Fixture at Disney’s Polynesian resort
A longtime Walt Disney World worker who greeted guests at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort with handmade leis and sometimes gave hula lessons has died. Kau’I Brandt — known to many people as Aunty Kau’I — was 87.
Brandt, born in 1932 Hawaii, began working at Disney World as part of the opening-day staff in 1971. It was supposed to be a threemonth luau gig in Florida after working for a summer at Disneyland. She ended up working at the Polynesian for decades.
“We are all deeply saddened by the passing of Auntie Kau’I, a longtime cast member and Hawaiian icon who brought happiness to millions throughout the years as she took such joy in immersing guests in Polynesian culture,” Josh D’Amaro, president of Walt Disney World, said in a statement Friday.
Eventually, Brandt’s job title at the Poly became
“cultural ambassador.” She met incoming guests with fresh-flower leis and grass skirts, entertaining the youngest guests.
“If the kids are happy, the parents are happy,” she told the Sentinel in 2009.
She was born during a lightning storm. Her mother named her Kauihealani — or “thundering voice of heaven.” A key event in her young life was
Wooten’s ruling.
Prosecutors at Friday’s hearing argued Rivera could pay the $350,000 bond, citing tools and other items he can sell for thousands of dollars along with past statements by Rivera of having “$20,000 to $25,000” available for him, which Rivera said was a misunderstanding.
Bankowitz argued Rivera can’t use his Hixon Avenue home as collateral because the property is under his wife’s name. She was arrested for tampering with evidence and lying to authorities about Montalvo’s killing and has since been released.
State lawyers also mentioned bank accounts from Global Mission Outreach, a nonprofit the Orlando Sentinel previously reported is tied to the Rivera family’s mission trips to Ecuador, many of which have been on behalf of Cornerstone
male medical students and residents that have been told to leave for the pelvic exam, who have been ignored during your OB/GYN rotation while the girls get to do all the learning. No more!!! Walk into that room with confidence! Show interest to your attending. You may never get another chance to learn this critical part of medicine! Don’t blow it. Stand up for yourself.”
During the interview in December, Feldman said, “The goal of the post was really to encourage men to actually take better interest in gynecological training. … It was never meant to say, obviously, make the woman uncomfortable to get your training. That’s not something that I believe at all.”
“[The post] has had ramifications that I never imagined,” he said.
He also said he was remorseful about his online posts and that he would no longer endorse products.
Feldman has since taken down his Twitter and Instagram accounts, but his YouTube channel is still active.
He did not respond to a the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, while sitting on her mother’s roof in a town near Pearl Harbor, she told the Sentinel in 2014.
“My mom told me, ‘It’s war. Get off the roof.’ I said, ‘What’s war?’ We didn’t know what war was. But, we learned. It was a tough time,” she said.
Years later, after learning to hula, she was recruited to be in a show at Disneyland. She said she turned it down multiple times.
“I’ve always heard once you leave Hawaii, you never go back,” she said. “And I guess it’s true because we left Hawaii for the summer of 1971, came up here to Florida only to help them open up the Polynesian Resort, and here I am.”
Family Church in St. Cloud, run by town mayor and Pastor Nathan Blackwell.
Rivera told prosecutors the nonprofit’s account may have about $1,000, but the money is managed by his son, Nicholas Rivera, who was arrested on eight counts of possessing child porn after the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office labeled him a person of interest in Montalvo’s death.
Bankowitz declined to comment on Carsten’s decision following the hearing, but told reporters he has to speak with Rivera’s family before determining when Rivera can be released from jail, if at all. The State Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff ’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rivera’s trial is scheduled for Feb. 10. request for comment on Friday.
AdventHealth has responded to most of the criticism on Twitter with comments such as, “Dr. Feldman’s social media is not a reflection of our values or standards. Though details of all cases remain confidential, we are conducting an investigation into this matter. We remain committed to cultivating an environment of safety & trust among our patients & community.”
On Friday, AdventHealth told the Orlando Sentinel in a statement, “Residents receive training on social media best practices and online professionalism. We also provide mandatory training for all team members throughout the year on a variety of topics, including education on our social media and privacy practices. A previously scheduled module on social media will continue as planned for 2020, and we continue to evaluate opportunities for further education.”