A subdued Duane Staggs admitted shame and regret for gunning down his boss, Don Mike Gillis, on Sept. 28 when he sat in a truck with Staggs' wife near the USS Arizona Memorial. Man gets 20 years
for killing boss"All I can do is take full responsibility," Staggs said yesterday before U.S. District Judge David Ezra, who sentenced the 29-year-old Kailua resident with a history of drugs, violence and crime to the maximum term of 20 years and two months.
If the defense wins an appeal of the sentence, it could drop to 15 years, based on the plea agreement with the government.
Staggs' apology, read with no emotion, was overshadowed by the sharp plea for justice by Gillis' widow, Sandy, the only person from dozens of victim supporters allowed to give a statement.
She described her husband, who was a supervisor at Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co., as a man who loved life "who was not ready to leave us."
She said grief over Gillis' death was unbearable and that all members of her family were scarred for life.
Gov. Ben Cayetano and union leaders yesterday signed a four-year teachers contract that will raise the starting salary of public schoolteachers by nearly $3,800, to $29,204 a year. Teachers, governor sign
4-year teacher contract"Raising the professional stature of our teachers with a significant salary increase, plus giving our children more learning time in the classroom are major steps forward for improving education in Hawaii," Cayetano said.
Cayetano also signed into law eight appropriation bills for pay increases for educators, University of Hawaii professors and other state employees. All take effect July 1.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffPolice arrested a man last night for allegedly breaking into the Waipahu Police Substation. Man arrested trying
to steal police bikePolice said that shortly after midnight, they caught the suspect, who has no age or local address listed, inside the police station trying to take a police bicycle.
Police took the man to St. Francis- West Hospital for observation.
