Slater says state government lacks cost controls
The state government has never bothered to do what is basic accounting for even the smallest business owner -- figuring out what every phase of its operation costs, a businessman has charged."Under their accounting method, nobody can steal a nickel but they can waste billions," said Cliff Slater, chief executive officer of Maui Divers of Hawaii. "We have no efficient cost controls. Competition will mean cost controls."
Slater argued the case for privatization of some government functions at a town meeting last night sponsored by Aiea area legislators and attended by about 70 people.
He cited examples of other government bodies, from Great Britain to the city of Indianapolis, which saved up to 40 percent a year by putting civil service work out to private agencies.
But Gary Rodrigues, head of the United Public Workers union, said government needs to require contractors to account for their costs and to detail profits, monitoring that is not done now.
"If the private sector can do it cheaper, the government should refund the savings to taxpayers," he said, while speaking against privatization.
Several versions of privatization legislation are pending in the current legislative session as the state seeks to accommodate a state Supreme Court ruling that says government may not contract out functions customarily and historically provided by civil service.
Longs, sued by pharmacists, mails $3.1 million in back pay
In an agreement with the U.S. Labor Department, Longs Drug Stores last week mailed checks totaling $3.1 million in unpaid overtime to approximately 1,000 former and current pharmacists.Company spokesman Clay Selland said Longs has been working with the department since October to resolve problems that stem from overtime earned between October 1995 and November 1997.
The pharmacists were paid the overtime at a regular salary instead of time-and-a-half. The extra pay was mailed to the employees.
In a phone interview from the company headquarters in Walnut Creek, Calif., Selland said employees were notified that by cashing the checks, they agreed to release Longs from further payments related to those issues.
Longs has 32 stores in Hawaii and 350 nationwide, employing a total of 1,300 pharmacists.
The agreement follows a federal class-action lawsuit filed in San Francisco earlier this month by former and current pharmacists against Longs for allegedly failing to pay them overtime, not keeping records of their work hours and not paying "off-the-clock" work.
The lawsuit seeks back wages for the time employees felt they were cheated.
Longs officials have said the lawsuit was moot because the company was already resolving the issues with the Labor Department.
Paintballs shot at buses follow Mililani cases
When paintballs are shot at homes or the windshields of city buses, the game becomes a crime."It's a real stupid thing to do," said Roger Morton, vice president of Oahu Transit Services, which operates TheBus.
Impeding the safe operation of a transit vehicle is punishable by a $500 fine and six months in jail, "and we will pursue prosecution," he said.
Morton said paintballs were fired Sunday from a black or dark gray sedan at three city buses within a 30-minute span.
The first incident was reported at 5:30 p.m. near the temporary Kaaawa Fire Station. A second bus had its windshield splattered 16 minutes later between the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Laie Shopping Center, while the third bus was hit at 6 p.m. near Sunset Beach.
There were no injuries in the incidents, which were all on Kamehameha Highway, Morton said.
Although the paint washes off, the marble-sized paintballs could cause serious damage if they strike a motorist.
"It presents a danger to whoever is driving," said Morton, who added that a paintball may have been shot at another bus last week in the same area.
Sunday's cases involving the buses are not isolated.
Since Feb. 17, police have received about a dozen complaints of paintball incidents in the Mililani area, including two involving shots at passing motorists from the pedestrian overpass on Kamehameha Highway near Kipapa Gulch.
Training snake for dogs slithers past second round
The snake-sniffing dogs at Honolulu Airport may soon be training with a live brown tree snake.The House yesterday passed a Senate bill which would allow the Department of Agriculture to bring one sterile, male brown tree snake to Hawaii to help train the dogs.
If Gov. Ben Cayetano signs the bill, the snake could be brought to Hawaii within a month, said Larry Nakahara, branch chief of the department's plant quarantine branch.
Nakahara said the department is considering additional security precautions, including implanting a trans-mitter on the snake and taking steps to further secure the holding area for the snake.
"We'll do whatever we need to do to get the job done," Nakahara said.
"One snake is better than none," said House Agriculture Chairman Merwyn Jones (D, Waianae-Makaha).
A House version of the bill would have allowed the department to import two snakes. But the idea of bringing any brown tree snakes to Hawaii drew some opposition in the Senate, so Jones decided to pass the Senate bill and not push the House bill.
Dogs at the airport now train with frozen brown tree snakes and live pythons which have been confiscated or turned in to officials.
For Shafter, Schofield civilians to be offered buyout
To meet an anticipated reduction in the Army's operating budget, at least 40 civilian workers at Fort Shafter and Schofield Barracks will be offered a one-time cash payment of $25,000 to voluntarily take early retirement.John Fairbank, U.S. Army Pacific spokesman, said 18 percent of the Army's civilian work force of 2,200 is eligible for early retirement. Since the largest single element in the Army's budget is civilian pay, the Army must restructure it to meet more reduced operating-budget demands.
Fairbank said this is being done by cutting training exercises, reducing travel costs for temporary duty, consolidating functions, reducing excess facilities, hiring freezes, releasing temporary employees and early retirement.
Fairbank said the Army here already has saved money by freezing 200 positions this year. About 180 positions were eyed at Schofield Barracks under the Army's initial projections, which envisions at least a 10 percent cut in its overall civilian work force, he said.
Fairbank said another estimated 15 percent will have to be trimmed during the Army's new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
Zoo asks public's help in finding stolen parrot
A rare bird was stolen from its cage at the Honolulu Zoo over the weekend, and officials hope the vivid blue 40-inch-long parrot will be hard to hide.The bird, a Hyacinth macaw, was discovered missing by a keeper at 8 a.m. Sunday. An exterior door had been forced open and the lock removed, according to the zoo. It was last seen at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
The 15-year-old female bird is dark cobalt blue with a bright yellow cheek patch and large black beak. It weighs 23/4 pounds and has a metal band on its left leg with the ID number HZOO 006.
The species is the world's largest parrot and is on the endangered list due to the demand for the beautiful birds as pets.
Zoo officials have alerted airport security, veterinary clinics and pet shops, and are asking for the public's help. Anyone with information should call James Mejeur, the zoo's bird curator, at 971-7169 or 971-7174.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffTwo arrested in Kalihi in beer theft, assault
Police last night arrested two men who allegedly stole beer from a Kalihi Street convenience store.The two men, both 19, put three cases of beer on the counter of the Valley Center Market at about 10:30 p.m., police said.
When the clerk asked them for identification, the suspects fled with the beer.
When the clerk attempted to stop the men, both suspects punched and pushed her, police said.
Police later located the suspects' vehicle and made the arrests.
Wife suffers broken jaw in quarrel at Ala Moana
A man who allegedly broke his wife's jaw last night was arrested on assault charges.Witnesses reported to police that the man and woman were arguing inside a car near the Ala Moana Shopping Center at 11:10 p.m., police said.
When officers arrived at the scene, they witnessed the woman with injuries to her mouth.
The woman reported that her husband hit her. She was examined at a hospital and her jaw was found to be fractured, police said.
Weekend hit-run victim identified as Hilo man
HILO -- Police have identified the victim of a hit-and-run accident in Kurtistown on Saturday night as Allen Kamoku Ahyo, 37, of Hilo.The vehicle that hit Ahyo left the scene, and the case is under investigation, police said.
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