Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Wednesday, May 28, 1997

City targets Ewa Villages
to pay for $63.5 million loan

City Budget Director Malcolm Tom says the city plans to raise $79 million in the next 18 months from Ewa Villages to pay off a $63.5 million short-term note due in October 1998.

But City Council members say they need more than words to convince them the city can break even on the slow-moving revitalization project.

Tom told the Council Budget Committee yesterday that $78,995,000 in city proceeds could be raised by a strategic plan.

"We are confident if the plan is implemented, we can pay off the $63.5 million," Tom said.

The note was taken in 1993 as part of then-Mayor Frank Fasi's plan to revitalize Ewa Villages and prevent evictions of workers when Oahu Sugar Co. closed.

Betts jury finds
evidence 'overwhelming'

Medical evidence was crucial in convicting a 24-year-old Schofield Barracks soldier of first-degree assault in the scalding of his 3-year-old son last September.

A Circuit Court jury, which had been asked to consider an attempted-murder conviction, yesterday found Ronald A. Betts guilty of the lesser charge after deliberating about seven hours over two days.

"I think the jury felt that there was not an attempt to end the victim's life," said jury foreman David Moakley yesterday. "But we found the medical evidence overwhelming. We struggled with the (water) temperature and the duration (of time submerged), but the spared area on the buttocks was damaging evidence because that's what led us to believe it was a forced immersion."

The victim, Trevell Betts, had an area on his buttocks that was spared from serious burning, which an expert witness said indicated he was held down in the water.

Last week, Betts took the stand and admitted he was "very upset" with Trevell for spreading feces all over the bathroom but denied intentionally scalding him in the bathtub of their Mililani apartment.

Aki bribery
charge dismissed

State Sen. James Aki has been cleared of bribery allegations, and he's confident that he also will be cleared of charges of promoting gambling.

"I think things are starting to come my way," said Aki (D, Waianae), whose colleagues ousted him from the Senate presidency four years ago when his integrity and ability to lead was increasingly under fire.

Yesterday, state Ethics Commission Executive Director Daniel Mollway said the bribery charge against Aki, brought by Russell Blair, Aki's then-Senate colleague who's now a District Court judge, was dismissed for "a lack of sufficient evidence."

But Aki still faces a trial on charges that he allegedly promoted gambling and operated an illegal business on his family's Nanakuli property. A court date has not yet been set, said Aki, who faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a $20,000 fine if convicted of the two felony charges.

Prosecutors describe
gang member's death

Sam Talo was "no Boy Scout" when he was brutally beaten last Oct. 18 on Vineyard Avenue near Mayor Wright Housing. Talo, 17, was a gang member who spent his last hours drinking, cruising and fighting with rival gangsters.

Prosecutors admit that but contend Talo was "punched, kicked and pummeled" in a spasm of rage that left his skull smashed and bleeding. And they want a Circuit Court jury to convict Jedediah Kekumu, 20, Moses E. Naone, 16, and Sean Lee, 18, of second-degree murder in Talo's death. A fourth defendant, Galu Vala Solo, is charged with first-degree assault.

In opening statements yesterday, Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Takata told jurors Talo was in a taxicab with four friends when they exchanged words with a group gathered outside Mayor Wright Housing. Talo got out of the cab and allegedly challenged Kekumu to fight. The two exchanged blows and people began pouring out of the housing project, Takata said. And Talo and his friends began to run.

Takata said the state's prime witness, 16-year-old Annastacia Vailoa, will testify that she then saw Naone strike Talo twice with a metal chair while he was on the ground and Kekumu kick him in the head "like someone kicking a football." Kekumu then allegedly "clubbed" Talo with a rock.

See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
See our [Info] section for subscription information.

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Police/Fire


By Star-Bulletin staff

Three Bank of America
branches held up

Three Bank of America branches were robbed yesterday by three different men in a span of about 2-1/2 hours.

A police officer stopped a man running from the bank following the third robbery and detained him for questioning.

The man was later arrested on outstanding criminal warrants.

Police were planning to obtain a warrant to search his possessions.

The robberies occurred at 3 p.m., 5:05 p.m. and 5:10 p.m. at Bank of America branches in McCully, Kapiolani and Ala Moana Center, respectively.

A suspect entered the McCully branch at 1806 S. King St. and verbally demanded money from a teller, according to the FBI.

He left the bank and entered a waiting cab, which dropped him off at Piikoi and Young streets. He was last seen fleeing on foot near the Piikoi Arms Apartments.

The suspect in the second robbery presented a demand note to a teller at the Kapiolani branch at 1361 Kapiolani Blvd. and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash, the FBI said.

The third robber also presented a demand note to a teller at the Ala Moana Center branch.

The state has had 24 bank robberies this year.

Anyone with information about yesterday's robberies can call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or the FBI at 521-1411.

Kauai paddler
reported missing

The Coast Guard is searching for a Kauai paddler who has been missing since last night.

The man was last seen about 6 p.m. when he left Kalihiwai Bay on the north shore to paddle approximately 3 miles to Kilauea Bay.

The Coast Guard said they received a call to search for the man about 2 a.m. when he had not returned home. The man was in a gray one-man outrigger canoe with zebra stripes.

Other Police/Fire headlines
in today’s Star-Bulletin:

• Gunmen fire shots at a pickup truck
  
• Fire destroys a storage shed in Puna
  
• Two arrested in post office break-in

See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
See our [Info] section for subscription information.