Newswatch
Meanwhile, moves are under way to preserve the Ka Iwi shoreline at Queen's Beach, where part of the development was slated, said Mayor Jeremy Harris, City Councilman Steve Holmes and the Ka Iwi Action Council.
Harris and Holmes said they are seeking federal funding to buy Queen's Beach, as well as the area known as Golf Course 5 and 6 across Sandy Beach.
Harris said he will unveil his proposal, which may involve using fees collected at Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, at his state-of-the-city address next Thursday.
At a Ka Iwi Action Council rally yesterday morning, Harris vowed to veto any development at Ka Iwi, saying he doesn't want the Council "trading zoning for relief of the lawsuit."
Maunalua Associates, Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp. and Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate sued the city over land disputes dating to the 1980s when the city downzoned Hawaii Kai properties to prevent shoreline development.
Under a subsequent settlement proposal, the landowners were to drop their claims in return for approvals to to develop 546 acres of land on 12 parcels. Plans included 826 single-family homes, 686 multi-family units, 192,000 square feet of commercial space, 100,800 feet of business industrial space, a golf course and a 140-unit inn.
Yesterday, Council zoning chairman Donna Mercado Kim introduced a resolution to stop further development negotiations.
Kim said her measure - which is expected to win swift passage - was prompted by Harris' potential veto of any negotiated settlement.
In one case, the department spent more than $1 million to develop a highway maintenance system that was originally expected to cost $100,000, state Auditor Marion Higa said in her report released yesterday.
The project remains unfinished even though it was supposed to be completed in 1991.
The tenfold increase in the projected cost stems largely from the department's failure to follow planning methodology required by the state Department of Budget and Finance for the development of computer systems, Higa said.
"I think it's very easy for departments to want to avoid using system development methodology because it's humbug," she said. "It's very tempting to not follow it. And some of these consequences are the result of that."
Department Director Kazu Hayashida could not be reached for comment. In a Dec. 30 letter to Higa, he said the DOT concurs with many of the findings in the report and is working to correct the problems noted.
But he said some of the report's points call for "clarification."
Applicants must be Hawaii residents, U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens and age 20 or older.
They must have a high school diploma or equivalent, a valid Hawaii drivers license, and be legally eligible to carry firearms.
Officials say applications and information will be available at all police stations, satellite city halls and the city Department of Personnel through next Wednesday.
The written test for recruits will be administered March 22.
Background checks, psychological screenings, and medical and polygraph examinations may be given to those who pass the exams.
As of November 1996, HPD had 1,613 sworn officers on its force and 317 vacancies.
Starting pay for recruits is $2,481 per month plus benefits.
Some lifeguards were sent offshore to investigate while others took to high floors of the Sheraton Moana Surfrider hotel to look for the shark after a sighting yesterday off Queen's Surf Beach in Waikiki.
An off-duty city lifeguard surfing at Queen's spotted a fin about 100 yards offshore at 10:20 a.m. and notified Water Safety officials.
"We took necessary precautions because it was a confirmed sighting, and if we had seen a shark in the area acting aggressively, we would have evacuated people," said Water Safety Capt. Teene Froiseth.
A 4-foot reef shark was later spotted about a half-mile Diamond Head of Queen's.
Police don't know whether the same suspects are responsible for both incidents, which occurred within 20 minutes on the outskirts of Waikiki.
A 44-year-old woman getting out of her car in the parking lot of 1720 Ala Moana around 2 a.m. was approached by a man who stuck a revolver in her face and demanded her purse, police said. The man fled with her purse in a small black car with two other males in it.
Twenty minutes earlier at 930 McCully St., the owner of Hana Market put her purse into her car and stepped back into the store momentarily. When she returned, she confronted a man going through her purse in the car.
The man jumped into a small black car occupied by a female and parked nearby. The store owner jumped on the car's hood in an attempt to stop him from driving off as he fishtailed through the parking lot, police said.
The owner, 53, was thrown to the ground and suffered minor injuries to her elbows and knees. The couple fled with her purse.
The woman gained access to the home by asking for a glass of water, they said.
As the man got it, the woman went into his bedroom and started rummaging through his things, police said.
The man tried to stop her, but his wheelchair got stuck. The woman then began sexual contact despite the man's protests, police said. She left with his money, but was caught a block away.
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