Red Cross has 31 ready to aid battered islands
The Red Cross has 31 people on standby in Hawaii and on the mainland to provide relief to the islands of Saipan, Rota and Tinian, which were hit by Typhoon Keith yesterday.Typhoon Keith lashed the Northern Mariana Islands, but authorities reported no injuries in the Western Pacific island chain 3,300 miles west of Hawaii.
Keith packed winds of up to 220 mph when it passed between the islands of Rota and Tinian. On Rota, high winds ripped tin roofs off government buildings and houses, leaving 13 families homeless.
Thirteen Red Cross workers, including four from Hawaii, are now in Guam trying to get a flight to Saipan.
Kahele re-elected head of Teamsters Local 996
Mel Kahele was re-elected president of the Hawaii Teamsters Local 996 over the weekend.Kahele was appointed to the $78,000-a-year presidency of the 5,700-member union in September 1996, replacing Mike Chambrella, who died of cancer.
Also elected to the Teamsters executive board for three-year terms with Kahele were Feliciano Ramos, vice president; Ron Kozuma, secretary-treasurer; Mark Romomua, recording secretary; and Jose "Bob" Bruno, Sonny Dudoit and Doris Gayer, trustees.
Exhibit traces history of 442nd combat team
A new exhibit tracing the history of the 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team is now open at the U.S. Army Museum at Fort DeRussy.Guy Koga, spokesman for the Sons & Daughters, said new photos from personal collections of World War II veterans are included in the exhibit, which will be on display through July.
Graulty advises N.J. governor on insurance
The high cost of automobile insurance has been a dominant issue in New Jersey's heated gubernatorial election, spurring Gov. Christine Todd Whitman's staff to call Hawaii Insurance Commissioner Rey Graulty for help.A Whitman aide -- not a campaign person -- called Graulty twice, asking Graulty what Hawaii has done to reduce auto insurance premiums.
There were two calls, each 10 to 15 minutes long, and the first came about four weeks ago, Graulty said.
"They knew they were in trouble a month ago," Graulty added. Graulty noted that national and New Jersey Democrats believe they have a good shot at knocking off Whitman, touted as a Republican rising star during her first term, in tomorrow's election.
"I just looked at it as New Jersey, which has the highest premiums, asking what the state with the second highest has done to reduce premiums," Graulty said.
Doctor to run
HONOKAA, Hawaii -- Dr. Fred Holschuh of Honokaa has announced that he will run next year for the northern Big Island state Senate seat now held by fellow Democrat Malama Solomon of Kohala.Holschuh, 56, the founder of Hawaii Emergency Physicians Associated in 1971, said he is motivated by what he sees in emergency rooms.
"A great deal of what we see in terms of violence, substance abuse, suicides, depression and human suffering stems from the broader social problems of poverty, lack of jobs, personal despair and hopelessness so many of our people feel," Holschuh said.
Holschuh is also chairman of the Hawaii Medical Association's prison health committee.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffMissing sailboat trio picked up on Lanai
The Coast Guard today located three Oahu residents who were aboard a disabled 28-foot sailing boat, on Lanai's northwestern tip.The three men -- ages 53, 39 and 30 -- were on the beach and in good condition, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Sarah Foster-Snell.
The men and a dog, spotted about 8:30 a.m. by a search helicopter, was taken aboard the cutter Assateague and were to arrive at Maui's Maaalea Harbor before noon. The Hana Howe, a Lahaina-based boat, had a hole in its hull and was beached.
The Coast Guard began searching for the boat yesterday after receiving a report that it had a broken sail and was experiencing engine problems.
Construction worker hurt in fall from ladder
A 33-year-old construction worker was injured this morning when he fell about 8 feet at a job site at 1270 Ala Moana.The man was climbing a ladder when he fell, said Donald Gates, chief of operations for the city's Emergency Medical Services. He was taken to Queen's Hospital, where he was in stable condition.
Kailua home destroyed in afternoon fire
Investigators last night were sifting through the ashes of a Kailua home that was destroyed by a midafternoon blaze.No one was hurt in the fire that swept through the three-bedroom house at 549 Maluniu St. yesterday, said Kailua Fire Capt. Mike Benedetti.
Firefighters had the blaze under control about 30 minutes after the 3:22 p.m. alarm. Damage to the structure was set at $120,000.
Three occupants of the house were not home when the fire broke out, Benedetti said.
Waipahu man arrested in Pearlridge knifing
Police arrested an 18-year-old Waipahu man for attempted murder for allegedly cutting another man with a knife following an early-morning altercation yesterday at a Pearlridge restaurant.A 36-year-old Pearl Harbor man sustained a minor neck cut in the 1:43 a.m. incident outside Denny's Restaurant, police said.
Although the suspect told investigators he took out the knife to protect himself, witnesses reported he followed the victim out of the restaurant after an altercation, grabbed him and held a knife to his neck, police said.
Police capture suspect in Waianae burglary
Burglary charges are pending against a man, 24, who was arrested at 5:30 a.m. yesterday shortly after a Waianae resident reported that an intruder stole her purse.The suspect has six prior burglary convictions, police said.
The woman, 20, awoke to find a man in her bedroom going through her purse. He then fled from the home with the purse.
Halloween didn't spark criminal activity
Honolulu police investigated two second-degree robberies and an equal number of burglaries, auto theft, and second-degree theft cases from 3:30 p.m. Friday through 7 a.m. Saturday."It was a normally busy Friday but nothing attributed directly to Halloween activities," said Lt. Robert Naylor.
Police also investigated one first-degree terroristic threatening case and a second-degree assault complaint, Naylor said.
In other news . . .
LIHUE -- A Kauai man, 26, died yesterday after he lost control of his vehicle and it plunged down an embankment on Kuamoo Road. Police said Phillip C. Morris died from injuries suffered in the single-car crash about 1:30 a.m. Speed was a factor, police said.
Dorothy May Balga, 34, of Paradise Park subdivision, and another woman whose name was not released, suffered burns when the Paradise Park house where they were partying caught fire Wednesday night.
Police said the fire started during a fight when Borreta and others crashed the party.
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