Kalakaua Avenue fire
Star-Bulletin
forces morning closurePolice are looking for two homeless people who they believe set fire to a vacant Kalakaua Avenue apartment building, forcing the closure of the roadway during the morning rush-hour commute to Waikiki.
Firefighters at 8:01 a.m. today received a structure fire alarm at 1716 Kalakaua Ave., the address of Kalakapi Apartment Hotel, a three-story residential building.
Battalion Chief Robert Davis said an incendiary device was used to start the fire, which was confined to a single unit on the second floor, on the makai end of the building.
Davis said police are searching for two homeless people who were evicted from the building earlier this morning by police officers.
The entire second floor was vacant. Davis said damage to the structure alone is estimated between $20,000 and $30,000. The blaze was under control by 8:20 a.m.
The fire forced the closure of Kalakaua Avenue between Makaloa Street and Kapiolani Boulevard from 8 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
Waikiki-bound traffic was diverted from Kalakaua to Makaloa, then left onto Kalauokalani Way, and across a parking lot back onto Kalakaua just before Kapiolani Boulevard.
Lee likely mayor's next No. 2 man
Ben Lee is the right man for the job of city managing director, according to 25 people who testified before the City Council.Following his confirmation hearing this week, Lee appears to have won the support of a majority of the Council as well.
The few undecided Council members addressed a key issue by questioning Lee supporters.
Council Chairman Mufi Hannemann asked whether Lee's working relationship with city workers might hinder city reorganization plans. Many city employees grew angry when the plans called for layoffs.
Sandra Ebesu, city personnel director, said she is confident Mayor Jeremy Harris has made the right choice and that she has seen growing support for Lee in the rank and file of city employees.
"I think employees have many questions about the reorganization, and perhaps they are concerned about the process," she said.
"But I think that through the many months of complications between administrators and employees, I find that the response has been overwhelmingly positive and people's attitudes have changed significantly."
Inmate faces 3 new murder charges, one in 1st degree
A man serving a 10-year prison term for manslaughter faces three new murder charges from 1988 and 1990.An Oahu grand jury yesterday indicted Wallace W. "Ditto" Rodrigues for one court of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder.
The indictment alleges that he murdered Lorenzo Young on April 3, 1998; Leo Tuaoa on Feb. 23, 1990; and William Lau about Oct. 30-31, 1990. It also alleges he used or threatened to use a firearm in the felonies.
Rodrigues, at Halawa Correctional Facility, was charged with second-degree murder for his alleged role in the 1995 shooting death of Wayne Pemberton and for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
A jury in 1997 convicted Rodrigues of the firearms charge but couldn't reach a verdict on murder.
Rodrigues maintained he didn't kill Pemberton, but changed his plea to manslaughter to avoid risking conviction.
He was sentenced to 10 years each for manslaughter and the firearms charges, and will serve a minimum of five years for each with concurrent terms.
In the first-degree murder charge, the grand jury alleges that Rodrigues killed Lau, who was to be a witness in a criminal prosecution.
First-degree murder carries a term of life without parole.
Welfare fraud brings man 4-month jail term
An Oahu man will serve four months in prison for fraudulently collecting welfare assistance.Van K. Vanderford also was ordered to repay more than $15,000 and perform 300 hours of community service.
The 120-day jail term is a condition of his sentence of five years' probation.
He pleaded guilty in Circuit Court to two counts of second-degree theft for illegally accepting public assistance.
Vanderford falsely informed the state Human Services Department that he did not live with his minor child and the child's mother, who was receiving public assistance, according to the state attorney general's office.
Navy finds unexploded munitions at Kahoolawe
Boaters are being cautioned to stay away from waters surrounding Kahoolawe.The Navy said it has found unexploded munitions on and around the island during its efforts to clean up the former bombing test range.
It will be especially important to obey the 2-mile boating ban around the island on Aug. 18 and 19, it said.
Navy munitions specialists will be detonating several high explosives, creating into coastal grounds holes 5 feet deep.
The narrow holes will hold 2-by-4-foot warning signs alerting visitors of unsafe conditions.
Thirty detonations are scheduled over the next year to install 17 warning signs at various locations around the island.
These and other events precede the first phase of the cleanup, currently under review by the Navy and the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission.
The cleanup is expected to be complete by 2003.
Waiau fire company witnesses childbirth
A fire company at Waiau witnessed its first childbirth this week -- all in a day's work.Responding to a call of a woman in labor at a Hoohulu Street home, Waiau firefighters arrived to find the baby was ready to come out.
They tried to make the mother comfortable, and ambulance paramedics arrived a few minutes later, just in time to deliver a healthy baby girl at 3:36 p.m. Wednesday.
"It was a real exciting moment," said Acting Fire Capt. Leighton Ichishita. "The girl was healthy; mama was healthy; we're all happy."
Attorney suspended for misuse of funds
The state Supreme Court has suspended Honolulu attorney Regina Green for six months effective Aug. 31 for ethical misconduct involving the withdrawal of between $21,000 and $33,000 of client funds from a trust account.Green was able to account for all funds, and none of her clients lost money as a result of the violations, the court's Office of Disciplinary Counsel said in a news release.
The court advised the public that Green will not be eligible to practice law during her suspension.
Fire crews put out 2 small brush fires
Two small Oahu brush fires were quickly extinguished last night by the Honolulu Fire Department.Nanakuli firefighters at 11:58 p.m. yesterday responded to a small brush fire between Nanakuli Elementary and Nanakuli High School.
Station officials said the blaze took 20 minutes to extinguish, although the engine and tanker units remained on the scene for an hour to monitor the situation.
Officials believe the fire was maliciously set because of a fire in the same area a week ago. There was no damage to property.
Meanwhile, Hawaii Kai fighters doused a small brush fire near the entrance to the Hawaii Kai Golf Course around 1:15 a.m.
Fire officials said it was quickly extinguished.
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Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staff'Crash and grab' burglars hit golf store
Police this morning are investigating a possible "crash and grab" burglary at Nevada Bob's Golf store on Kamehameha Highway in Aiea, the fourth time the store has been hit in two years.Police at 4:15 a.m. today received a call that a car had rammed the front door of the store, creating an opening for burglars to climb through. Thieves made off with an unknown amount of golf equipment and apparel, police said.
In the last two burglaries, the suspects drove a car through the walls of the business and grabbed expensive golf clubs, which are in demand because of the popularity of the sport.
Police charge man with threats to woman
Police have charged a 40-year-old man with two counts of terroristic threatening after he allegedly threatened his girlfriend and her child with a knife on Monday.Police said Jerry D. Ramanto of Umi Street in Kalihi threatened to cut his 28-year-old girlfriend and her 5-year-old son at 1 a.m. Aug. 3 while the couple was at her sister's house on Kanoa Street in Palama.
Police said the man got angry after he believed the woman was seeing another man.
Witnesses told police Ramanto slapped the woman's face, picked up a knife and threatened her and the child.
2 accused of robbing man on Kapiolani
Second degree robbery charges are pending for two men who robbed another man yesterday near Blockbuster Video on Kapiolani Boulevard.Police said an 18-year-old Makaha man and a 19-year-old man at 5:10 p.m. yesterday emerged from an alleyway near the store and threatened to stab a 21-year-old man if he didn't give them money.
Police said the suspects fled after the victim gave them a pack of cigarettes. The victim was not injured. Both men were arrested at Kaheka and Makaloa streets.
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