Dealership settles ADA lawsuit

A car dealership in Hawaii has agreed to pay $42,000 to settle an EEOC lawsuit accusing it violating ADA law. "The EEOC alleged that Cutter Mazda failed to hire a deaf applicant due to his disability. Such conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits employers from making employment decisions based on an individual's disability." Read more about it from the EEOC here.

Principal at Deaf & Blind School Reassigned

The beloved principal of the Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind has been transferred to another school and alumni and parents don't understand why. They gathered to protest yesterday, telling HawaiiNewsNow, “He has a deaf education background. He knows how to manage and make deaf people learn...Teachers were so thrilled. They worked so well with him.” Read the full story and watch a video report here.

Deaf Woman Denied Terp at Airport

The ACLU has filed a discrimination complaint saying a deaf woman was stopped and interrogated at Honolulu's airport. Customs officials apparently refused to provide her with a sign language interpreter, despite her repeated requests. The ACLU quotes the unnamed woman (who didn't want to be named) as saying:

I was so scared and felt alone. For people with deafness, being cut off from our ways of communicating is terrifying. I have traveled a lot, but have never experienced anything like this at any airport ever. With this complaint, I just want to make sure that other deaf people coming through Hawaii’s airports are treated with basic respect and dignity, and that disabilities are accommodated.

Read the full story in HawaiiNewsNow.

Court Papers: Principal tried to cover up sex assault scandal

Image from HawaiiNewsNow video report

The former principal at the Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind was told many times about sexual assault allegations, according to newly released court records. But Hawaii News Now reports that she did not act while "dozens of students were robbed, raped and even gang raped by other students." Taxpayers ended up paying nearly $6 million to settle lawsuits linked to the crimes while some students were convicted of crimes. Hawaii News Now has the details. here. Hawaii News Now has a video report

Hawaii is First

The movie experience is changing in Hawaii. The governor signed a bill into law last week that requires theater owners to provide open captioning. The new rules kick in next year. Hawaii is the first state to make this a requirement according to James Tokioka, the lawmaker who introduced the bill and the Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind supported the measure. Read more here.

Former school worker sentenced for sex crime

A one-time teaching assistant in Hawaii will spend a long time behind bars for sexually assaulting a deaf 14-year-old student at the Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind. Alfie S. Lumabas, who is deaf himself, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the attack. He pleaded guilty earlier this year. KHON-TV has a video report.

State to Open D&B Center

John Mizuno

Hawaii's Governor signs bill for new center 

Hawaii's governor has signed a bill that will spend $400,000 on a deaf and blind service center. Sponsor John Mizuno says the new center will solve an on-going problem for deaf and blind residents--the creation of a centralized place to meet and share resources to replace locations that are scattered. The center will offer vocational and financial advice, counseling and audiologists.

Rally against cuts in Hawaii

Hawaii's the deaf and the hard of hearing are trying to stop state plans to cut living assistance and interpreter referral services. They rallied at the state capital yesterday. Here's a video report from KITV or read the story here.

School abuse prompts calls for federal intervention

Rapes and assaults of deaf and blind students in Hawaii public schools have some calling for the federal intervention. Below is a video report on DeafNewsToday.com from KHNL-TV.You can read the story here.

Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL

Sign language in Hawaii

Hawaii's sign language may die out. There is only a small group of deaf islanders who are still abel to use it, according to researchers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. They say Hawaiian Sign Language developed about 200 years ago, in the early 1800s. A letter written in 1821 letter to Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet from a protestant missionary makes reference to it. Only about 40 people are known to still use it - and most are over the age of 80. Out of 100 words, researchers found only 20 HSL signs were the same as their counterparts in American Sign Language. There are structural differences as well. For instance, in ASL adjectives come before nouns, but in HSL the noun comes first. The researchers will present their findings tomorrow at the 3rd International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation in Honolulu. They plan to publish three textbooks on HSL along with a dictionary. Read more about Hawaiian Sign Language in a University of Hawaii news release about the research here.

Settlement over Sexual Abuse at School

The Hawaii Center for the Deaf and Blind will pay millions over sexual abuse that took place under school supervision between students. KHON-TV has a video report. You can read the story here.

DiB Coffees

The US has its first speciality coffee outlet operated by the deaf. DiB Coffees of Hawaii is run by Malaysian deaf and features coffee grown on the Hawaiian islands of Moloka'i and Maui, as well as herbal teas. Read more about it here.

Woman's Attacker says he is deaf

A man accused of trying to rape and kidnap a women in Hawaii says he is deaf. A judge in the city of Oahu postponed the hearing of Ferdinand Bermejo until Monday, when an interpreter could be assigned to him. Several people heard the woman scream and held Bermejo until the police arrived.

Sex Ring at School

A mother of a student at the Hawaii Center for the Deaf and Blind says dozens of students were aware of ongoing sexually abuse, but never told anyone. She says her son was one of the 35 students abused by a gang at the school who called themselves the Ringleaders. The woman has filed a lawsuit against the state, the school, and its administrator, along with a counselor. According to her suit, the group demanded items from younger students and threatened to rape and sodomize any student who failed to obey them. The mother, who is not named in the suit, claims the counselor named in the lawsuit was involved in the abuse himself. Police in Hawaii arrested several students recently on charges of sexual abuse.

Suit: School Knew about Sex Assaults

A lawsuit filed this week claims officials knew about alleged sex assaults at Hawaii's deaf and blind school. KHON-TV has a video report below or read the story here.

Sex Assaults at Hawaii School

Arrests from widespread sexual abuse at the Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind. Watch this report from KHON-TV. Read the story here.

Scam Rips off Deaf Investors

A company based in Hawaii is being ordered to pay more than $6.2 million for cheating more than 125 customers, all of whom were deaf. Marvin Cooper, who is deaf himself was charged with operating a $4 million foreign currency and commodity futures Ponzi scheme through his company, Billion Coupons. Prosecutors say Cooper lured customers with promises of up to 25% monthly returns. But he spent the funds on personal items, like a million dollar home and flying lessons.

Teen Crowned

Miss Hawaii’s Outstanding Teen is deaf and will become the first deaf person to compete in the national pageant in Orlando from August 24-28. Wailuku 14-year-old Lena Merrill says her platform would be increasing awareness about the need for quality education for deaf children. When Merrill's name was first announced as the winner of the state contest in Hawaii, her interpreter began crying and waving her hands wildly. It took a moment for Merrill to realize she had won. Among her interests: playing volleyball for her school and dancing with a Tahitian group called Tava Nui.

Hawaii Diving

Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind sophomore Brandon Johnson finished second in the one-meter diving event at the Local Motion/HHSAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Kamehameha-Hawai'i. He had 465.80 points behind Spencer Madanay who had 468.50 points for Punahou.

Hawaii Protest

Some 50 members of the deaf community gathered to demonstrate against planned budget cuts at a state Capitol hearing in Hawaii yesterday. The Deaf Services Section of the Vocational Rehabilitation serves several hundred people. The overworked staff is being cut and the offices moved to a less disirable location. The deaf services program has been in operation for a dozen years.