By Audrey Mcavoy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HONOLULU (AP)-Hawaii’s new attorney general said Tuesday more than two dozen elders won’t be subject to another round of prosecutions for blocking a road three years ago to prevent the construction of a new telescope on a mountain summit many Native Hawaiians consider sacred. Law enforcement arrested 38 elders, mostly Native Hawaiians, during a 2019 demonstration against the Thirty Meter Telescope planned for Mauna Kea. Of these, 30 had their cases dismissed after a 2021 Hawaii Supreme Court ruling clarified the process for filing criminal complaints and said authorities had been following the incorrect procedure. Attorney General Anne Lopez had the option to refile charges but said it wasn’t in the best interest of Hawaii’s people to continue to prosecute the kupuna, or elders.

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