Kumu hula's sentencing postponed to April 23
The state today asked to postpone sentencing for hula teacher Howell "Chinky" Mahoe Jr. for sexually assaulting four of his dancers, but said it would seek an extended prison term of 10 years.Deputy Prosecutor Darrell Wong said he needed to question the author of a report on treatment for sex offenders and proposed treatment for Mahoe, but the author was off-island. David Gierlach, Mahoe's attorney, said he had no objection to the delay.
Circuit Judge Wilfred Watanabe rescheduled sentencing to 10:30 a.m. April 23.
Wong said he would seek an extended term for Mahoe, doubling the five-year term for third-degree sexual assault. He said Mahoe's sentence could range from probation to 25 years.
Mahoe, 42, pleaded no contest in September to five felony counts of third-degree sexual assault and one count of fourth-degree sexual assault.
Wong said the boys, members of Mahoe's hula troupe, were between ages 9 and 14 when the incidents occurred from 1994 to 1996.
Protest has no effect on Navy sonar testing
Two environmentalists jumped into the sea yesterday near a ship to try to stop Navy sonar tests which they fear could harm humpback whales off the Big Island. The Navy said there was no disruption of tests and no arrests.The 3:30 p.m. incident occurred about 6 miles west of the Big Island when two men leaped from a boat about 200 yards from the research ship Cory Chouest, Navy spokesman Kevin Wensing said.
"There was no danger anytime for anybody in the water," Wensing said. He said the encounter took about 45 minutes to an hour before the men went back into a boat and the Cory Chouest went in a different direction.
Murder victim was moving to get away from boyfriend
The 35-year-old woman who was found slain in her Waikiki apartment Friday morning was supposed to move back to her hometown of Lebanon, Pa., in April to get away from her boyfriend, her relatives say.Jolene Shott's body was found inside her fifth-floor apartment at the Park Plaza Apartments at 1784 Ala Moana. The medical examiner's office said she died of "suffocation and strangulation."
Her 43-year-old boyfriend was booked for second-degree murder on Monday night after he surrendered to authorities at police headquarters.
"It's very tragic and horrible," said Mariella Confair, Shott's cousin. "She's a very sweet and wonderful girl that everybody loved.
"Nobody deserves to die in such a horrid fashion."
Confair described the relationship between Shott and her boyfriend as "volatile."
"I absolutely hope he doesn't get out," she said.
Confair said Shott moved to Hawaii about five years ago.
"She loved Hawaii," Confair said. "She loves warm weather, and she just absolutely loved the beach."
According to police records, the suspect resides in the apartment directly under Shott's.
Changes in climate draw experts from all walks
Banana farmer Richard Ha of Keaau listened with keen interest yesterday as scientists, and government and business leaders discussed the potentially disastrous effects of global climate change.Ha said he knew nothing about climate and weather when he was asked to address a workshop on the consequences of climate variability, where topics like El Nino, greenhouse gases and global warming were raised.
He knows, however, what a change in weather means to a farmer: He's been battling to keep his plants from dying during an El Nino-spawned drought. His farm each day uses 2.5 million gallons of water per acre.
When he decided to expand his 250-acre farm by another 250 acres two years ago, he said it was "50-50" whether to go to Oahu near the market or stay on the Big Island, with 130 inches of annual rainfall.
"It turned on water," he said. "Down the line it will be more and more difficult to get."
He didn't expect it to be so soon. Expanding in Pepeekea, he said, "I was thinking of rain, mud and getting stuck, nothing like today. xxx We have to do all kinds of stuff and be clever to survive."
He remembered the old plantation property has a flume, so he got a generator and started an irrigation system. Now he's looking into diversifying "to spread the risks" with short-term crops in case his banana trees are flattened by high winds.
The Hawaii Pacific Workshop, continuing today at the East-West Center, is one of a series of national meetings organized under the auspices of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Global Change Research Program.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffKunia Road accident injures man, woman
Traffic investigators were examining the scene of an early morning accident that left one man in critical condition and one woman in guarded condition at Queen's Hospital.The accident was reported on Kunia Road, near Farrington Highway and the H-1 freeway in Waipahu at 1:44 a.m., police said.
The northbound lane of Kunia was blocked for about three hours this morning.
No further details were available.
More witnesses sought in fire engine crash
Police are looking for more witnesses of the Feb. 23 collision between a fire engine and a motorist in Makiki.Witnesses who have not yet been interviewed by police are asked to contact vehicular homicide investigators at 529-3499.
Sgt. William Watkins says at least two motorists who were parked on the mauka side of Kewalo Street left the scene before investigators could obtain statements from them.
The collision at Wilder Avenue and Kewalo Street killed Tracey Teruya of Makiki Heights.
"Right now, indications are that the light was red (for the fire engine) but we're still not sure," Watkins said.
"We're trying to determine if her light was yellow or green."
Six boys are arrested for setting school fires
Police last night arrested six boys for allegedly setting fire to toilet dispensers and garbage cans at Kaimuki High School.The school custodian extinguished the two fires after seeing six boys in the parking lot area at about 9:15 p.m., an arson investigator said.
The custodian then went searching for the boys and found them on Date Street, police said.
The boys were booked for second-degree criminal property damage and released pending an investigation, police said.
No injuries were reported.
2 charged with fishing in restricted waters
WAILUKU -- Two Big Island men are scheduled to appear in Wailuku District Court on April 2 after being charged with fishing in restricted waters off Kahoolawe.Arrested were Jubilee Logan, 37, and Russell Tabandero, 44, both of Hilo, police said. The two were released on their own recognizance at the request of the state conservation enforcement division.
Logan and Tabandero were arrested at about 3:30 p.m. Monday allegedly while bottom fishing and anchored in the reserve.
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