Harris proposes brightening Chinatown
By Gordon Y.K. Pang, Star-BulletinChinatown would be jazzed up under a proposal by Mayor Jeremy Harris to loosen laws and guidelines governing signs, outdoor lighting and land-use permits.
The Downtown-Chinatown Task Force, made up of business and community groups, backs the changes, but the Outdoor Circle objects to more signs.
The key changes proposed:
Allow more than two signs on ground floors provided they meet total permitted sign area; allow an additional wall or floor sign for building identification up to 24 square feet, and allow projecting signs up to 6 feet square for second-floor establishments.
The Department of Land Utilization will hold a workshop on the proposal at 10 a.m. tomorrow in the sixth-floor conference room of the Honolulu Municipal Building.
The city Planning Commission will hear the matter at 1:30 p.m. next Wednesday. The commission will make a recommendation to the City Council, which would then decide.
Land Use Director Jan Sullivan said the changes would brighten the oldest part of the city and reinforce Chinatown's historic and ethnic heritage.
Get off Kakaako site by July 1,
By Gordon Y.K. Pang, Star-Bulletin
state tells cityThe city has received a July 1 deadline to vacate 13 acres in Kakaako to make way for the state redevelopment of the waterfront park area.
But Mayor Jeremy Harris' chief of staff says the deadline is "unreasonable and unrealistic" and could hinder such city services as refuse collection.
For years, the city has used the three parcels as a base yard for its public works, transportation services and park operations.
But in 1992, then-Gov. John Waihee ordered the city to move within two years to make way for an entertainment and commercial zone.
This September, the Hawaii Community Development Authority rejected the city's request to stay in Kakaako for another three years and told acting Executive Director Jan Yokota to set a deadline for eviction.
The city asked for 30 days to come up with a new relocation plan.
Yokota, who said yesterday that she has yet to see such a plan, told the city in October that it had to be out by July 1.
The city's plan now calls for moving its bus yard in Halawa to its new Manana industrial site in Pearl City, Lee said. Some of the Kakaako facilities would then move to Halawa, the rest to Manana.
Privatizing has social costs, Cayetano says
Government should look at the social costs of privatization and not only the cost savings, Gov. Ben Cayetano told Pacific island leaders at a regional conference on privatization at the Ilikai Hotel yesterday."Government's fundamental mission is to do good, not to make a profit," he said.
As an example, Cayetano said custodians for a private company may get only the minimum wage. State custodians, on the other hand, are not paid a lot of money, but do make a decent living.
Cayetano said privatization is only part of the answer to downsizing state government.
But the governor said he is looking at privatizing some state functions, including the airports, tax collection and prisons.
New Zealand's former Deputy Prime Minister Jim McLay, the conference's keynote speaker, said privatizing many government services there created a budget surplus, lowered taxes, increased economic growth and helped create new jobs.
Maui Mayor Linda Lingle, a leader in efforts to privatize government services, was to speak at the conference today.
Coast Guard checking on silent weather buoy
The Coast Guard cutter Washington, with a National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration technician aboard, left yesterday to check on a buoy that stopped sending oceanographic and meteorological data Nov. 19.Officials believe equipment may have been stolen from the buoy, 222 miles northwest of Lihue. The buoy was installed Nov. 16 to replace one that had been destroyed by thieves.
The cutter is expected to return to its Sand Island base tomorrow, weather permitting.
See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
See our [Info] section for subscription information.
Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffBoy beaten unconscious; Ewa Beach teen arrested
Police arrested an Ewa Beach boy last night for allegedly beating another teen unconscious.The assault took place at 9:45 p.m. after an argument between the boys, police said.
They said the 17-year-old suspect slammed the victim's head into a wall twice. He then allegedly punched and kicked the victim, knocking him unconscious.
The injured boy was treated and released from St. Francis-West Hospital.
Kaaawa man found dead in Kanenelu Beach waters
A Kaaawa man was found dead in shallow water yesterday near Kanenelu Beach.The man, 41, was found at 2:51 p.m. wearing his fins, snorkel and mask, police said.
Waianae woman chased man with knife, police say
Police yesterday arrested a Waianae woman for allegedly attacking her former boyfriend with a steak knife.The suspect, 32, went to the man's home on Hokupaa Street and refused to leave at 7:50 a.m., police said. The Waianae man, 31, has a temporary restraining order on the woman.
The woman then found a steak knife in the yard and chased the man, police said. The victim then closed the door on the suspect. The woman then stabbed the door.
The woman climbed through a bedroom window and tried to attack the victim again, police said.
She was arrested for first-degree burglary, first-degree terroristic threatening and a violation of the temporary restraining order.
Kona man tries robbery, later tries suicide
KAILUA-KONA - A 39-year-old Kona man is in stable condition at Kona Hospital after an attempted robbery followed by an incident in a supermarket, police said.At 5:30 p.m. yesterday, police found the suspect in Sack 'n Save Foods holding a knife to his neck. The store was evacuated.
The suspect made a cut on his throat and several severe cuts to his wrists, police said. Police tried to talk him into dropping the knife, but he fled to a Bank of Hawaii branch at the store, which was also evacuated. Police finally disarmed him.
Police then learned that, at 11:45 a.m. at Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park, the suspect had demanded the keys to the rental car of a 71-year-old New York man.
When the man refused, a struggle followed in which the man's 70-year-old wife pounded on the suspect, police said.
The suspect pulled a large knife while a tourist from Alaska and her daughter from Washington state tried to aid the couple, police said.
Park employees arrived, questioned the suspect and then released him, police said.
See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
See our [Info] section for subscription information.
