West Hawaii Today du lieu suivant : Kailua-Kona, Hawaii • A1

WAIMEA Scott Presler wants to help turn the blue state of Hawaii like hot The energetic conservative activist was on the Big Island this week, speaking first in Hilo on Thursday, and then in Waimea and Kailua-Kona on Saturday. His hope while visiting Hawaii is to encour- age his fellow President Donald Trump supporters to get involved in their commu- nity and help others register to vote for the 2020 election. goal is to bring out the energy in people, because clearly here. Hawaii is a Democratic state, and voted Democratic for so long, that I think people feel disenfranchised and disillu- Presler said. whole reason and purpose for my being here is to show people that there is hope and there is opportunity and to teach them the simple things that the average Joe like me can do to get out the In the 2018 general elec- tion, 51.5 percent of the 115,406 registered voters voted on the Big Island.

To cheers and applause, Presler, been fea- tured on Fox News, told the attendees of his speech at Mana Christian Ohana in Waimea how he was inspired to pursue a career in poli- tics. Events such as former President Barack reelection in 2012 and the Gays For Trump movement on social media after the June 12, 2016, mass shoot- ing at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, all inspired him to spread the conserva- tive mes- sage Presler said in the past six months, he has visited and spoken to local Republican organi- zations in 14 states and 45 cities. best part of being American is showing our love through action, not Presler said. want people to use their hands, not their Presler has gained nation- al attention in the past year due to his organization of a neighborhood cleanup in Baltimore, Maryland. More than 100 volunteers helped Presler clean up 29 tons of trash on the Baltimore streets.

Presler also orga- nized a cleanup in Los Angeles, clearing 50 tons of trash from the city. do community Presler said. the guy that cleaned up Baltimore, so why we organize and see if we can get peo- ple here to go to Honolulu and try to help out with the homeless cri- sis and try to clean up Presler, who spoke for an hour, at one point addressed West Hawaii Today, the only media at the event. Media has been a consistent target for Trump, who coined the term and called it the enemy of the people. we are not going to boo her, going to he said.

clap for the media. Because we are message is one that Big Island Jeffrey Coakley hopes will encourage his fellow Republicans on the island to no longer keep quiet. we want to do is energize people to where we are going to stand up and be vocal and be out there where people can see us, and not walk around and whisper, a Coakley said. want to stand up and be Coakley said Big Island Republican events usually see a turnout of 20-25 peo- ple, but event in Waimea saw about double that. The audience members expressed their dissatis- faction with some of the Democratic politicians cur- rently in office, and their hopes of reelecting Trump in 2020.

want to hear what he has to attendee Faye Yates said on why he attend- ed the event. me, just tired of the same old, same old. tired of them KAILUA-KONA Two years ago, Franz Weber was riding his bicycle when he struck a delineator pole as he cruised at no more than 10-15 mph. The crash sent him tumbling from atop his bike 6-7 feet down to the pavement, fractur- ing three vertebrae in his neck in the process. His helmet was cracked from front to back in the accident.

Weber was seriously wound- ed. But, the avid cyclist and cycling safety advocate did not suffer a head injury, or worse. the helmet, I would be in a very different situa- Weber said, adding he was back on his bike about five weeks later. the helmet, I would definitely had more broken (vertebrae in my) neck and it would have taken months and months (to get back on the bike). no Head injury most common cause of death in bicycle crashes Head injury is the most com- mon cause of death and serious disability in bicycle-related crash- es, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It accounts for of bicycle-re- lated deaths. In addition, approximately of all bicycle-related emer- gency department visits and of all bicycle-related hospital SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2019 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM $1.50 INSIDE STORMY WEATHER Super wet rainy season hit Big mostly HOME, FOUR PLEAD GUILTY IN BADE CASE Drug traffickers face jail time, $250K fines PAGE HI 85 LO 73 WEATHER, PAGE 6A Mailbox 6B Classified 5C Home 1C Nation World 3A-4A Opinion Sports 1BINDEX 7 758551 00781 VOL. 51, NO. 314 26 PAGES SAFETY REQUIREMENT OR FREEDOM OF CHOICE? AGENCY SAYS STATES SHOULD REQUIRE BICYCLE HELMETS BY CHELSEA JENSEN WEST HAWAII TODAY Fawad and Lina Ahadi from New Zealand rent bikes from the Bike Share station on Alii Drive last year. LAURA HAWAII TODAY FILESEE HELMETS PAGE 8A Wanted: boat ramp fix TEMPORARY OCEAN ACCESS AT POHOIKI COULD COST $9M BY STEPHANIE SALMONS HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD HILO The state Department of Land and Natural Resources will seek funding from the state Legislature next year in the hope of establishing tempo- rary ocean access at the Pohoiki boat ramp.

The only boat ramp between Hilo and Milolii, the Pohoiki ramp closed shortly after Kilauea volcano began erupting in May 2018 and eventually became land- locked by a black sand and cobblestone beach. The closure has affected the ability of Puna fishermen to access the ocean and, subsequently, has impacted their livelihoods. DLNR spokesman Dan Dennison said the proposed short-term solution involves driving sheet piles on either side of the existing boat ramp entrance channel and dredging the channel. The cost is estimated to be between $8 million to $9 million. An engineering study released in June by the DLNR found that efforts to remove the sand and create a channel to the existing ramp would be expensive and full of uncertainties associated with sand movement and coastal processes continuing in and around Pohoiki Bay.

In August, however, DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation said dredging had been discussed in order to provide temporary access, but the state likely would have to prepare an envi- ronmental assessment and obtain the necessary permits for the work. According to Dennison, a long-term solution for access is a new boat ramp facility on the north side of Pohoiki Bay that is still being planned. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is currently reviewing proposal, he said, which is estimated to cost $28 million. Dennison said DLNR has requested the release of $500,000 from the fiscal year 2020-21 budget. will be used to begin prepara- tion of an (environmental assessment), environmental permits and construc- tion for the short- term he said.

of either the short-term or long-term projects will of course depend on wheth- er funding becomes Meanwhile, members of the House Committee on Finance visited Pohoiki on Nov. 1. Puna state Rep. Joy San Buenaventura said the committee viewed the area and the proposal from DLNR for the tem- porary solution and permanent ramp in Pohoiki. SEE RAMP PAGE 7A REPORT COMES SAME WEEK AS HILO CYCLIST KILLED BY MOTORIST up and be CLEANUP ACTIVIST, TRUMP SUPPORTER RALLIES LOCAL GOP TO GET OUT AND VOTE BY ELIZABETH PITTS WEST HAWAII TODAY Scott Presler, left, leads his fellow Republicans and Donald Trump supporters to cheer Saturday at Mana Christian Ohana in Waimea.

ELIZABETH HAWAII TODAY best part of being American is showing our love through action, not SCOTT PRESLER CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST SEE RALLY PAGE 7A.