Cops to get OT money from pay-raise funds
Mayor Jeremy Harris and Police Chief Lee Donohue agreed to pay police officers for overtime worked from February to April with funds that were scheduled to be used for retroactive pay raises.The city will postpone payment of $1.2 million in retroactive pay increases until the next fiscal year to pay for overtime accrued since Feb. 18, when the department exhausted its $10 million overtime budget.
When overtime funds were used up, officers were given compensatory time off rather than pay, which police union officials said was a violation of state law.
The State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers last week filed suit against the city on behalf of nearly 700 officers.
SHOPO president Bennie Atkinson said he is not satisfied and the union will press on with its lawsuit.
Mayor Jeremy Harris and Police Chief Lee Donohue said police officers "will be asked to take compensatory time for any overtime earned in May and June of this year." The new fiscal year begins July 1.
Volcano hiker missing after fall to ocean edge
KALAPANA, Hawaii - Hawaii County and national park rescue personnel were searching this morning for a man whose whereabouts were unknown after illegally hiking to a lava flow site and then falling to the edge of the sea.Hawaii Volcanoes National Park spokeswoman Mardie Lane said the man, whose name was not available, made a 45-minute nighttime hike with seven other people to the Kamokuna lava flow area in the park from the county road side at Kalapana.
Arriving at 1 a.m., the man climbed a cinder cone estimated at 40 feet high from its seaward base.
The seaward side was eroded away, and the man fell to a lava rock "bench" at the edge of the sea, Lane said.
Two members of the hiking group went for help, while five remained, talking to the man. Eventually the man stopped talking, and it is not known what happened to him, Lane said.
The two who hiked out weren't able to call for help until 6:36 a.m., county rescue personnel said.
By midmorning, a county helicopter, county rescue boat, and three national park rangers were searching for the man.
The national park prohibits hiking to the area because of such dangers and the county also prohibits access because part of the way is private property.
Waiakea science experiment sends 50 students to hospital
HILO -- More than 50 Waiakea High School students were taken to Hilo hospital for treatment for exposure to chlorine gas yesterday as the result of a science experiment gone awry.None of the students suffered permanent injury.
Police said students were testing various materials in the school's chemistry lab to find out if they were acid or alkaline when the gas was released about 9:15 a.m.
Students and teachers initially had no idea what the gas was when water was poured on crystals found in a jar, a Fire Department hazardous materials team said.
The student who brought the jar on a previous day was not in class yesterday, they said.
Officials later learned that the crystals were chlorine granules to be used in a swimming pool.
Student symptoms included headaches, nausea, vomiting, breathing problems and eye irritation, police said.
Building E was evacuated and remained empty for the rest of the day to allow the gas to dissipate, fire officials said.
Hula instructor's sentencing moved to next month
Sentencing for kumu hula instructor Howell "Chinky" Mahoe Jr., who faces up to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting four young male dancers, has been rescheduled to 10:30 a.m. May 21.Deputy Prosecutor Darrell Wong said the hearing was moved from April 23 because Mahoe's attorney was in trial in a separate courtroom.
Wong said he will seek an extended prison term of 10 years for Mahoe, who pleaded no contest in September to five felony counts of third-degree sexual assault and one count of fourth-degree sexual assault.
The 10-year term would double the time for third-degree sexual assault, which carries a term of up to five years.
Mahoe, who was released after posting $25,250 bail, is also eligible for probation.
Judge rules murderer's rights were not violated during trial
The defense for convicted killer Janice Cockett didn't persuade a Circuit Court judge to set aside her 1995 conviction on constitutional grounds.Administrative Judge Victoria Marks denied Cockett's motion in writing, saying the state Supreme Court already ruled on Cockett's appeal and could have addressed the constitutional issue if it believed it existed.
Marks also said Cockett waived the issue by not addressing it during her appeal, but she said both her trial and appellate attorneys handled the case effectively.
"She's saying the constitutional issue wasn't valid," said Deputy Prosecutor Maurice Arrisgado, who argued against the motion.
But Michael Green, Cockett's new attorney, yesterday said he would appeal Marks' ruling to the state Supreme Court and to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
Green argued that the state deprived Cockett of a chance to confront her accuser, violating the Sixth Amendment.
He said her accuser was Billy Makaila, whose accusation came before jurors through the hearsay testimony of Jaymie Mineshima. She said Makaila said Cockett was involved in the 1986 murder of her husband, Frank.
The trial judge allowed the state to use Mineshima's testimony only to impeach Makaila, who had denied knowing Cockett or anything about the murder. Arrisgado said the defense had an opportunity to cross-examine Makaila, but not to the fullest extent because he denied involvement.
He also said two previous attorneys raised the issue of whether the trial judge should have allowed Mineshima's testimony. Both argued calling Makaila to the stand was only a ruse to bring in Mineshima's damaging testimony.
Frank Cockett, an executive of Habilitat, a drug-rehabilitation center in Kaneohe, was found dead in the trunk of his car Nov. 10, 1986, at Ala Moana Center.
Halfway house alarms Nuuanu neighbors
A brightly colored mailbox is not the only thing that stands out about the corner house at 49 Niniko Place in upper Nuuanu Valley.Residents are outraged that Makana Foundation Inc., a privately funded organization not connected to the organ-donor group, has placed a halfway house for recovering substance abusers in their normally staid neighborhood.
"We don't want it here," said Andree Nakahara, who resides at 42 Niniko Place. "Those people used drugs, and who knows what kind of people will be coming around now.
"They put it here without even telling us."
Lee Williams, president of Makana Foundation, apologized at a recent neighborhood board meeting for not alerting residents about the move last October, but says there's no legal requirement for notification.
Case law supporting the Federal Fair Housing Act allows for halfway houses to locate in neighborhoods without public hearings, Williams said.
State Sen. Rod Tam (D, Nuuanu-Downtown-Sand Island) disputes Williams' claim. "This issue is not about rights, it's about zoning," Tam said. "Under the city's Land Use Ordinance, a conditional-use permit is required for a group-living facility in a single-family residential community."
Residents are demanding a public hearing on the zoning issue and a change in the law to require special-use permits for all group-living facilities, not only for ones with five or more unrelated people.
"Residents should not be responsible for monitoring the numbers or acting as a watchdog," Tam said. "Why is there a magic number of five?"
Makana, meanwhile, is inviting the neighborhood to an open house at 7 p.m. Thursday to see what's going on at its Niniko Place facility, but residents may have already given their response.
A dozen residents picketed the house Sunday, carrying signs that read: "No halfway house."
Councilman Jon Yoshimura, who has been trying to mediate the dispute, sent a memo yesterday to Jan Sullivan, director of the Land Utilization Department, asking her to schedule a public hearing to determine whether Makana is operating a group-living facility at Niniko Place that should be regulated.
Officials are hunting a mongoose on Kauai
LIHUE -- State and federal officials are trying to trap a mongoose reported on Kauai last week.The hunt is a joint effort among the state departments of Agriculture and Land and Natural Resources and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Officials set 18 traps last Friday after a teen-ager reported seeing a slender animal with a long, scrawny tail while walking along the old cane haul road near Kealia Beach.
Mongooses are found on Oahu, Hawaii, Maui and Molokai, but populations have not yet been established on Kauai, Lanai, Niihau and Kahoolawe.
The mongoose is known to prey on birds and their nests and is considered an extreme threat to endangered native species.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffWaikiki purse snatching leads to arrest of 3 men
Police last night arrested three men in connection with a purse snatching in Waikiki.At 9:20 a.m. yesterday, a 46-year-old Makiki woman was walking on Kalakaua Avenue and Phillips Street when a 27-year-old Makiki man allegedly grabbed her purse from behind, police said. During the struggle for the purse, the woman was dragged and suffered injuries to her arm.
The suspect and a Iwilei man, 19, then entered a vehicle driven by a man, 35, with no local address, and fled the area. The three were arrested on Kalanianaole Highway.
Police say Kalaheo teen set fire at school rally
Police yesterday arrested a Kalaheo High School student for allegedly setting a fire at last week's pep rally.The 14-year-old boy reportedly set fire to a poster and a trash can at about 11 a.m., police said.
The boy was booked for second-degree criminal property damage.
Police seek slim man who robbed Makiki bank
A bank robber who got away after holding up First Hawaiian Bank's Makiki branch yesterday remains at large.The FBI said the man entered the 1111 S. Beretania St. branch at about 10:30 a.m. and presented a demand note indicating he had a weapon.
He fled with an undisclosed sum of money.
Witnesses described him as tan-complexioned, unshaven, age 45-50, blond/graying, about 5 feet 8, slim, about 140 pounds, clad in a short-sleeved burgundy polo shirt and light brown shorts. He was wearing square-framed prescription glasses.
Anyone with information on the man is asked to call 521-1411. Or call CrimeStoppers, 955-8300.
In other news...
Police charged a 44-year-old Waianae man for allegedly setting fire Saturday to the Kaukamana Road home of his estranged wife. Sione Tamale was charged with second-degree criminal property damage and is being held in lieu of $12,000 bail.
Long, 21, was assigned to the Naval Security Group Activity at Kunia. Police said he was traveling south on Kunia Road near Anonui Street Friday when his car ran off the road.
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