Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Saturday, December 12, 1998

Child suffers from
bone disease, would sleep
safer in her own bed

By Pat Gee, Star-Bulletin

Five-year-old Cheryl needs a bed of her own.

It's not that she minds sharing a bed with her big sister, who she loves cuddling with, but Cheryl has bones that could easily break if someone rolled over her by mistake in the night.

Cheryl can't walk due to her bone disease, but scoots around on the floor. Her condition hasn't dampened her spirits in any way -- she's always cheerful, inquisitive and lovable.

Her mom and dad, Linda and Paul, adopted her officially last year, but they welcomed her into their home and hearts when she was a medically fragile 2-month-old infant.

Cheryl's natural mother couldn't take care of her because of a dependence on drugs, and the child would have been put in a foster home if Linda and Paul hadn't taken her in. They already had several children of their own, and only Paul was holding a job.

This bighearted family would like two twin beds for the girls.

If you want to help, send a check to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin's Good Neighbor Fund, P.O. Box 2019, Aiea 96701. Or you can donate items to the Community Clearing House in Building 914 at the Kapalama Military Reservation, on the left of Sand Island Access Road, a half-mile beyond Kilgo's. Call 845-1669 for information.

LATEST CONTRIBUTORS: Beatrice and Robert Won, Mgst. (Ret.) USAF -- 10.00 Sandra and Antonio Lanias -- 20.00 Capt. W. C. Behan, USCG (Ret.) -- 25.00 Yoshio and Irene Higa -- 25.00 Gregory Villanueva -- 25.00 Donald Angus -- 50.00 Sheri and Mabel Shibuya -- 1,000.00 Anonymous Donors -- 175.00 Total -- 1,330.00 Previous total -- 10,843.19 TOTAL TO DATE -- 12,173.19

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Star-Bulletin staffers
win Kilohana honors

Star-Bulletin

Honolulu Star-Bulletin police reporter Jaymes K. Song was honored with two Kilohana Awards yesterday for his outstanding coverage of police shootings, and the exodus of officers to the mainland for higher pay.

Other Star-Bulletin writers receiving the in-house award are:

Sports writer Pat Bigold, who wrote about the St. Louis High School football team's raucous trip to Las Vegas.

Nadine Kam, for her feature on author Lois-Ann Yamanaka, whose critically acclaimed work was labeled racist.

Helen Altonn, for her breaking news story on cloning research at the University of Hawaii. Altonn also was cited for her feature on cancer patient George Fujita.

Charles Memminger, for his columns that shed light on the male psyche, a man named Last, the election season and the Monica Lewinsky controversy.

David Swann, for his graphic designs that helped illustrate Song's story on police shootings and the use of deadly force. Dan Woods and Mike Rovner also were credited with providing graphics to accompany the report.

Joe Edwards, Paul Carvalho, Paul Arnett, Dick Couch and Mike Rovner for work on the Football Monday section.

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City public works chief resigning at year's end

Jonathan Shimada, the city's public works director, will leave the city this month to take a position in the private sector, Mayor Jeremy Harris said.

Shimada, who served as director for two years, was instrumental in overseeing the reorganization of the public works depart-ment into the newly named Department of Facility Maintenance, Harris said.

The city began advertising the vacancy yesterday.

Museum 'Fun Day' also seeks marrow donors

Islanders have a chance tomorrow to make a special Christmas donation -- one that could save peoples' lives.

They're urged to register as donors in a bone marrow drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., during Bishop Museum's "Family Fun Day" in the Atherton Halau building.

The Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry at St. Francis Medical Center and the Organ Donor Center of Hawaii are joining to sponsor the event.

They're reaching out to minority groups -- particularly the Filipino community -- to recruit organ donors as well as bone marrow donors, said Dr. Young K. Paik, registry director.

The registry matches potential donors with Hawaii residents who need transplants, such as Dolores Tee Sy of Ewa Beach, who has aplastic anemia.

Sy, 47, who works at First Hawaiian Bank, has five brothers, but none is a match, according to St. Francis.

Paik said bone marrow transplants are pretty standard treatment for leukemia and aplastic anemia.

With leukemia, stem cells uncontrollably produce white cells. With aplastic anemia, stem cells fail to produce enough cells, he said.

Paik estimated about 120 patients with leukemia or aplastic anemia live in Hawaii, but said not all are candidates for a bone marrow transplant.

Because it's a vigorous treatment, he said, it is limited to children and adults up to 40 or 50 years old.

Donors must be between 18 and 60 and in general good health.

A small blood sample is collected from potential donors for tissue typing, and they are placed on the Hawaii and National Donor registries. Donors need to register only once.

For more information, call the registry at 547-6154.

Rescue ship offers tours this weekend

The USS Salvor, a rescue and salvage vessel, will be open to the public this weekend.

The Salvor, based at Pearl Harbor, will be at the Aloha Tower Marketplace and open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and tomorrow.

During six months at sea earlier this year, the Salvor took part in salvaging two downed Air Force F-16 aircraft. One of the operations took place in May off Inchon in South Korea, and the other was nearby in September.

A four-man detachment of divers recovered half of one submerged F-16 and over 300 pieces of the other.

Personnel also provided humanitarian support in Kangwha, South Korea, following devastating monsoon floods in September. Among other activities, they shoveled mud into bags that were used to reinforce drainage and irrigation channels to safeguard homes and farms.

The Salvor also made stops at Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

The ship is equipped for open-ocean towing, firefighting and heavy lifting.

CLARIFICATION The Star-Bulletin reported Wednesday that enrollment at the Intercultural Communications College is 70 percent Asian. That includes full-time and part-time students. Of full-time students learning English as a second language, enrollment is 38.5 percent Asian. CORRECTION No members of the University of Hawaii Board of Regents were present in San Diego when new football coach June Jones was interviewed. A report in Thursday's paper indicated otherwise.

See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
See our [Search] [Info] section for subscription information.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

POLICE

Waikiki man arrested for hindering city bus

A 50-year-old Waikiki man has been arrested for allegedly hindering the operation of a city bus.

The suspect was harassing passengers yesterday on a city bus when the driver asked him to leave, police said. When the suspect refused, the driver called police and asked all passengers to get off the bus near South King and Keeaumoku streets.

The suspect then reportedly kicked the front door and punched the driver several times.

When officers arrived, the suspect allegedly shoved and threatened them. Police said the driver suffered cuts to his neck, back and ribs. The man was booked for hindering the operation of a public transit vehicle, harassing a police officer and first-degree terroristic threatening.

Student, 19, arrested on robbery charge

Police yesterday arrested a 19-year-old Pearl City High School student for allegedly demanding money from a 14-year-old student.

The suspect reportedly demanded $25 from the other student on Thursday afternoon, police said. After the student told the suspect he didn't have any money, he was allegedly threatened and slapped.

Officers yesterday arrested the older student at the school.

He was booked for second-degree robbery and released pending further investigation.

Man accused of taking ex-girlfriend's wallet

Police this morning arrested a 28-year-old man for allegedly robbing his former girlfriend.

The man grabbed her purse, spilling all the contents at a Kealohanui Street address in Waialua, police said. He then reportedly took her wallet and ran.

Police located the man on Goodall Avenue and arrested him for second-degree robbery at 2 a.m.

COURTS

Fisherman fined $2,000 for net's coral damage

A Honolulu fisherman yesterday received the maximum fines for damaging coral and taking lobsters and crabs during the closed season, a state official said.

Quyen Van Nguyen, 52, was fined $2,000 on four petty misdemeanor counts and placed on six months' probation after a trial in Waianae District Court, said Gary Moniz, acting administrator of law enforcement for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Moniz said Nguyen was cited on two different occasions in August for damaging coral off of Waianae and illegally taking crustaceans, among them a Kona crab with eggs.

Officers on ocean patrols issued the citations. Moniz said they saw broken pieces of coral on the deck of Nguyen's boat, and other pieces stuck in a net.

Other fishermen send divers down to untangle nets from coral reefs, which take many years to recover if they are damaged.

"We're very happy the court ruled in our favor," Moniz said. "Anyone who damages coral with nets is put on notice that the courts will not tolerate this."

He said anyone who sees similar violations can call 587-0077 on Oahu. People on the neighbor islands can call the operator and ask for Enterprise 5469.

Owner of graphic firm admits guilt in tax case

The owner of a graphic design company has pleaded guilty to charges that he failed to file his annual general excise tax returns and kept taxes he deducted from his employees' paychecks.

Seighard A. Kramer, president of Kramer and Associates, faces up to $125,000 in fines and a one-year prison sentence for failure to file excise tax returns for 1995.

Kramer's company did not report its $278,000 earnings to the state and file returns, the state tax department said.

Kramer also pleaded guilty to a petty misdemeanor theft charge for failing to pay state taxes that he withheld from his employees for 1994. The penalty for the theft charge is a maximum fine of $1,000 and a maximum of 30 days in prison.

Sentencing is set for June 15.

Tax violations net fines, probation for producer

Michael A. Latham, an executive with Pacific Productions Inc. and Island Productions Inc., was sentenced to 10 years' probation after being convicted of state tax violations, according to Tax Director Ray Kamikawa.

Circuit Judge Wilfred Watanabe also sentenced him to imprisonment of time already served of 119 days, ordered him to pay to the state $54,497 -- the amount of state taxes withheld from employees but not paid to the state -- and to repay $1,540, the cost of extraditing him from Oregon to Hawaii.

Latham was a fugitive who was eventually arrested in Oregon.

Watanabe granted Latham's motion for a deferred acceptance of no-contest plea.

See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
See our [Search] [Info] section for subscription information.