Rhonda Loo News Today

Maui Economic Opportunity’s Board of Directors voted and swore in officers for the 2023-24 year on July 7, with installing officer retired Judge Rhonda Loo gi

The Maui Economic Opportunity’s Board of Directors appointed officers for the 2023-24 fiscal year, with Judge Rhonda Loo symbolically handing out keys to signify each member’s responsibility to the organization.

lfujimoto@mauinews.com WAILUKU — A California man arrested in an operation targeting online sexual predators was allowed to return home while his case is pending, after a $300,000 bench warrant was rescinded last month. Ryan Fu, 28, was ordered to surrender his passport to the prosecutor’s office within a week of returning to California. He also was ordered to appear by videoconference for his pretrial conference June 28 in 2nd Circuit Court. As a “geeky kind of guy” described by his at...

lfujimoto@mauinews.com WAILUKU — A Kihei man facing child sexual assault charges on Maui has agreed to be extradited to Oregon to face charges in a similar case. Lawrence Schumacher, 67, had his Maui case dismissed Friday so it wouldn’t interfere with his extradition, said Deputy Prosecutor J.W. Hupp. The dismissal was without prejudice, so the charges could be brought against Schumacher again. He was arrested in August on a Maui County grand jury warrant charging him with continuous sexual...

lfujimoto@mauinews.com WAILUKU — A man who said he didn’t know a Makena beach was closed when he went hiking and swimming there last year was acquitted of violating public health emergency rules in the pandemic. A 2nd Circuit Court jury returned verdicts Feb. 4, also finding Jamal Strom not guilty of failing to abide by posted signs designating a closed area. Strom, 49, of Lahaina asked for a jury trial after he was issued citations for the offenses May 9. “Law enforcement has been a litt...