Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Tuesday, December 9, 1997

Cayetano to request $6 million
for commercial fishing village

By Craig Gima, Star-Bulletin

Gov. Ben Cayetano will ask the state Legislature for $6 million in special funds to develop a commercial fishing village at Honolulu Harbor.

State Harbors Administrator Thomas Fujikawa says the showcase for the local fishing industry at Piers 36, 37 and 38 is a top issue of the Cayetano administration.

The governor announced plans for the facility two months ago. The 16.5-acre site would be turned into a hub where boats could unload their catch to be sold at auction and where wholesalers and retailers could also set up shop. Cayetanoalso sees the auction as a tourist attraction.

The state plans to relocate the United Fishing Agency auction and fishing businesses from Kewalo Basin to Pier 38.

The state hopes construction on the fishing village will be under way at this time next year and the facility will be completed by the fall of 1999. The $6 million will be used to build a new concrete pier apron along the makai end of Pier 38, for roadways, utilities and for the construction of common areas.

Businesses will negotiate lease rents with the state and will be responsible for their own construction costs. A private management company will probably handle maintenance of common areas.

Aiea Sugar Mill set to be torn down,
but residents hope to save it

By Pat Omandam, Star-Bulletin

Jane Nakayama has lived in Aiea since 1933, and she believes the best part of the view from her home will be gone without the Aiea Sugar Mill.

Nakayama, 90, said the mill and its landmark smokestack are the last remnants of Aiea's agricultural past. Without them, residents will lose the very thing that built the neighborhood, she said.

Nakayama and other members of the Friends of the Aiea Sugar Mill today were expected to publicly oppose demolition of the mill. The group is proposing plans instead for a center that combines historic and cultural attributes of the mill, with the mill serving as a gathering place for the young and old.

Crazy Shirts Hawaii is owner of the 19-acre mill site. Crazy Shirts project consultant Joel Criz said yesterday that workers will likely begin demolition within two weeks, near Christmas Day, after work is complete on the removal of asbestos from a furnace within the structure.

"The concept is ... nice...," Criz said, "Its just that we've waited a year and a half for something to happen. He (Raltson) had to make a decision that sooner or later, unless the city or state or someone was going to come up with some money, he had to tear it down," Criz said.

It will take between 10 days to two weeks to bring down the 100-year-old mill, an old maintenance building and a hollow-tile building behind the mill.

It will take an extra three or four weeks to clear the rubble from the lot.

There was discussion that the stone foundation of the smokestack may be saved, but that proved impractical. Criz said the smokestack is no longer structurally sound and must be leveled.

Bishop representatives to discuss lease policy

KONA - Bishop Estate Big Island representatives Robert Lindsey and Rick Robinson will answer questions about the estate's lease policies at a Kona Farmers Alliance meeting tomorrow.

The two-hour meeting at the Kona Marshalling Yard on Kuakini Highway in Honalo begins at 7 p.m. South Kona leasehold farmers, entering into the renegotiation period for lease rent, are concerned that Bishop Estate intends to exercise its option to charge 4 percent per year of the "fair market value of comparable unimproved fee simple land."

That would increase annual lease rent to $1,800 per acre as compared to the current range of $125-$175 per acre, says Gus Brocksen of the Kona Farmers Alliance.

U.S. grant will establish Hawaii career centers

A $1.5 million U.S. Department of Labor grant will launch Hawaii's convenient and comprehensive One-Stop Career Center System next year.

Gov. Ben Cayetano has asked the four counties to establish local work force development boards to oversee local implementation of the system. The first center is expected to go into operation on the Big Island.

Over three years, Hawaii will receive a total of $4,005,000 for this initiative. Oahu and Maui will get centers in the second year, and Kauai's center will open in the third year.

Bennie Atkinson picked as next SHOPO leader

Bennie Atkinson, a police lieutenant in the Windward Oahu patrol district, has been elected president of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers.

Atkinson, who served as the union's president in 1994-95, beat out incumbent Ray Ancheta, John Souza, David Yomes and Kauai's Clayton Arinaga.

Dennis Kunitake was elected vice president. Other officers are Wayne Cambra, secretary, and George Yamamoto, treasurer.

The at-large directors are William Kato, James Kawakami and Loren Andrade.

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

Firefighter remorseful
over armored car robbery

By Linda Hosek, Star-Bulletin

The man who robbed an armored car Friday afternoon in Waikiki was a firefighter and family man who acted in a bizarre way for a few minutes, his attorney says.

Clarence K. Sardinha feels terrible remorse for the incident in which he allegedly hit a security guard with a tire iron, Michael Green, his attorney, said yesterday after Sardinha's first court appearance.

"There was obviously something terribly, terribly wrong," Green said, but declined to discuss what caused Sardinha to rob an armored car in front of the Sheraton-Waikiki Hotel.

Sardinha likely will plead not guilty Thursday at his detention hearing, but will not pursue a trial, Green said.

Sardinha's relatives declined comment, but several said "Love you, Clarence" as he left the courtroom.

Federal prosecutors have charged Sardinha with allegedly interfering with interstate commerce by using physical violence to rob the armored car. The offense carries up to 20 years in prison.

2nd suspect nabbed in hit-for-hire case

Police yesterday arrested a Kakaako man who was allegedly involved with hiring an undercover police officer to kill a rival gang member.

The suspect, 47, is the second man arrested in connection with the murder-for-hire plan to kill a 24-year-old man.

After learning about the plan, the Honolulu Police gang detail sent an undercover officer posing as a "hit man," police said.

The suspects were later led to believe the hit had been carried out.

The suspect has no previous record, police said.

The other suspect, Hung Van Huynh, 37, was arrested Friday and charged for attempted first-degree murder, criminal conspiracy and firearms violations.

Man allegedly hits pregnant fiancee

Police on Sunday arrested a man who allegedly hit his 7-months-pregnant fiancee in the head with a bottle.

Police responded to the 2:09 a.m. call that the woman fell to the ground at their Kalihi home. A witness later said he saw the man hit the woman with a bottle, police said. The suspect was then arrested at the hospital.

The victim, who was treated and released, says that she fell.

Pearl City resident beaten and stunned

Police are searching for a man who allegedly beat and used a stun gun on a Pearl City resident yesterday.

The suspect knocked on the door at about 10:30 a.m. yesterday at the victim's Kaahele Street home, police said. When the resident, 53, answered the door, the suspect allegedly pulled out a handgun.

The victim was able to take away the suspect's handgun following a struggle, police said. The suspect then allegedly beat and stunned the victim.

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