Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Tuesday, September 17, 1996

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"We found that the same weaknesses in the administration of land leases reported in our 1992 audit continue today," said the auditor's summary, released yesterday.

Fundamental difficulties exist with department lease management practices, the report said. "These problems impede the ability to ensure compliance with lease provisions, overshadowing and compounding the weaknesses we identified in our previous audit.

"For example, the master lease files, which are used as the primary management reference for lease administration, are poorly organized and lack commonly used aids such as 'lease summary sheets' and 'tickler systems'."

The DLNR's response: It needs a new computer system to handle a huge workload and will seek the necessary funding in the next legislative session

Charlotte Patterson, a University of Virginia research psychologist, also said in the same-sex marriage trial that the gender roles assumed by the children appear to be conventional.

"The girls play with dolls and the boys play with trucks," said Patterson, the second expert witness for the three couples who sued the state for the right to marry.

In her first study, Patterson collected data in 1990 and 1991 on 37 families, each with one child between the ages of 4 and 9 who was born to a lesbian mother or adopted at an early age.

In her second study, she collected data in 1994 and 1995 on 55 lesbian and 25 heterosexual families who had conceived a child through a sperm bank.

Her first study shows that children have higher but normal rates of stress as well as a sense of well-being.

She said the finding may suggest children of lesbian couples experience more stress but handle it well. She also said it may suggest children don't experience more stress, but feel more secure in talking about it.

Patterson said her second study suggested parents' sexual orientation or number of parents didn't determine the child's adjustment.

She said the most well-adjusted children "were those whose parents were harmonious and had little interparental conflict."

Deputy Attorney General Rick Eichor faulted Patterson for the participants in her study and interpretation of her data.

Police/Fire


By Star-Bulletin staff

The man, who wore a full-face helmet, suffered internal and head injuries and possibly fractured legs in yesterday's crash, police said.

He was Koko Head-bound on the H-1 when he was struck from behind by a Honda Accord as he slowed in traffic just past the Pali Highway off-ramp, police said.

The man was thrown from his motorcycle into the car in front of him. Two cars following the Honda struck the sedan, causing it to strike the motorcyclist again, investigators said.

No one was hurt in the 5:03 p.m. blaze at 579 Kaimake Loop, the home of Kathy Bowles and her three children, the oldest 13. They had left about an hour before the fire, said Fire Capt. Alex Akana of the Kailua station.

Three fire companies brought the fire under control at 5:09 and extinguished it at 7:10. The cause is under investigation.

"The whole house just went up," Akana said of the single-story, three-bedroom, wooden-frame home. Although the roof remained in place, fire destroyed walls and gutted the interior, he said.

The home, owned by Donna Pagliuso, is insured, Akana said.