Arraignment scheduled for slaying suspect
Army Sgt. Jose Rodriquez was to be arraigned this morning at Schofield Barracks for allegedly strangling his wife to death Jan. 4.Rodriquez, who confessed to police that he killed his 22-year-old wife, Angela, is awaiting an Army decision on whether he will be court martialed on charges of premediated murder.
Police say that Rodriquez tried to kill himself after strangling his wife in the couple's Schofield Barracks townhouse in January.
When that attempt failed, Rodriquez faked a break-in at his home and told police that he and his wife had been kidnapped and taken to the Puu O Mahuka in Pupukea.
Dry Maui area placed on emergency status
Gov. Ben Cayetano has signed a drought emergency proclamation for upcountry Maui.It permits the county to use four wells if the drought is unduly prolonged and drains reservoirs located from Ulupalakua to Haiku.
The action suspends laws requiring environmental review and speeds up the process for using water from the Haiku well, the Dowling well and two Hamakuapoko wells, part of the East Maui Development Plan.
The proclamation is seen as helping residents, farmers, ranchers and workers at Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Co. and Maui Land and Pineapple Co.
"I am convinced that taking action now to make the water supply wells ready for use will go far to lessen the worry and concern over persistent drought conditions that we share with all of Maui's people," Cayetano said.
The state Department of Agriculture continues to make on-going assessments of each county, should disaster relief become necessary, he said.
House bill will fund Oahu highway projects
U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie says $36.5 million in a highway bill passed by the House yesterday will fund Oahu transportation projects and generate jobs and provide traffic relief.Abercrombie said at his request the bill contains funds for:
H-1 improvements, $20 million.
Projects were originated by the state Department of Transportation and the city Department of Transportation Services, Abercrombie said.
Army to build 132 housing units here
The Army will build 132 multifamily housing units at Schofield Barracks, which should be completed by December 1999.The $20 million contract was awarded to Hunt Building Corp., of El Paso, Texas., which also will demolish 132 existing family quarters used by junior enlisted soldiers, U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink said.
Judge metes out final sentences in tax evasion conspiracy
The last of eight people prosecuted for their parts in evading more than $1.6 million from hostess bars will serve an eight-month term and pay a $10,000 fine.U.S. District Judge David Ezra yesterday sentenced Erik Lindberg to four months at a federal prison camp and four months of home detention for conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.
Sentences ranged from 97 months for Michelle Lindberg, Erik's mother, to probation for Michelle's daughter Lien Lindberg. She pleaded guilty before the trial and testified for the government.
Ezra denied a defense motion to go below the sentencing guidelines for Erik Lindberg, one of three brothers convicted in a scheme the government said was designed by their mother.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Muehleck argued against it, saying Erik Lindberg lived with his father and was the son least influenced by Michelle Lindberg.
"His mother didn't control him," he added.
A federal jury in May convicted the four Lindbergs and two others of conspiring to evade more than $672,428 in taxes and for structuring their bank deposits to avoid reporting requirements from 1989 to 1991.
The jury convicted Michelle Lindberg, bartender Robert Skelton, Ramon Lindberg and Ramon's former wife, bank teller Nicole T. Stearns, of acting on the conspiracy. Defendant Ford Ushijima pleaded guilty after the trial began and was sentenced to 30 months and a $6,000 fine.
Other sentences were: 27 months for Stearns; 24 months and a $75,000 fine for Ramon Lindberg; 20 months for Skelton; and time served and a $75,000 fine for Tan Lindberg. He served one day in jail when arrested in 1995.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffArson probe turns up tools for making 'ice'
Fire investigators discovered a crystal methamphetamine lab while looking for the cause of a blaze yesterday in Waipahu.According to a police arson detective, the fire was started near the refrigerator of a home at 91-2240 Old Fort Weaver Road. During the investigation, tools to manufacture crystal methamphetamine were found.
The home was unoccupied at the time of the 8:10 a.m. fire.
The Police Department's Clandestine Lab Detail was called and recovered all the evidence, police said. No arrests have been made.
Fire officials said the structure and contents received $12,000 worth of damage.
Waianae brush fire set by boy, 14, police say
A Waianae Intermediate School boy was arrested yesterday for allegedly setting a brush fire near the school.Witnesses reported to police that they saw the 14-year-old boy start the fire at about 8 a.m. in a vacant lot near Farrington Highway on land owned by the state, police said.
He was charged with misdemeanor "failure to control widely dangerous means" and released.
Man allegedly tries to run over girlfriend
A 47-year-old man faces attempted-murder charges for allegedly trying to run over his girlfriend with his car in the driveway of their Haleiwa home.The suspect and his girlfriend, 44, got into an argument at their home on the 58-200 block of Kamehameha Highway, police said.
When the suspect attempted to drive away, the woman stepped in front of his vehicle.
The man then accelerated, hit the woman and fled, police said. She was taken to Kahuku Hospital and treated for a broken leg.
The man was arrested at 10:51 p.m. when he returned home.
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