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Today's Big Stories

1. Former pro surfer known for riding huge Pipeline waves dies in shark attack while surfing off Oahu

A well-known Hawaii lifeguard who was killed in a shark attack while surfing off Oahu’s North Shore was a former professional surfer with acting credits to his name, including a role in one of the “Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.

City and County of Honolulu Ocean Safety lifeguard Tamayo Perry, 49, died in the attack near Goat Island, Shayne Enright of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department said in a statement.

Honolulu Ocean Safety and the city's fire, police and emergency medical services departments responded to Mālaekahana Beach on Oahu's North Shore just before 1 p.m. after a caller reported seeing a man who appeared to have suffered shark bites, Enright said.

Lifeguards brought Perry to shore by jet ski and paramedics assisted with the death pronouncement, Enright said.

Perry, who worked as a lifeguard on the North Shore, began his career with the Ocean Safety department in July 2016, Enright said.

It's not known if Perry was the first professional surfer to be killed in a shark attack, since the definition of a professional in the sport can be blurry, said Brendan Buckley, the editor of Stab Magazine, a website devoted to surfing.

“But in terms of a high-level surfer that people around the world know and respected, he's the first that I'm aware of,” Buckley told The Associated Press Monday from his office in Portugal.

Perry and his wife, Emilia Perry, operated the Oahu Surfing Experience, offering surfing lessons. According to his biography on the business' website, he surfed professionally for over 15 years, highlighted by winning the Pipeline Master trials in 1999.

2. Honolulu Civil Beat: Convicted Hawaii businessman Milton Choy has died in custody at a North Carolina facility

Milton Choy, the former businessman at the center of Hawaii’s largest bribery scandal that took down two state lawmakers and Maui County officials in 2022, died Saturday afternoon in North Carolina, according to federal prison officials.

Choy was being held at a federal medical center in Butner, North Carolina. He was found unresponsive at around 12:30 p.m., according to Bureau of Prisons spokesman Emery Nelson.

Facility employees started life-saving measures while emergency medical services were contacted, Nelson said in an email. Choy was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was 61 years old, and was set to be released in 2026.

The FBI was notified, and no other inmates were injured at the time of Choy’s death, Nelson said.

The circumstances surrounding Choy’s death are still unknown. The BOP declined to provide specifics regarding cause of death. An investigation by the North Carolina medical examiner’s office is ongoing. Death records were not yet available Monday morning in nearby Durham and Granville counties.

Michael Green, Choy’s Honolulu lawyer, was off island and unavailable for comment. Choy’s wife declined an interview.

A quarter of all deaths in the federal prison system occur at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex, a recent National Public Radio investigation found.  

3. Honolulu Civil Beat: Future of HART line extending into city center hinges on critical contract bid

Four years ago the Honolulu rail authority was anxiously awaiting proposals from construction companies vying for the contract to finish the last stretch of the elevated rail line through the city center.

Today, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation finds itself in almost exactly the same situation — waiting for new proposals to finally extend the rail line into the dense city center, and hoping those bids will be affordable.

And once again the outcome of the bidding in Honolulu’s volatile construction market is uncertain. Hanging in the balance are hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for the much-delayed rail project, and perhaps HART CEO Lori Kahikina’s future with the project as well.

HART estimated last year that the 3-mile guideway and six train stations in the city center would cost somewhere between $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion. But the new bid proposals are scheduled to open on July 23 at a time when Honolulu is well into a construction boom that is putting upward pressure on bid prices.

“Everybody’s busy right now,” said Joseph Uno, a construction cost estimator and former member of the HART board of directors. “All of the contractors and subcontractors are busy, so people are paying premiums to get your work done. So, I think that’s a big risk, that there may not be enough money.”

HART did a risk assessment for the project earlier this year that concluded “labor constraints” in the Honolulu market are one of the top risks for the city center rail segment, according to consultant Hill International Inc. Hill monitors the Honolulu rail project on behalf of the Federal Transit Administration.

Bonham pointed out during a recent public meeting that contractors can respond to the labor shortage by importing construction workers into Hawaii, but there are extra costs and delays generally associated with that.

Hill has reported that at least two bidders are competing for the city center job, but the bidders have not been publicly identified.

4. Joshua Hayashida rallies to defeat Anson Cabello in extra holes for repeat Manoa Cup title

Thirty-six holes were not enough to distinguish a champion between two colleagues.

Joshua Hayashida rallied from 4 down with four holes to play and defeated University of Hawaii golf teammate Anson Cabello on the second playoff hole for a repeat Manoa Cup open division title at Oahu Country Club on Saturday.

Hayashida, a rising junior at UH who graduated from Hawaii Baptist Academy, was in dire straits when Cabello, a rising sophomore out of Kamehameha-Maui, claimed a four-hole lead on the 32nd hole of the state amateur match-play championship.

But the defending champ birdied the par-5 No. 15 and posted three straight pars to keep the pressure on while Cabello faltered.

The first 18 holes were close, with neither player going up by more than one hole. Cabello separated early in the second 18, claiming hole Nos. 3 through 5 for a strong lead that he held until the fateful final holes.

The two halved the first playoff hole at No. 1. Hayashida made par while Cabello bogeyed on No. 2, and the Mililani native got the ceremonial toss in the OCC pool for the second straight year. He was the first repeat champion since Peter Jung in 2021 and 2022.

Per UH, it was the first meeting of Rainbow Warriors in the final of the 64-player state amateur match-play championship since 1995, when Mike Pavao defeated Regan Lee. 

University of Hawaii golf teammates Joshua Hayashida, left, and Anson Cabello, seen Friday, played a thriller of a Manoa Cup open championship final on Oahu Country Club on Saturday. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

5. NASED development bidders down to 1 team; state says stadium target still 2028

The state announced Friday that one of the two finalist teams vying to become the master developer of the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District has dropped out.

Waiola Development Partners’ sudden exit for unspecified reasons leaves only one other consortium, Aloha Halawa District Partners, in the running to construct a 25,000-seat stadium, plus outlying housing and retail amenities on the 98-acre Halawa site of the shuttered Aloha Stadium.

The Department of Accounting and General Services and the Stadium Authority sought to offer reassurance in a news release that the NASED Request For Proposals process will proceed and that 2028 remains the opening target for the new stadium.

“The RFP was designed to accommodate the possibility of having only one offeror, and this withdrawal will not affect the ongoing RFP process,” Stadium Authority Chair Brennon Morioka said in a statement. “We are on track to meet all of the RFP milestones, and we look forward to welcoming UH football and the community back to Aloha Stadium in 2028.”

The next key milestone under the RFP is the selection of a master developer in fall 2024. If successful, negotiations are to ensue between the state and developer with summer 2025 targeted for the execution of a contract.

Your Notes for Tomorrow

Tuesday, June 25

• Chinese Chang'e Mission returns to Earth
• Motion hearing for Mar-a-Lago poperty owner charged in classified documents case
• EU begin formal accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova
• SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launch, carrying NASA Goes-U satellite
• NTSB investigative hearing on East Palestine, OH train derailment
• 15th anniversary of Michael Jackson's death
• Arraignment of former Alaska Airlines pilot accused of attempting to shut down plane engines mid-flight
• Items belonging to Rick Ross offered at auction
• Hockey Hall of Fame announces class of 2024
• Paddington Bear's birthday