The state's 1-month-old Ziplane, the contraflow H-1 freeway lane, was partially closed this morning when the machine that shifts its concrete barriers developed a hydraulic leak. Zipmobile leaks oil
on freewayMarilyn Kali, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said the leak from the $875,000 Zipmobile occurred at 5 a.m. and was fixed immediately. However, it took several hours for work crews to clean up the oil spill.
The spill occurred on the H-1 contraflow lane between the H-2 on-ramp and the Waikele on-ramp, Kali said, cutting off motorists trying to get onto the Ziplane from Manager's Drive and Waikele.
"Only motorists coming from the H-2 freeway were able to use the Ziplane this morning," Kali said.
This was the second mishap with the Zipmobile. A lost lugnut and bolt shut down the machine on Aug. 19, three days after it was in operation. However, traffic was not affected because the mishap occurred after the morning rush-hour traffic.
Man freed from jail to care for daughter
A Circuit Court judge has allowed a man who caused permanent brain damage to a soldier to be released from jail three weeks early so he can take care of his 1-year-old daughter.Judge Michael Town yesterday granted the early release to Toeun Chhin, who pleaded no contest last April to second-degree assault. Chhin, who was 17 when he punched Daniel Nadler on Fort Street Mall in April 1996, was the first juvenile whose hearing was open to the public under a recent state law to open proceedings of serious juvenile crimes.
Chhin's one-year jail sentence was to end Oct. 6. He must still serve a five-year probation.
Deputy Prosecutor Joseph Lee said the mother of Chhin's daughter abandoned the baby with the grandmother.
Lee, in objecting to the early release, said he questioned whether Chhin was ready to care for a baby considering his "extensive juvenile violence record and the violence of this case."
Town will review Chhin's case in six months, Lee said. He called the judge's review unusual because reports normally go through the probation officer and prosecutor before the judge would be involved.
"The judge really laid out the rules," Lee said. "He's (Chhin) run out of chances."
Chhin's juvenile record includes assault, kidnapping and several sexual assaults.
Nadler, who had been stationed at Wheeler Army Air Field, lost 30 percent of his left brain function from the incident.
67 of 448 stores selling tobacco to youth
Fewer stores are selling tobacco to minors, and the numbers continue to drop since the state Health Department started random inspections two years ago.Health officials believe education has helped curb the sale of tobacco to minors.
The department today said 448 stores this spring were inspected to see if they were complying with state law, which prohibits the sale of tobacco products to anyone younger than 18.
Sixty-seven stores were found to be selling tobacco to minors, for a noncompliance rate of 15 percent, down from 22.8 percent a year ago and from 44 percent in 1996.
The highest noncompliance rate was on the Big Island, according to the Health Department's inspections. There, 36 stores were inspected and 16 were found to be selling to minors.
"These numbers clearly indicate that progress is being made as more inspections are done each year, and merchants and their sales clerks are better educated about laws regarding the sale of tobacco to minors," said Elaine Wilson, chief of the department's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division.
To continue the program of unannounced inspections, the federal Food and Drug Administration recently awarded the state Health Department a $172,580 grant to conduct 1,200 inspections.
Under FDA rules, retailers are required to check for photo identification of anyone who looks younger than 27 and attempts to buy cigarettes or any other tobacco product. Retailers can be fined $250.
The University of Hawaii Cancer Research Center conducts the inspections.
In 1996, the Health Department began using volunteers, who supervised minors trying to buy tobacco products, during its first random unannounced inspections. Forty-four percent of the 339 stores inspected allowed the minors to buy cigarettes.
A year later, in collaboration with the Cancer Research Center and the Honolulu Police Department, Operation KATS (Kids Against Tobacco Sales) was launched and police issued citations to stores selling tobacco to minors. KATS also covers Maui, Kauai and the Big Island.
Mental exam ordered for accused killer
Circuit Judge Victoria Marks today ordered a mental evaluation for a man accused of murdering his former wife in Waikiki in 1975, to see if he is fit to stand trial.William Scheblein, 75, from Florida, had pleaded not guilty in June, saying he had no memory of the dead woman, Catherine Scheblein.
For years, the victim's children had believed the defendant, accused of shooting the victim and then himself, was dead. But they learned he was alive, leading to the charges and his extradition here.
Marks ordered three experts to evaluate William Scheblein, who was present today with his wife and daughter. The state said the evaluation would likely take about three months.
Fine Tesoro $25,000, environmentalists say
The Sierra Club says Tesoro Hawaii Corp. should be fined the maximum for its part in an Aug. 24 oil spill that resulted in sea birds washing ashore on Kauai soaked with oil.David Kimo Frankel, director of the Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, said, "By spilling over a hundred barrels of oil, Tesoro has killed sea birds, damaged marine life and polluted some of Hawaii's most beautiful beaches. The oil company must be held strictly liable for polluting the environment."
Company officials said a hose failure at the Tesoro mooring 1-1/2 miles off Barbers Point led to the spill. "We sincerely regret that the accidental failure of our hose at the single-point mooring is having an impact on our environment and the birds," said Nathan Hokama, Tesoro Hawaii spokesman.
The Sierra Club asked the Coast Guard to hit Tesoro with a $25,000 fine.
City Hall, Pearlridge allow absentee votes
Voters have until Thursday afternoon to cast ballots for the primary election at an absentee polling place. Honolulu Hale will be open for absentee voting from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Pearlridge Satellite City Hall site will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Both polling places will be closed on Friday.
See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
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Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffPolice look for man with gun who robbed 38-year-old
Police are looking for a man who robbed a Vineyard Boulevard resident yesterday.Police said the victim, 38, was returning to his apartment at 3:25 p.m. when he was approached by a man with a gun.
In other news...
Police are searching for a man who reportedly abducted and raped a girl Saturday.
The man forced the girl into his car near Kopke and Waterhouse streets at 10:30 a.m., police said.
See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
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