By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Former Honoulu Mayor Frank Fasi and Maui Mayor
Linda Lingle spoke at the Oahu League of
Republican Women yesterday.
Fasi rips Lingle on gaming poll
Former Mayor Frank Fasi, now a Republican candidate for governor, is attacking GOP opponent, Maui Mayor Linda Lingle, saying she is distorting his record on gambling. But Fasi's latest claims don't match his own record.In a speech yesterday to the Oahu League of Republican Women, Fasi said Lingle is sponsoring a poll asking potential voters if the fact that Fasi has switched his position on legalized gambling would make them less likely to vote for him.
"The fact is I have always opposed legalized casino gambling," Fasi said.
But in his State of the City address while mayor in 1993, Fasi specifically endorsed casino gambling. Here's what he said then:
"For the past 42 years, I have opposed any form of legalized gambling in Hawaii. And for the past 33 years, since statehood, I have said 'not now -- someday in the future.'
"For me, that someday is now, today . . . I favor and will actively support legalizing casino-type gambling under strict state government control. I believe the question of casino-type gambling ought to be by referendum."
Yesterday, he said his position always was that the people should decide by a referendum vote during a statewide general election.
Lingle said she is opposed to gambling.
Suit alleges hotels chief set racial standards, fired whistleblower
On April 1, 1996, Ronald Kikumoto wrote to his boss saying he would report him to officials unless he corrected illegal practices, such as orders to fire workers based on race and skin color.Kikumoto, who concluded in his letter that his job would be in jeopardy if he didn't keep quiet, was vice president and director of HTH Corporation, a multimillion-dollar business which includes the Pagoda Hotel and Pacific Beach Hotel.
His boss was H.T. Hayashi, the corporation's chairman.
Three days later, Hayashi fired Kikumoto in a letter prepared by a corporate attorney.
It cited Kikumoto's April 1 letter, which documented discriminatory, safety and labor issues, as a reason for his firing. It also stated that Kikumoto's position of trust with Hiyashi was irreparably breached.
The letters are key documents in a civil trial opening today in which Kikumoto will try to prove that Hayashi violated laws, including the state's Whistleblowers' Protection Act, when he fired him. If jurors agree, they would decide on the amount of money the corporation should pay Kikumoto.
He has asked for awards for his illegal firing and compensation for his emotional stress and loss of wages. State juries have awarded plaintiffs up to $2 million in recent discrimination and public policy suits.
Hayashi will not attend the trial or testify because of ill health, said Wilma Sur, his attorney.
The corporation has dropped counterclaims of slander and fraud and will oppose the suit based on Kikumoto's breach of fiduciary duty to the corporation, according to court documents.
Hayashi has denied Kikumoto's allegations in court documents, including the letter in which he fired Kikumoto.
In it, he said that he has never discriminated against any employee and that the personnel office and officers such as Kikumoto did the hiring and firing.
He also denied that the corporation's properties had building violations and said that Kikumoto was in charge of many, if not all, of the areas he cited.
Kikumoto filed a suit about three months after he was fired, alleging wrongful termination. He cited the Whistleblowers' Act, which prohibits employers from disciplining or discharging employees who report or say they will report a violation or suspected violation.
He also alleged that the corporation retaliated against him in two areas, firing him because he opposed the corporation's discriminatory and public policy practices.
Kikumoto alleged that Hayashi "imposed standards against hiring people who are black, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tongan, Filipino or dark-skinned, with the explanation that such people could not be trusted and do not look good for the company."
He said such practices violate state and federal laws.
Kikumoto also alleged that Hayashi completed building projects without permits and allowed conditions that posed a hazard to public safety.
Killer draws two life terms
A state judge this morning resentenced Raita Fukusaku to two consecutive life terms for the 1994 shooting deaths of a Japanese psychic and her son.Circuit Judge Victoria Marks rejected a defense argument for concurrent terms, saying her task was to hand Fukusaku his previous sentence without a 30-year mandatory minimum, based on a state Supreme Court opinion.
Fukusaku, sent from a Texas prison, maintained his innocence and said the killers were still free.
"One thing I don't do is to kill my own friend and his mother," he said.
Rukusaku's father, Chiharu Fukusaku, also addressed the court, saying he intended to do everything possible to clear his son. He also appealed to Marks to "send our son home to Japan as soon as possible."
Myles Breiner, Fukusaku's attorney, argued that the Supreme Court's opinion gave Marks the authority to give him concurrent terms, saying the justices conceded that Fukusaku was an accomplice. The trial court had set mandatory minimums based on Fukusaku's use of a firearm in the murders. But the justices said the jury's verdict did not clarify whether Fukusaku was the shooter or an accomplice. They gave the state the choice of retrying Fukusaku, 32, or removing the mandatory minimums.
Deputy Prosecutor Rom Trader said the state decided not to retry Fukusaku. He also said the Supreme Court opinion did not open the question of whether Fukusaku was the shooter or an accomplice.
On Feb. 23, 1994, Toako Kototome Fujita, 56, was found dead at her penthouse, shot through the heart. Her son, Goro, 21, also shot through the heart, was found dead in a burning car.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffThree escapees caught, returned to facility
Police yesterday arrested two escapees from the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility.The two boys, 14 and 15, were reported missing during a head count at 4:15 p.m., police said. They were arrested four hours later.
In an unrelated incident, police on Wednesday arrested a 14-year-old boy who escaped from work detail from the same facility.
Police said the boy was arrested in a stolen vehicle.
Gasoline truck flips, forces road shutdown
WAIOHINU, Hawaii -- Hawaii Belt Highway was closed for about 10 hours yesterday after a truck carrying gasoline overturned and forced the evacuation of 20 to 30 residents.Police said the truck belonging to Hawaii Petroleum Distributors Inc. made a 90-degree turn, ran off the road and overturned about 10:18 a.m., spilling gasoline and diesel fuel over the road.
The fuel was transferred to another truck, and the overturned truck was righted, police said.
The driver of the truck, Ralston R. Medeiros, 47, of Pepeekeo was treated at Kau Hospital and examined at Hilo Medical Center before being released.
Boy plays with matches, causes blaze at house
KEAUKAHA, Hawaii -- An 8-year-old boy playing with matches was the cause of a house fire yesterday.Firefighters took only a few minutes to get the blaze under control after receiving the 7:12 p.m. call, for the house at 135 Todd Ave., police said.
There were no estimated damages to the house or its contents, police said.
Man who killed pet dog faces weapons charges
Police yesterday charged a McCully man in connection with firing his rifle and killing a pet dog on Wednesday.Domingo Ruiz, 39, was charged with firearms violations and possession of prohibited weapons.
He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Police said Ruiz entered a yard on Harding Avenue and allegedly started firing his rifle, killing the dog.
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