Labor Day traffic and travel: Best and worst times to drive and fly

(NEW YORK) — On the southeast coast of O’ahu, a group of visitors from Renton, Washington, has arrived to volunteer with 808 Cleanups, a local organization working to remove invasive species from along the shoreline.

“I could not come to Hawai’i, to the island of O’ahu, without giving back to the community,” said first-time visitor Doris Martinez. “Today it’s really about cleaning up all of these bushes here that are not native to the Hawaiian land, which is something that we learned this afternoon.”

Doris and her fellow travelers are participating in “regenerative tourism,” when visitors give back to the community in some way. Efforts such as cleaning up a beach or reef, planting native plants, or helping to rebuild a fishpond are just a few of the ways that tourists can have a positive impact.

Last August, deadly wildfires tore through Maui and laid bare the deep tensions that can exist between visitors and the local community, where some feel the tourism economy is prioritized over the well-being of area residents.

That strain was captured in irate social media posts with images of snorkelers continuing their vacation as the ruins of Lahaina smoldered.

“There’s a snorkel boat with tourists in the water. The same waters that they were still trying to find bodies,” remembered Lahaina resident Courtney Lazo. “It just made your skin crawl.” 

Lazo worked tirelessly to save her own home by hosing it down, but the fires ultimately consumed the house that her family had lived in for five generations.

More than nine million visitors a year travel to Hawai’i, with tourism the largest segment of the Hawaiian economy, supporting more than 216,000 jobs.

“That’s our brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles, moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas,” said Kalani Ka’anā’anā, the chief stewardship officer for the Hawai’i Tourism Authority (HTA).

But according to Kūhiō Lewis, CEO of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, it comes at a cost. 

“Tourism has been economically beneficial to Hawaii’s economy. However, it’s placed a great burden on the people of Hawai’i, as well,” Lewis said.

“With tourism, people make it to be this strong economy,” said Lahaina resident Jordan Ruidas. “But if you look at it, people working in tourism still have to work two, three jobs. So, it’s not as strong as they say.”

Native Hawaiians and residents of the state find some visitors often are culturally insensitive or unaware of the impact of their actions. Social media is rife with videos of tourists hiking out of bounds onto sacred land, urinating on lava flows, or touching endangered wildlife.

“They come here so they can post a video on social media that hopefully will go viral that is extremely disrespectful to our people and our culture,” said Lewis.

“They think this is a playground, they’re on vacation,” said Pā’ele Kiakona, who was born and raised in Lahaina. “You see them all the time going onto the beach, touching turtles and touching the seals.” 

Bad behavior persists despite well publicized bans on interfering with wildlife, offenses that can incur up to $10,000 fines.

“We know we can’t keep doing mass tourism in the way that we have in the past,” said the HTA’s Ka’anā’anā.

“Our community wants managed tourism. Our community wants tourism that gives back to local,” Ka’anā’anā added. “So instead of going to Starbucks, can you go to the local coffee shop? Instead of going to the chain restaurant, can you go to…the poke spot, the food truck.”

The Hawai’i Tourism Authority tries to reach out to visitors even before they come to the islands through their website, which offers tips on how tourists can be mindful during their visit. According to Ka’anā’anā, it’s an effort to share “the ideas of aloha and malama. How to take care of one another. How to take care of the place that they’re visiting. How to leave it better than when they found it.”

The HTA now offers visitors a way to volunteer and have a deeper travel experience with their Mālama Hawai’i website. Mālama means to take care of or protect. Along with other sites, like Kanu Hawaii, visitors can find volunteer opportunities that match their interests and travel plans.

“Visitors are looking for a deeper connection,” Ka’anā’anā added. “They’re looking for meaningful experiences that are unique and memorable for that place.”

Hawai’i Gov. Josh Green recently signed a bill bolstering regenerative tourism, supporting programs that will protect Hawaiian resources. 

“These bills represent significant steps forward in safeguarding Hawai’i’s environment and promoting responsible tourism,” Green said in a statement.

“We want tourists who want to come here and feel a sense of place or a sense of purpose and help in deeper ways than just throwing money at us,” said Lahaina resident Jordan Ruidas. “Come get your hands in the dirt.”

Back out on the coast of Oahu, Kimeona Kane is the community director for 808 Cleanups. 

“We want to give [visitors] an example of what it means to truly engage with a place, understand its history, understand its current situations, and also think about what the future might look like,” Kane said.

“People who came today didn’t want to just take,” said Michael Loftin, co-founder and executive director of 808 Cleanups. “They didn’t want to just be consumers of the islands. They wanted to give back.”

For Doris Martinez, the choice to volunteer was simple. 

“This is love. Love in its purest form,” Martinez said.

On Maui, residents are continuing to recover from the devastating impacts of last year’s wildfire. 

“It’s really important for people to remember that Hawaii has shown people so much aloha,” said Ruidas. “And right now it’s really a time where I feel like the aloha needs to be shown back to us while we heal and rebuild.”

If you would like to learn more about regenerative tourism and resources in Hawai’i these links can get you started:

Hawai’i Tourism Authority: https://www.gohawaii.com/malama

Kanu Hawaii: https://www.kanuhawaii.org/needs/

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(NEW YORK) — The prosecutor and defense attorney delivered opening remarks Tuesday in the trial of Susan Lorincz — the Florida woman charged in the fatal shooting of her neighbor Ajike “AJ” Owens through a closed door — after a six-person jury was seated on Monday afternoon.

According to a June 6, 2023, statement from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), Lorincz shot Owens, a Black mother of four, through a closed door in the presence of her now 10-year-old son after Owens went to speak with Lorincz about a dispute over Owens’ children playing near her home. Lorincz called 911 after fatally shooting Owens and admitted to the shooting.

Lorincz, who is white, was arrested on June 6, 2023, and charged with first-degree felony manslaughter for fatally shooting Owens on June 2, 2023, in Ocala, Florida. She pleaded not guilty on July 10, 2023, and was held on a $150,000 bond. If convicted, Lorincz faces up to 30 years in prison, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

Anthony Thomas, attorney for the family of Ajike Owens, told ABC News in a statement Tuesday that the family is “disappointed in the all-white jury that was selected to determine the outcome” of this case.

“We would have wanted the jury to be more diverse. But we believe in equal justice, so we are going to see what happens,” added family attorney Ben Crump in a statement to ABC News.

“I am keeping faith that justice will be served for my daughter, Ajike, that the jurors will not let Susan Lorincz get away with this,” Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, told ABC News.

During opening arguments, public defender Morris Carranza argued that Lorincz was acting in self-defense because she feared for her life, while Assistant State Attorney Adam Smith stressed that Owens was “unarmed” and fatally shot through a “locked” door. Carranza claimed that Owens told Lorincz that she was going to “kill” her, while Smith told jurors that they will be hearing from witnesses who were present during the confrontation who will deny this claim.

“The death of AJ Owens is a tragedy. There is no doubt about that, but what the evidence will show is that in her mind, in her soul, in her core, Susan Lorincz felt she had no choice,” Lorincz’s defense attorney said. “It was either Susan or AJ. Susan chose to defend herself.”

Lorincz’s attorney focused on the age difference between the 59-year-old Lorincz and the 35-year-old Owens, highlighted Lorincz’s health issues and also played for jurors Lorincz’s distressed 911 call on June 2, 2023, where she claimed that Owens tried to “break down” her door and admitted to shooting at the door.

“You can hear the absolute terror that she had,” Lorincz’s attorney said, referring to the 911 call.

Meanwhile, Smith disputed the claim that Owens was trying to “break” into Lorincz’s home and stressed that Owens, who approached Lorincz’s home to talk to her about the dispute with her children, was “unarmed” and was fatally shot through a “locked” front door after Lorincz called police to come to her home.

Smith argued that Owens “doesn’t try to break into” Lorincz’s home and was shot while she was “unarmed.”

“At the end of this case, you’re going to hear that the defendant Susan Lorincz, knowing the police would come, was in her apartment with her door locked and shot through that locked front door and killed Ajike Owens, who was unarmed,” Smith said.

“After the evidence is presented, we’re going to come back to you and ask that you find the defendant guilty,” he added.

Lorincz claimed in her June 6, 2023, interrogation interview with detectives — video of which was released by MCSO — that she was acting in self-defense when she shot Owens.

“She was saying, ‘I’m going to kill you,'” Lorincz claimed in the video.

“No one that we’ve interviewed so far has made any statements about her saying that she wanted to kill you,” one of the detectives told Lorincz.

Anthony Thomas, an attorney representing the family of Ajike Owens, told ABC News in a statement on Monday that two of Owens’ four children will be called to testify during the trial and are “determined to testify” on their mother’s behalf “despite their grief.”

“Unfortunately, yes, we have confirmed that they will be called to testify. This is an unimaginably painful experience for them, as they continue to grapple with the deep emotional wounds caused by losing their mother in such a violent way,” Thomas said.

According to Thomas, Isaac, 13, and Izzy (Israel), 10, who witnessed the shooting, could be called by prosecutors and the defense to testify this week.

“They do this out of profound love and respect for her, knowing that their voices are crucial in the pursuit of justice,” Thomas said. “They understand the gravity of this moment and want to ensure that their mother’s death is not in vain.”

Judge Robert W. Hodges of Florida 5th Judicial Circuit, who is presiding over the case, said that the trial is expected to conclude by Friday.

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(PAWLET, Ver.) — A man, his wife and her 13-year-old son were found shot to death at their Vermont home, state police said, with authorities looking for a suspect.

Officers responded to a report of a “suspicious person” early Sunday, Vermont State Police said. The investigation led them to a home in the town of Pawlet, where they found the three victims dead, police said.

State police identified the victims on Tuesday as Brian Crossman Sr., 46, who was a Pawlet government official; his wife, Erica Crossman, 41; and her son and his stepson, Colin Taft, 13.

All three died from gunshot wounds and their deaths have been ruled as homicides by the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, state police said. Brian Crossman was shot in the head and torso, Erica Crossman was shot in the head and her son had multiple gunshot wounds, state police said.

No one is in custody in connection with the homicides, Vermont State Police said Tuesday.

“Initial work by detectives indicates this was an isolated event with no identified threat to the community,” state police said.

No additional details are available at this time amid the ongoing investigation, police said.

Brian Crossman had joined the Pawlet Select Board this year, where he served as a liaison to buildings and development and to the town’s highway department, according to the town’s website.

Flowers were left in his honor at the Pawlet Town Hall ahead of a board meeting Tuesday night, Albany, New York, ABC affiliate WTEN reported.

Pawlet Select Board Chair Mike Beecher remembered him as a “friend and neighbor” and a “hardworking community member.”

“This tragedy that struck him and his family has also hit our community hard, and we are shaken and grieving,” Beecher said in a statement Tuesday. “Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this devastating loss. The town of Pawlet will work to get through this as we always get through hard times, by supporting each other and doing our best to carry on.”

Pawlet, a town of about 1,400 people, is located in western Vermont on the New York state line.

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