Stories to watch in Honolulu today
The program is being proposed to allow the city to replace aging equipment, including 141 police vehicles, trucks, computers and copiers for various departments, said Budget Director Malcolm Tom.
Instead of paying the entire cost of the equipment up front, the city would pay yearly lease installments. At the end of the payment periods, the city would keep the equipment.
While the total price for the program would be $17.2 million, the city would pay only $4.36 million in the coming year while getting full use of the equipment, Tom said yesterday.
The remaining $12.8 million would be paid over the next three to seven years, depending on the type of equipment.
How much more the city would spend under the program was not revealed during Tom's presentation to the Budget Committee yesterday, and Council members did not ask.
Tom later said the cost difference isn't immediately available. He said, however, the amount isn't that much because of the money saved by not paying the full cost immediately. That amount could be invested in certificates bearing interest close to the interest charged under the leases.
Danette Rayford of Nanakuli said Cayetano spurned her appeal to quash his April 15 eviction deadline and refused to let the squatters remain on the beach until January, when a proposed study of Makua's homeless population is to be completed.
Cayetano told her that a 10-month delay would be too long, Rayford said.
Cayetano, however, promised to meet with state welfare and housing officials "to assess" the situation, she said.
The proposed study of homelessness at Makua Beach is incorporated into a resolution that was to be heard today at a Senate Housing Committee hearing.
Introduced by Sen. James Aki, whose Waianae coast district includes Makua Beach, the resolution asks the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Hawaii Housing Authority to determine the squat
ters' job and income status and if they have any public assistance.
The study would also seek to determine what would happen to the squatters if they cannot find alternative shelters.
The spending plan, submitted to the County Council Friday, does not include tax or fee increases and would not bring layoffs or furloughs. But the proposal does not account for collective bargaining increases, a problem that has stalled budget considerations in the Honolulu City Council and could affect other counties.
An arbitration panel earlier this month granted a 7.2 percent pay raise to firefighters in all four Hawaii counties over the next two years. If other unions receive similar increases, Kauai would face an estimated $2.5 million more in expenditures.
"If that's the case, we're going to have to look at everything again," said county Finance Director Wally Rezentes.
The budget already includes cuts in a student youth work program, an internship program and the school bus system.
Warren S. Nakamura was treated and released from Queen's Hospital on March 10 after being assaulted at 7:10 p.m. at Maunakea and S. Beretania streets. Witnesses told police Nakamura was beaten and kicked by two men, who may have also robbed him.
On Friday, a police officer found Nakamura lying on the sidewalk near Kukui and Maunakea streets. Nakamura was taken to Queen's Hospital and transferred to Kuakini Hospital, where he died. He had sustained severe head injuries.
Just before being found by the officer, Nakamura was seen arguing with a woman, about 6 feet tall and wearing a white shirt and dark pants.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detectives Stephen Dung (529-3166) or Michael Tsuda (529-3436) or CrimeStoppers (955-8300).
Wallace Lee Jr., 32, was expected in District Court today to face charges in a car theft Sunday.
An officer saw a black Nissan Pathfinder speeding in the airport area Sunday and followed it to the Plaza Hotel. He saw a male driver and his female passenger getting out of the car.
A check of the plates revealed they belonged to a red Honda. A check of the Pathfinder's vehicle identification number showed it had been reported stolen from Kaiser Moanalua that day.
The officer found the driver in a hotel restroom and arrested him for auto theft. The woman could not be found.
Later that day, someone reported using the same restroom and finding two credit cards and a set of car keys that fell from a towel dispenser.
The credit cards and keys apparently had been stolen from cars in Sand Island, police said. A witness reported a man in a black Nissan searching another car that day in Sand Island.
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