Busy news afternoon. Every person who has something to do with stopping the rail project seems to be holding a press conference. Our Honolulu reporter-host, Nick Grube, sends in this dispatch: 

Former Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano says he’s not surprised that the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the city should not have begun construction. 

“I feel vindicated,” he said.

“We have been saying this all along. We have been saying that (the) archeological study has to be done thoroughly and not in segments because that affects the route. And they’ve denied it. And now the highest court in our state has ruled and there’s no other option for them.”

Meantime, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation has asked the city to stop construction — and if attorney David Frankel doesn’t hear back from the city by 8 a.m. Monday, he plans to get a court order forcing the city to stop.

Frankel and his co-counsel added that their lawsuit it isn’t about being for rail or against rail. It’s about being for the Iwi. 

Paulette Kaleikini, the plaintiff in the case, had this to say about the rail project’s future: ”I doubt it’s going to make it. It’s probably that they’re going to run into the iwi kupuna.”

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