...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM HST FRIDAY...
* WHAT...East winds 15 to 25 kt.
* WHERE...Kauai Northwest Waters, Kauai Windward Waters, Kauai
Leeward Waters, Kauai Channel and Oahu Leeward Waters.
* WHEN...Until 6 AM HST Friday.
* IMPACTS...Conditions will be hazardous to small craft.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Inexperienced mariners, especially those operating smaller
vessels, should avoid navigating in these conditions.
&&
Cat colony at the Grand Wailea resort may be eradicated amid lawsuit
Cynthia is an award-winning journalist who returned to Hawaii as an Anchor/Reporter/MMJ from Houston. She is a graduate of the University of Hawaii with a B.A. and M.B.A. DM her on IG @CynthiaYipTV to share stories.
The “cat caretaker” at the Grand Wailea Resort Maui is raising concerns about her feline colony being pushed off the resort with no place to go. And a plan to possibly eradicate the colony – which has existed at the resort for eight years – is sparking new outrage.
WAILEA, MAUI (KITV4) - For 8 years, Kelli Medeiros has been volunteering to care for several cats who live in a cat colony at the Grand Wailea Resort in Maui. At one time, over 300 cats lived at the Grand Wailea Maui, but today, only 31 felines are on the 40 acre property. All of the cats have been spayed, neutered, and vaccinated.
The nonprofit Earthjustice recently filed a lawsuit against the resort, sighting lighting problems for endangered seabirds at the Grand Wailea. The lawsuit alleges that the hotel lights attract seabirds and cause them to fall from the sky, because the birds mistake the lights for the moon which they use to navigate.
The Resort bartender, who is also a vet tech at The Good Cat Network, says she was told by a manager that a meeting on Monday would call for the removal of the cats, presumably in response to the lawsuit.
"The word eradicate was used in what my manager read to me. If their plan is to kill these 31 fat, senior gentle cats, who have been provided care, and who have lived in the same place their whole lives, it seems totally inhumane and unjust, " says Kelli Medeiros, Cat Caretaker at the Grand Wailea.
Since tourists sometimes feed the cats on the property, some believe eradicating them won’t be so easy to do.
"If they get rid of these cats, more cats are guaranteed to come into that location, and if you have guests who are feeding cats, all over the property which people do, it's human nature, and you're going to find there will be more and more cats arriving and they will be giving birth and it no time you will have a population that is out of control. You will have cats everywhere," states Jenny Miller of the Maui Humane Society.
A spokesperson at Grand Wailea told KITV4 that the "Grand Wailea is working with local experts to evaluate Grand Wailea's preventive measures, including the feral cat management program, which will continue operating as we explore options and partnerships to assist us in identifying enduring and humane solutions."
Cynthia is an award-winning journalist who returned to Hawaii as an Anchor/Reporter/MMJ from Houston. She is a graduate of the University of Hawaii with a B.A. and M.B.A. DM her on IG @CynthiaYipTV to share stories.
