The cozy dive Idini’s has had a new owner since last October but still suffers from the same old problem—running afoul of the Maui County Department of Liquor Control. And the LC seems just about out of patience.
Still holding a temporary liquor license, owner Dana Luahiwa and her attorney Steven Songstad appeared before the Board of Adjudication on May 5 on three charges stemming from Idini’s over-serving a regular customer who ended up getting into a car accident. The case was eerily similar to the one that came before the board last Oct. 14. That accident had ended in a fatality and ultimately cost then-owner Bob Idini his license.
“This seems to be Idini’s business as usual,” Prosecuting Attorney Angela Hedge told the Board. Acknowledging that Lauhiwa managed to get into trouble while still holding a temporary permit, Hedge added that, “This is when they’re supposed to be on their toes.”
Pleading not guilty to the charges, Luahiwa and Songstad at first asked for a continuance. After listening to Songstad say he’d only been on the case for a couple weeks and got confused about one of the witnesses the prosecution intended to call, the Board noted that Luahiwa had known about the case since March and angrily rejected any delay.
“The reason we’re having this discussion [is that] we see it as you failing to do your job properly on time,” Board Chairman Shigeto “Mustard” Murayama told Songstad. “You’re delaying our ability to address this issue.”
But after a 10 minute break that stretched into 20 minutes, Songstad came back with a settlement offer: Luahiwa would plead guilty in exchange for the prosecution dropping the third charge—illegally allowing a drunk in the premises. Hedge quickly agreed, though she promised that if Idini’s was caught over-serving again her department would ask for a license revocation.
Still, the Board seemed almost disappointed that they weren’t going to slam the door on Idini’s new owner. After fining the bar $2,000 for each of the remaining charges, Murayama made a statement.
“The Board did discuss suspension and revocation,” he told Luahiwa. “It’s not a threat, but something we want you to take into serious consideration.”
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