Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Saturday, May 24, 1997

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State Fair donkey dive
draws lawsuit, protest

By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
A donkey named Smokey dives from a 30-foot-high
platform at the opening of the 50th State Fair Friday
night at Aloha Stadium. Animal Rights Hawaii
has filed a suit to stop the act, saying it is
unnatural and dangerous. There were demonstrators
with protest signs at the dive Friday night.

Trustees, Kamehameha alumni
meet, but differences unresolved

Concerns of Kamehameha Schools alumni remained unresolved after they met for less than an hour today with two Bishop Estate trustees over management of the Kapalama Heights campus.

But Roy Benham, spokesman for the group of Kamehameha Schools alumni, parents and supporters, said the first face-to-face meeting helped open communication between the group and trustees. He was optimistic that the sides could work out their disagreements.

"We are very hopeful our objective will be accomplished," Benham said. "We were able to continue the process of healing."

Eleven people - from the Kamehameha Schools family and Na Pua a Pauahi - met with two of the five trustees at their Kawaiahao Plaza office today. The two trustees were Chairman Richard Wong and Gerard Jervis.

Thursday, a much-anticipated meeting failed to occur between trustees and the group.

The trustees had agreed to meet with members of the group after about 500 to 600 supporters walked from the Royal Mausoleum to the Bishop Estate offices May 15 to deliver a list of concerns.

The three requests the group initially delivered to the trustees are:

To return management of the Kamehameha Schools to President Michael Chun and the principals. Critics have charged that the trustees have been taking away authority from the popular president.

To resume "talk story" sessions where parents, students and alumni can speak openly with trustees. Meetings scheduled for May 13 and May 15 were canceled.

To lift the shroud of retribution that makes Kamehameha faculty, staff and others fearful of speaking out.

Walkout closes Kam swap,
jamming traffic in area

A walkout by Consolidated Theatres employees closed the swap meet at the Kam Drive Theaters Saturday, causing a traffic jam and leaving hundreds of buyers and sellers in the lurch.

No employees showed up to open the theater at 5 a.m. or run the concessions, Consolidated president Phil Shimmin said.

By midmorning, traffic was backed up to Kamehameha Highway, as farmers and people waiting to get into the swap meet at Kam Drive-In Theaters sat in their cars waiting for the theater parking lot to open.

Shimmin said the walkout was unexpected because some employees showed up Friday night to run the drive-in. He said he expected the swap meet to reopen Sunday.

Tony Rutledge, financial secretary for Local 5 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union, said if the swap meet does open Sunday, groups may be there to picket, as they are at other theaters Saturday.

"As soon they open, we're going to be there," Rutledge said.

Makaha condo gets OK
to restore shoreline

A Makaha condominium threatened because of massive erosion to a bordering beach has received the go-ahead to haul in sand in an attempt to restore its shoreline.

A conservation district use application approved by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources yesterday is the first of its kind, and will allow the 454-unit Makaha Surfside to extend the beach by at least 30 feet into the ocean as an erosion-control measure.

The rocky shoreline now is about 8 feet away from the property, and the apartment already is using sandbags to prevent waves from washing onto it during rough surf and high tide, said property manager Richard Yamasaki.

"It's getting too close for comfort," he said.

Yamasaki, president of Ind-Comm Management, said he has seen between 50 and 60 feet of erosion since 1978, and felt it has escalated because hurricanes altered the ocean floor.

Makaha Surfside will have two years to complete the "beach nourishment" project. Its next step is to decide where to get the sand, with options including offshore mining or purchasing it from a quarry.

Halawa guard released
under house arrest

A Halawa Correctional Facility guard accused of possession with intent to distribute two pounds of crystal methamphetamine has been released to the custody of his sister until he is tried on July 22.

Attorney William Harrison successfully argued that 32-year-old Ben Sesepesera is not a threat to public safety or a flight risk despite argument to the contrary by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Muehleck.

U.S. Magistrate Barry Kurren placed Sesepesera under 24-hour house arrest with electronic monitoring and ordered him to sign a $100,000 unsecured signature bond. Sesepesera was placed in the custody of his older sister, Lisa Sesepesera.

Prosecutors argued that two unregistered handguns found in Sesepesera's bedroom during a search of his mother-in-law's home and the fact that he is being tried for dealing a large quantity of drugs make him a threat to public safety.

In a courtroom filled with friends and relatives, Sesepesera's mother-in-law testified that the guns were in a locked file cabinet belonging to one of her relatives.