Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Thursday, October 9, 1997

Magic Island has rats, too;
it's a summer thing

The rat tale is getting longer. Now the city has found a third large infestation at a popular spot.

Mark Leong, inspector for the city vector control, found 18 active burrows at Magic Island yesterday. Each burrow can house from two to a dozen rats.

Leong also inspected several banyan trees at Kapiolani Park yesterday and found evidence of heavy rat activity. He said he will recommend to the city that the private exterminator treating the Waikiki banyan near Kuhio Beach be allowed to expand his "area of control" and set bait and traps at trees in Kapiolani Park.

Leong said the recent rat sightings in Kapiolani Park and along Kalakaua Avenue are not indicative of a growing rat problem across the state.

He said his office generally sees increased rat activity during the summer because of the number of people in the parks and the amount of trash left behind, and that it's no worse than usual this time.

No promises made to Kihano,
Okamura testifies

House Majority Leader Tom Okamura said yesterday that he approached a former governor about possible jobs for former House Speaker Daniel Kihano, but never promised anything.

After speaking with Kihano, Okamura said, he approached former Gov. John Waihee about possible openings in the Waihee administration.

"I offered to go and talk to the governor," Okamura said. "(Kihano) was considering not running for re-election. I said I'll see what I could do to help."

A federal grand jury indicted Kihano in August 1996 on 23 counts stemming from an alleged scheme to divert about $27,000 in campaign funds to his personal account.

Kihano testified that he had expected a high-paying government job after he resigned from office in 1992 but did not get one, leading to his decision to "borrow" $20,000 of his campaign funds because he was broke.

The federal government alleges Kihano had no intention of paying back the money and illegally used the funds as his own.

Charges against him include money laundering, witness tampering, obstructing justice, conspiracy, mail and wire fraud and filing a false income tax return. Outside the courtroom, Kihano told reporters that Okamura had promised him a high-paying job with Waihee if he retired.

"I was in no position to guarantee anything," Okamura said. "So I'm surprised he is suggesting otherwise."

Kihano said he wasn't surprised by Okamura's statement. "Anybody would deny it," Kihano told reporters.

Waihee, who now heads the Honolulu law office of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand, said he had not offered Kihano a job. "I was not part of any deal with Danny Kihano in his giving up the speakership or anything," he said.

Economists see personal income
gaining less than thought

In another signal that Hawaii's economy remains in the doldrums, the state Council on Revenues has lowered its forecast for total personal-income growth.

Yesterday, the seven-member council of economists revised its personal-income projection for this year from 2.5 percent to 1.5 percent.

For 1998, it lowered its forecast from 3 percent to 2 percent.

Council Chairman Michael Sklarz said the reason for "ratcheting down" is an anticipated lower rate of inflation, which is now pegged at 1 percent, instead of the 2 percent rate last year.

While total personal income is an important factor in calculating the state's revenue growth, the panel's action won't have a significant effect because the lower-than-expected inflation rate was factored in when the council made its revenue forecast last month. At that time, the council forecast state revenue growth for this fiscal year at 2.5 percent.

Cash only for Stones
tickets sale tomorrow

It's cash-and-carry for Rolling Stones tickets that go on sale at 9 a.m. tomorrow at the Blaisdell Center box office.

Cash only is accepted for purchase of tickets. The box office is a Connection Ticket Outlet, and all outlet service charges will apply.

The center actually will open at 7 a.m. tomorrow, and random tokens will be distributed at 8 a.m. Ticket buyers arriving after 8 a.m. will be issued a consecutive token to hold their place in line.

Parking is available in the main parking lot only. Cars parked in box office parking before 9:45 a.m. are subject to removal.

For all other ticket purchases tomorrow, a special telephone line, 595-2211, will be available to buyers. There will be additional windows for ticket buyers for Blaisdell Center events. Parking for Blaisdell Center ticket buyers is available in box office parking after 9:45 a.m.

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

Man charged in Waikiki
drive-by purse snatching

Police charged a 21-year-old Hawaii Kai man yesterday with attempted murder and robbery after an alleged drive-by purse-snatching in which the victim was run over.

Police said a 19-year-old woman from Japan was walking at Aloha Drive and Royal Hawaiian Avenue on Sept. 30 when the suspect, Kenneth Kalei Young, reached out of a moving pickup truck and grabbed the woman's purse.

The woman fell to the ground as the truck's back tires rolled over her. She was treated for injuries at Queen's Hospital.

Young, from Opihikao Place, is being held on $300,000 bail.

Man arrested for money
laundering at nightclub

Police yesterday arrested a Waipio Acres man as part of an ongoing investigation into suspected money laundering at Buffalo Bud's, a former Aloha Tower restaurant and nightclub.

The 48-year-old man is one of a group of people in a management company suspected of keeping the company's earnings from the owner and employees, police said.

Before the business closed about one month ago, a group of employees who had not been paid got into a fistfight with the restaurant's management, according to Lt. Daniel Hanagami.

The management is suspected of keeping about $800,000 in sales from the owner. Hanagami said he expects more arrests.

In other news ...

A Big Island man was killed when his pickup truck ran off the Keaau-Pahoa Road a little more than a mile outside of Keaau yesterday, police said. Randolph K. Nahoopili, 59, of Ainaloa subdivision, was driving a full-size Chevrolet pickup that crossed the center line, slid down an embankment and overturned.

Police have charged Nicholas Burns, 20, of Kailua-Kona with robbery, promoting prostitution and compensating juveniles for a crime following the robbery of a German tourist early yesterday. A boy and girl, both 17, were also arrested but released pending investigation. Burns allegedly offered the girl to the tourist, but when the man pulled out the money, Burns grabbed it and ran while the boy attacked the victim, police said.

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