Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Wednesday, June 18, 1997

Store ceilings in Kaimuki
building fall; no one hurt

By Star-Bulletin staff

Some store ceilings in a Kaimuki building at 3566 Harding Ave., which houses The Black Tie Affair store, collapsed at 8:45 a.m. today.

Firefighters said people were temporarily trapped in the building when its front portion fell.

There were no injuries, firefighters said, and occupants were able to exit from the back.

"We had to clear a way for one female to come out of the tuxedo rental shop," said Fire Capt. Wes Cambra.

Rescuers had to break the glass of the top half of the door, and the store sales clerk climbed down a ladder to get out.

The Black Tie Affair is at the site of the old Hong Kung restaurant, next to Territorial Savings & Loan. Damage at the shop and two other adjacent businesses may shut the building down for a while, Cambra said.

Cayetano will lobby
for carrier at Pearl

An aircraft carrier hasn't called Pearl Harbor its home port since World War II. But if Gov. Ben Cayetano has his way, one will.

His rationale: A carrier's crew of 3,000 plus the ship's air wing personnel of 2,500 to 3,000 would be a major boost for the isles' weak economy.

The carrier's maintenance would also provide work for the naval shipyard. The combined annual salaries for a carrier's crew and air wing are roughly $250 million, said a Pacific Fleet spokesman.

Cayetano will be in Washington next week to lobby Navy and Defense Department officials. He will lead a delegation of business, community and political leaders, including Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris.

"We have put together a presentation that we are going to make to the Defense Department for them to station more ships here, and one of them is a carrier," Cayetano said yesterday.

Currently, there are 41 ships, of which 24 are submarines, that are assigned to Pearl Harbor.

Having a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at Pearl Harbor could mean having additional ships based at Pearl Harbor. A carrier attack group has eight to 10 ships, but they may not all have the same home port.

Agreement near
on Big Isle contracts

HILO -- After three hours of informal, closed-door meetings yesterday, all sides were close to an agreement on private contractors performing public work.

But Circuit Judge Riki May Amano said she wanted to speak with United Public Workers chief Gary Rodrigues about an agreement. She said she would order Rodrigues and union attorney Herbert Takahashi to be present at 5 p.m. today.

"The judge calls; you appear," Rodrigues responded after the session.

The union, Hawaii County and about 50 private contractors are wrestling with the effects of a state Supreme Court decision on the Kona landfill.

Following an appeal by the union, the high court ruled that the county has improperly employed a contractor to run the landfill since 1993. Civil service employees should be doing the job because they "customarily and historically" did similar work before 1993, the court said.

Hawaii County has asked Amano to clarify which of hundreds of other contracts are invalid because contractors are doing work previously done by civil service employees.

In talks Saturday and yesterday, the parties worked out a three-page plan to answer the question.

"We still have some fine tuning to do," Amano announced to the parties. "There's no agreement until everybody sees something locked down in writing."

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

Suspect hunted
in another robbery

A man wanted in connection with two bank robberies last month is also a suspect in a heist yesterday.

FBI investigators said a man believed to be Wallace Silva, 43, was fleeing from Bank of Hawaii's Kapahulu branch on a bicycle when a dye pack inserted with the stolen cash exploded. Silva is still at large, and no arrests have been made in the case.

The robber entered the bank at 727 Kapahulu Ave. at 11:55 a.m. and presented a demand note to a teller indicating he had a weapon, although none was seen.

Silva has been charged with the May 29 robbery of Bank of Hawaii's Discovery Bay branch and is suspected of robbing Bank of America's Kapiolani branch on May 27, the FBI said.

Police seek woman
in arson case

Police are looking for a 31-year-old woman who is suspected of setting fire to a Waimanalo home.

Police said a 27-year-old victim saw the suspect, a woman she knew, outside her Mekia Place home yesterday.

The victim told police that the suspect was holding a gallon milk container filled with some type of flammable liquid. The woman poured the liquid and set fire to the victim's home, causing an estimated $8,000 in damages to the home and a car, police said.

Youth picks wrong
area to steal car

Police arrested a 19-year-old man yesterday for allegedly attempting to steal a car in a Waipahu neighborhood where two police detectives live.

Police said Detective Kent Chu, a black belt in karate, saw the suspect breaking into a car across the street from his house.

Police said Chu ran after and tackled the man, while another neighbor, Detective John Cheong, helped hold the man until officers arrived.

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

• Cops get 2nd man in car hijacking
• Fisherman's body found off Pier 15
• Police trying to ID skeleton in crater

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