Phony-concert defendant asks for new lawyer
HILO -- Attorney Francis Akamine, representing "Spice Girls" defendant Akram Abdullah-Wasi, had to withdraw from the case this morning after he informed the court that he lost his temper with his client and swore at him.It was the lastest twist in a case in which Abdullah-Wasi, 29, also known as John Lewis and Reggie Schafer, allegedly advertised a phony Hilo concert featuring the British musical group Spice Girls in order to get money for a sex change operation.
Abdullah-Wasi also allegedly masqueraded as his own sister and convinced another man that he had gotten the "sister" pregnant.
Accused of selling fake tickets to hundreds of people for $25 to $40 each, Abdullah-Wasi pleaded no contest to a theft charge in April.
"I lost my patience and temper and I swore at him," Akamine, in court today for the sentencing, told Judge Riki May Amano.
After a cooling-off period, Akamine said the man was still asking for a new attorney. Amano agreed to appoint one next Thursday.
Cayetano 'feels the hurt' of those offended by book
Veering from public policy to literary criticism, Gov. Ben Cayetano yesterday said isle author Lois-Ann Yamanaka should not be condemned for penning "Blu's Hanging," which some Filipino-Americans see as stereotyping Filipinos as sexual deviants.But Cayetano added he knows how Filipino-Americans can be wounded by the book.
"I understand because I can feel the hurt," said Cayetano, who acknowledged that he hadn't read "Blu's Hanging."
It hurts because the negative stereotypes of Filipino-Americans and others of Asian ancestry are still strong, he said.
Yamanaka's latest work is about three motherless children growing up in Kaunakakai. One character of Filipino ancestry, Uncle Paulo, commits incest with his nieces and rapes another child.
The work has ignited a heated debate in which the book has been judged not just on its literary merit but also on seemingly "politically correct" standards.
"I frankly think that these are the kind of things that you just kind of suck it up and say, 'Well, that's just somebody's opinion,' " Cayetano said. "This is a work of art. It hurts. That's the value of free speech and freedom of expression in this country."
Cayetano added: "Maybe the next time she'll write something in which the bad guy is something else."
U.S. Senate bill would direct FAA to curb park flights
WASHINGTON -- Grappling at last with a problem that for years has bedeviled America's national parks, including the two in Hawaii, a Senate committee today tentatively approved a bill aimed at curbing noisy helicopter and airplane tours over parks.The legislation calls for the Federal Aviation Administration to come up with a "air tour management plan" for every affected park.
The plan would control routes, flight altitudes and the number and times of flights allowed. Flights could even be banned altogether and airtours up to a half-mile outside the park could be regulated.
The plan would be developed with input from the local park officials and after at least one public meeting with all interested parties.
Both Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes national parks are popular with air tours and therefore among the national parks most affected by tourist flights.
Drug forum president says GHB has positive medical values
Donald Topping, president of Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, believes GHB has medicinal value and is getting a bum rap by being labeled the "date-rape drug.""What we're seeing is another example of creating drug hysteria for a particular substance that is being maligned and misrepresented by law enforcement through the press," Topping said.
Reports that ingesting two or three drops of GHB, gamma hydroxybuterate, could be lethal are not true, Topping added.
"I have to think something like 150 grams (of GHB) would be a lethal dose for a person weighing 75 kilograms, not two drops," Topping said. "Even aspirin or whiskey taken in large doses could be lethal."
Topping was an interested observer at a preliminary hearing in District Court yesterday for a Foster Village man charged with manufacturing and possessing GHB.
Stevan Eberhardt's hearing was continued to today.
Maui residents shocked by brazen, destructive ATM heists
WAILUKU -- Ray Nakagawa said he couldn't believe a backhoe was used to ram through a front wall of his Haiku Grocery Store to steal a 1,100-pound automated teller machine."The ATM was bolted to the floor," Nakagawa said. "It was rammed by the backhoe and ripped off the floor."
And in Kihei, a truck crashed through the glass store front of the ABC Discount store and then was used to drag out an ATM.
The machine fell off the truck in the store parking lot during the get-away from police.
"A tourist from L.A. walking by the store said, 'Whoa, just like home,'" recalled Lloyd Aoki, a store manager.
The brazen night burglaries taking place within a week have shocked Maui residents.
The thefts, occurring after closing, required a kind of careless brute force and destruction of property not typically experienced on Maui, and have left people feeling more vulnerable.
"I thought it could never happen but it did. I never can be sure now," Aoki said.
Kulani seems in lead as site for new prison
A site a little more than a mile from the Kulani Correctional Facility now appears to be the frontrunner for a new prison on the Big Island.Gov. Ben Cayetano said yesterday he's leaning toward that site. He will talk with environmentalists who want assurances that a new prison at Kulani will not threaten endangered species.
If the 2,000-bed facility is built at Kulani, it would be at an elevation of 4,000 feet, Cayetano said.
The existing Kulani Correctional Facility is at 6,000 feet.
So far, the reaction he's received is that Big Island residents prefer having the new prison at Kulani, Cayetano said.
Also under consideration as a Big Island prison site is state land near the Pohakuloa (Military) Training Area, which is not leased to the Parker Ranch.
A decision on a prison site is about a month away, Cayetano said.
Honolulu Council all to pursue re-election
It looks like all nine City Council members will seek re-election in this fall's election.Council Chairman Mufi Hannemann yesterday announced he wants to stay put, citing his new job as the primary consideration. He was named chairman in May, replacing John DeSoto.
Other Council members have either filed nomination papers, announced their re-election plans or have given strong indications they also want to return.
Hannemann yesterday acknowledged that he mulled running for Congress, lieutenant governor and, lately, governor.
The Council representative for Aiea, Pearl City and Waipahu said pressing work at the city government level compelled him to seek re-election, however.
All nine incumbents winning re-election this year would guarantee nine freshman Council members in 2002. That's because of a law limiting Council members to two consecutive terms that went into effect in 1994.
High court suspends attorney in fatal crash
The state Supreme Court has suspended an attorney convicted of negligent homicide in a drunken driving crash from practicing law for five years.The decision means Thomas Foley will be able to resume his law practice after he gets out of prison.
Foley is serving a 10-year sentence after he plead no contest to the charges.
The Hawaii Paroling Authority has ruled he must serve at least six years of his sentence before he can be released.
Foley has promised to make financial restitution to the victims' families.
The Office of Disciplinary Counsel cited Foley's "candor, cooperation, and repentance" and a "willingness to accept the consequences of his misconduct" in making its decision.
Foley was convicted for a 1995 crash at King Street and University Avenue that killed Ho Pin Tsai. His wife, Thianh Luu suffered severe injuries.
At the time of the accident, Foley had a blood-alcohol level of three times the then-legal limit.
State wants Kane's suit moved to federal court
The state is seeking to transfer a lawsuit filed by former state librarian Bart Kane against the state Board of Education from Circuit Court to federal court."The attorney general said because it's a violation of civil rights, it belongs in federal court," said Darolyn Lendio, Kane's attorney. "We haven't decided whether we will object. We think we filed in the proper court."
Kane filed the lawsuit in May alleging the school board broke its promise to retain him as state librarian provided he met four objectives.
The board voted in February not to keep him on after June 30.
Kane is seeking to be reinstated as librarian and seeking an undetermined amount for damage to his reputation, integrity, physical and mental well-being.
The state has until today to answer Kane's suit.
Kane has suffered medical problems as a result of stress and is receiving medical treatment, Lendio said.
He is also taking some time off to relax, Lendio said.
Harris says labor board biased toward UPW
Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris said he isn't surprised by a Hawaii Labor Relations Board ruling that sided with the United Public Workers union.Under the ruling, the city will be forced to come up with $14 million in raises to 8,000 garbage collectors and other blue-collar workers.
Yesterday's written ruling reaffirmed an oral decision the board made in May that a contract, costing 11 percent over four years, was agreed upon by the city and the union earlier this year.
Harris, who has maintained the city never agreed to the contract, said that the city plans to appeal the board's decision to the Circuit Court.
He called the board a "kangaroo court," saying its members were handpicked by UPW leader Gary Rodrigues.
The contract also covers the state and the neighbor islands.
Rodrigues has said neighbor island mayors had agreed to abide by the board's ruling.
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Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffTwo suspected in theft of North Shore mail
U.S. postal inspectors arrested two men yesterday in connection with stealing mail from the North Shore area.Agents said the men, 25 and 26, allegedly stole a substantial amount of mail, but would not disclose how many pieces.
The stolen mail included checks, credit cards and various items of value, said U.S. Postal Inspector Raleigh Copeland. Recovered mail will eventually be returned.
Driver fires 3 rounds at couple on highway
Police are searching for a 23-year-old man who allegedly fired three rounds at his former girlfriend and another man in Maili last night.The woman, 23, and the man, 25, were traveling on Farrington Highway when they were approached by a man in a car, police said. The driver shot at their vehicle.
The woman reported she has a temporary restraining order on the suspect, her former boyfriend.
Two inmates arrested in beating victim's death
Police yesterday arrested two prison inmates in connection with the beating death of a 59-year-old Lanakila man in 1994.The suspects, 27 and 23, were arrested for second-degree murder and released to the Oahu Community Correction Center and the Halawa Correctional Facility, police said.
The victim, James Insco, was attacked at a North School Street bus stop. He had been in a coma until he died March 8 this year.
In other news . . .
Police are asking the public's assistance in locating 26-year-old Melody Rayel, last seen July 1, police said.
Rayel is described as Caucasian, 4 feet 11 inches tall, 110 pounds, with brown hair and eyes. Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.
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