawsuit<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><i>Queen\u2019s Treasure<\/i> began its sail to Maui from the Caribbean with a storm over the validity of its intended permit well underway. On June 3, Frame asked Underwood to reconsider seeking cancellation from the Land Board. Frame also argued that the administrative rules regarding minimum gross receipts and permit transfers do not apply to permit M-05.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am sure you are aware this was a unique situation and was resolved between the prior owner of [KTL] and DLNR before the initial permit was issued in December 2009,\u201d Frame wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Although Underwood maintained that the permit should never have been issued, he held off taking the matter to the Land Board. However, in a July 7 email to KTL, he restricted the company\u2019s use of its permit to the 14-foot Zodiac. Around this time, <i>Queen\u2019s Treasurer<\/i> arrived on Maui.<\/p>\n<p>Desperate, Frame emailed Underwood again, arguing that the DLNR knew the <i>Queen\u2019s Treasure<\/i> was the intended operating vessel when it renewed permit M-05 in March 2010. He added that the loss of the catamaran <i>Kiele V<\/i> meant there was room for another one. He also pointed out that only six catamarans were actually operating at Ka`anapali.<\/p>\n<p>Should Queen\u2019s Treasure not be allowed to start operating on July 27, he wrote, KTL would suffer losses, he wrote. Days later, in yet another email, he accused DOBOR of treating his client in an arbitrary, capricious, and discriminatory manner.<\/p>\n<p>DOBOR didn\u2019t budge. In an August 3 letter to KTL, Underwood wrote that the DLNR and his division consider M-type permits to be monohull permits and would not sanction the use of such a permit for a catamaran.<\/p>\n<p>On September 12, KTL sued the DLNR, the Land Board, Aila, Underwood, and Giaconi in U.S. District Court.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>What a Mess<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>Relying on M-05\u2019s conditions, KTL commissioned <i>Queen\u2019s Treasure,<\/i> the company\u2019s attorneys stated in their motion for a jury trial. DOBOR\u2019s refusal to allow the catamaran to operate at Ka`anapali has caused and will cause KTL to suffer substantial damages, with the full amount to be determined at trial, they stated.<\/p>\n<p>Two weeks after filing its motion, KTL filed another, for a preliminary injunction forcing DOBOR to allow <i>Queen\u2019s Treasure<\/i> to operate pending a decision on the permanent injunction.<\/p>\n<p>The parties attempted to settle the case, but came to only a temporary agreement: In exchange for KTL waiving claims to monetary damages, the DLNR and DOBOR would allow the vessel to operate until January 3, when U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi was expected to hear KTL\u2019s injunction motion. On November 17, <i>Queen\u2019s Treasure<\/i> began operating.<\/p>\n<p>To Ka`anapali catamaran operators ignorant of the temporary settlement, the sight of the elegant, new catamaran ferrying tourists around Ka`anapali must have been a shock. For Kapalua Kai Sailing, Inc., which owns a catamaran permit and is also second in line on the waiting list, it was enough to hire a lawyer.<\/p>\n<p>In a December 2 letter to the DLNR, attorney Ho, representing Kapalua Kai and its principals, objected to <i>Queen\u2019s Treasure<\/i> operating without securing a commercial use permit. Ho argued that the vessel\u2019s continued operation was likely to financially harm Kapalua Kai because it was competing for the same market. (Kapalua Kai brought in $1.4 million last year; DOBOR did not disclose gross receipts reported by KTL for November and December, citing the pending litigation.) Ho urged DOBOR to take immediate action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow can DOBOR hold lawful permit holders to one standard of conduct and Ka`anapali Tours another? &#8230; My clients are committed and prepared to take legal [action] as necessary to ensure their rights are protected and DOBOR fulfills its duty to the general public to implement, execute and enforce the relevant administrative rules in a fair and impartial manner,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>In its December 13 court filing, the deputy attorneys general representing the state defendants made clear that they agree that KTL is not entitled to a catamaran permit. However, they admitted that the history of permit M-05 \u201cis convoluted and full of anomalies which reflect poorly on both KTL and DLNR.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, they noted that KTL\u2019s Nolan is number 5 on the Ka`anapali catamaran permit waiting list, that KTL failed to use its permits for any commercial activity despite DOBOR\u2019s \u201cuse it or lose it\u201d rules, and that the term Monohull\/Multihull does not appear in other commercial use permits.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKTL contends this term entitles KTL to switch [from monohull to catamaran]. &#8230; [T]hat interpretation of KTL\u2019s commercial use permit for &#8230; Ka`anapali &#8230; is contrary to DLNR rules and makes no sense,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n<p>They argued that the transfer was illegal and that because the reinstated 2009 permit was not signed by the DOBOR administrator and was instead signed by a low-level planning officer, the permit was also illegal. (Notwithstanding this, DOBOR has accepted monthly permit fees in addition to the $15,000 transfer fee from KTL.)<\/p>\n<p>The state\u2019s attorneys also suggested that the current M-05 permit might be illegal since it was issued three months after the December 2009 permit expired.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[T]he public wants and expects an orderly management of commercial boating rights,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n<p>To these arguments, KTL\u2019s attorneys had this to say: \u201cA 14-foot inflatable is obviously not multihulled and cannot carry 49 passengers; thus, the substitution of a vessel that could carry 49 passengers was clearly expected. No reasonable person could have issued the Permit believing QT would remain the Primary Vessel given the purpose of the Permit was to serve 49 passengers. Moreover, DLNR had repeatedly allowed and affirmed the substitution of vessels in Permit after Permit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Regarding the state\u2019s argument that Smith lacked the authority to issue permits, KTL\u2019s attorneys argue that his acts \u201cmay be subsequently ratified by those with authority if the ratifying officials have actual or constructive knowledge of the unauthorized acts.\u201d And, they added, DLNR ratified the agreement with subsequent renewals, including the most recent renewal by Underwood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDefendants want the court to ignore the plain meaning of the terms and conditions of the permit and restrict plaintiff to the use of a 14-foot inflatable. Such an interpretation is ridiculous. Defendants cannot charge and accept a $15,000.00 transfer fee from plaintiff that permits plaintiff\u2019s vessel to carry 49 passengers, and then restrict plaintiff to a vessel that could not carry 49 passengers without sinking. Defendants cannot admit the permit contains language allowing the use of multihulled vessels and then seek to restrict use of the permit to a monohulled one. Finally, Defendants cannot deny Plaintiff its right to substitute QUEENS TREASURE as the \u2018Primary\u2019 vessel when all the permit requires is notification of changes in inventory and Coast Guard documentation if requested,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n<p>KTL\u2019s attorneys argued that the state defendants \u201cintentionally and recklessly disregarded Plaintiff\u2019s constitutional and civil rights,\u201d and that the company would be forced into bankruptcy and lose its vessel if Queen\u2019s Treasure is not allowed to operate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlaintiff\u2019s owners will lose years of hard work and planning, the goodwill established through their efforts, and this once in a lifetime opportunity to make their dream a reality,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n<p>On January 3, Judge Kobayashi heard the motion for a preliminary injunction, but did not issue a ruling. The next day, Magistrate Puglisi ordered the parties to appear at a settlement conference on April 5. He ordered the parties to try to settle the case on their own in the meantime. Should they fail, each party must provide a statement of evidence likely to be presented at trial at least seven days before the settlement conference.<\/p>\n<p>As of mid-January, <i>Queen\u2019s Treasure<\/i> was still operating. Ho says whether or not his client, Kapalua Kai, takes any legal action will depend on the court\u2019s ruling regarding the preliminary injunction.<\/p>\n<p>Based on DOBOR\u2019s gross receipt records, three of the ten official Ka`anapali catamaran permits could be made available to those on the waiting list this year, including Kapalua Kai. Catamaran permittee Fun Charters Inc., earned less than $9,000 last year, Maui Navigation Co. earned nothing, and Maui Boat Co. failed to submit any gross receipts.<\/p>\n<p><b>Teresa Dawson<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Volume 22, Number 8 &#8212; February 2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whatever the outcome, someone is going to end up heartbroken, pissed off, or both. Since mid-November, the luxury catamaran Queen&rsquo;s Treasure has been taking passengers on snorkel and whale-watch tours off West Maui&rsquo;s Ka`anapali Beach under a temporary agreement with &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=470\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-february-2012"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}