Roosevelt teachers get phones in classrooms
Teachers at Roosevelt High no longer need to hike to the office or wait until the end of the day to make a phone call.If they don't have a phone in their classroom, their colleague next door probably has one.
Honolulu Cellular last year donated Classlink -- a wireless phone system consisting of 20 cellular phones and 40 base stations to Roosevelt, the first to have it installed in the public schools.
Classlink is a partnership between Honolulu Cellular and the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association to apply communications technology in classrooms.
Increasing communication between teachers and parents and maintaining a safe and secure campus was among the reasons why Roosevelt applied for ClassLink, said Principal Dennis Hokama. "Having 20 additional portable handsets is a real significant service we're receiving from Honolulu Cellular and we really appreciate it."
Installation was completed last November and so far teachers have made good use of the phones, he said.
A physical education teacher noted she can call immediately for help if an accident occurs on the football field.
Another teacher noted that fast and efficient communication was important in curbing discipline problems.
"I've loaned phones to neighboring teachers so they can make calls to parents and counselors during class time," he wrote.
Inouye visits Kauai, announces grant for crops
LIHUE -- Markers of Kauai's economic future were highlighted yesterday by U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye's visit here.It signaled the uncertainty of sugar on Kauai, the potential for entrepreneurs to identify mainland and international markets, and the high-tech promise of a new visitor and technology center.
Inouye announced a $1.5 million federal grant to Amfac/JMB-Hawaii to diversify sugar operations on Kauai with other crops.
The Rural Economic Transition Assistance grant from the U.S. Department of Defense will be matched by an Amfac investment in planting alfalfa, papaya, mango, seed corn,taro, and high-biomass sugar cane on 3,000 acres of land mostly in west Kauai, said Amfac President Gary Grottke.
The hope is that worker furlough periods will be shortened and more workers will stay employed.
Amfac is viewing the diversified agriculture project as a supplement to its sugar operations. The new crops are scheduled for planting this summer and into the fall -- during the sugar off-season.
Inouye said Waialua Sugar on Oahu received a similar grant that eventually aided the transition to other crops when the company quit sugar.
Amfac hopes to reach agreement on a new contract with the sugar workers union by the end of the month. Workers twice have twice rejected contract proposals that included wage cuts and profit-sharing incentives offered by the company.
Some pagers still silent because of AT&T glitch
Some pagers are out of service temporarily because of a problem with AT&T's nationwide frame-relay service, GTE Hawaiian Tel reports.The company has notified customers that it is working with AT&T to address the problem.
AT&T said yesterday that its frame-relay network was experiencing service interruptions, apparently nationwide.
GTE Hawaiian Tel's paging system interconnects with that network. It said it is working on a way to possibly bypass the AT&T network to restore service.
Pagers affected by the interruption begin with these prefixes:
Oahu -- 251, 252, 272, 273, 290; Big Island -- 898, 899; Kauai -- 644; Maui-- 278; Molokai -- 642-0000 to 642-0999; Lanai -- 582-0000 to 562-0999.
Sewage spill may have tainted Kaneohe Bay
Warning signs are posted along Kaneohe Bay while waters are tested for contamination from a sewage spill that may have occurred about two weeks ago.Sewage entered Kaneohe Bay after debris in two broken manholes clogged a sewer line. The manholes are located within an easement on a vacant private lot at 45-031 Waikalualoko Loop.
A nearby resident alerted the city Wastewater Management Department about 3:35 p.m. yesterday and the spill was under control by 5:10 p.m.
Crews estimated the spill at about 140 gallons but one resident said it had been going on unreported about two weeks, the department said.
State health officials were notified.
City Council wants its own legislative auditor
Honolulu City Council members want to set up an Office of the Legislative Auditor so they can keep better tabs on the city's finances.Councilman Jon Yoshimura, who authored a bill to create the office, today said he patterned it after the state version headed by Auditor Marion Higa.
The measure, supported by at least seven of Yoshimura's eight colleagues, would still need approval of Oahu voters through a City Charter amendment.
The Office of Council Services currently does auditing as well as other research functions for the Council. But a separate office would bring a sense of independence and "a higher profile," Yoshimura said.
He estimated the office would require 10 employees including five auditors. Some of those positions would come from the Office of Council Services, while others may come from funded but unfilled positions in the city clerk's office.
$3 million grant will boost anti-drug fight
The state attorney general's office will receive a three-year grant of more than $2.8 million from the Justice Department, according to U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink.The funds will support a statewide narcotics task force, substance-abuse treatment, sex-offender treatment, community policing and alternatives to incarceration, as well as combat clandestine drug labs, domestic violence, child abuse, vehicle theft and crimes against the elderly.
Human rights groups to mark 50th anniversary
Human rights groups will offer a sunset toast at Ala Moana Beach on Friday to observe the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Rights.The groups -- Amnesty International, the Matsunaga Institute for Peace, and Human Rights Hawaii -- also will sponsor a human-rights conference with local and international activists discussing issues ranging from same-sex marriage to sovereignty.
The conference will be held Saturday at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. For information, call 956-7427.
Honolulu Art Academy gets restoration funds
The federal Institute of Museum and Library Services has given a $50,000 grant to the Honolulu Academy of Arts to restore the academy's painting storage facility. The grants are awarded through a competitive peer review and require a 100 percent match by the applicant.
Coast Guard rescues boater near Lanai
Coast Guard crews this morning rescued a Maui man whose 18-foot boat capsized 10 miles south of Lanai.A helicopter pulled the man from the water at about 8:30 a.m., officials said.
The man reported that his boat, the Polina Reef, overtured after colliding with a tugboat.
No one else was in the man's boat. He is in fair condition with a broken ankle, Coast Guard officials said.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffMan dies after his car crosses H-1 median
One man was killed and another remains in critical condition following an accident at about 10 p.m. last night on the H-1 freeway, fronting the Waikele Shopping Center.A 25-year-old Kalihi man died when his 1983 Toyota sedan heading toward town crossed over the median and into three Waianae-bound cars, police said.
The Kalihi man died at the scene. The driver of one of the Waianae-bound cars is in critical condition at Queen's Hospital.
Prostitute accused of stealing from 'john'
Police this morning arrested a prostitute in Waikiki for stealing from a "john" from Japan.The man agreed to pay the woman 20,000 yen, about $154 in U.S. dollars, for sex, police said. After having sex and paying the woman at a Kalakaua Avenue hotel, the man noticed 100,000 yen, about $770, missing from his wallet.
The man confronted the woman in the elevator and called hotel security, police said. The woman was booked for second-degree theft.
In an unrelated incident, first-degree robbery charges are pending against two apparent prostitutes who were arrested during the weekend for allegedly using pepper spray against another "john" and taking his money, police said.
Medical examiner names man killed in accident
The Waianae man involved in Saturday's fatal accident on the H-1 freeway near the Makakilo Drive overpass has been identified by the medical examiner's office as 25-year-old Damon Balderama.Balderama was ejected from his car when he lost control during a lane change.
Speed may have been a factor in the accident, police said.
Big Island arson case goes to prosecutor
HILO -- Police have turned over to the Hawaii County Prosecutor's office a case of arson of a rubbish bin at the Volcano waste transfer station, they said.Fire Department volunteers watched a 25-year-old suspect from Ohia Estates subdivision throw a piece of burning paper into the trash bin during a stakeout on April 5.
They put out the fire and notified police, who later arrested the suspect. He was later released pending action by the prosecutor.
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