Honolulu Star-Bulletin Breaking Stories

Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Friday, August 6, 1999

Experts in geriatric health
technology to meet here
International specialists in using technology to help the elderly and their caregivers will hold an all-day conference 8 a.m. tomorrow at Kuakini Medical Center.
Delegates are expected from Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, the European Union, Hawaii and the mainland.
The delegates are considered experts in gerontechnology, a new field combining medical studies of aging with technology to benefit the elderly.
The conference is the first international meeting of professionals from geriatrics and ergonomics to address aging issues, something of concern to all countries, University of Hawaii medical officials said.
Dr. Max Vercruyssen is conference chairman and Dr. Patricia Blanchette is conference secretariat. Both are professors of medicine in the university's John A. Burns School of Medicine.
Speakers will include:
Dr. Blanchette, director of the Geriatric Medicine Program in the medical school, on current issues in geriatric medicine.
Marilyn Seely, director of Hawaii's Executive Office on Aging, on aging as a success story.
Dr. Lon R. White, UH associate professor of medicine and senior neuroepidemiologist at the Pacific Health Research Institute and Hawaii Center for Health Research, on opportunities to apply technology in treating older persons.
Dr. Richard Friedman, UH professor of medicine and head of the Telemedicine Project, on telemedicine in the Pacific.
James L. Fozard, director of geriatric research, Florida Geriatric Research Program, Morton Plant Mease Health Care, Clearwater, Fla., on gerontechnology history and the world perspective.
Mitsuo Nagamachi, president of Kure National Institute of Technology in Japan, on ergonomics for older adults.
Dr. Vercruyssen, on medicine, mobility and accessibility in later life.
Kazuo Yamaba, professor of social and information sciences at Nihon Fukushi University in Japan, on testing apparatus in a welfare "technohouse."
Registration will begin at 7 a.m. The cost is $30 for students, $50 for others.

Dome's day
THE geodesic dome at the Hilton Hawaiian Village is no more.
The landmark structure at the corner of Kalia Road and Ala Moana Boulevard was torn down this week to make way for the new 25-story, 453-room Kalia Tower.
But in its day, since it was built in the mid-1950s, the dome helped bring hipness -- uniqueness, at least -- to the Hilton site.
The geodesic dome concept was unleashed on the world in 1929 by architect-inventor Buckminster Fuller. By the 1960s, the odd-looking structure had grown to be embraced by counterculturalists and government alike for its openness and innovativeness.
As for the Hilton dome, it once was the showroom "home" of notable entertainers such as Don Ho and Jim Nabors.
And for those already nostalgic about that dome: Drive up University Avenue to the University of Hawaii Sports Arena. It sports a geodesic dome roof.

Pearl ships take part in Y2K tests
Two Pearl Harbor warships are among the 17 Pacific Fleet ships that began a detailed Y2K validation exercise today off the coast of Southern California.
The tests involve the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier battle group and the USS Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group and are part of an ongoing attempt by the Navy to prepare for the year 2000. The exercise is expected to last through Aug. 20.
On Aug. 13, the destroyer USS Russell and nuclear submarine USS Asheville will roll the dates on their computer systems forward to Feb. 28, 2000, to test the battle group's systems in a simulated new year. They will also test systems on the simulated leap day of Feb. 29, 2000.
This validation exercise is designed to help the Navy minimize the impact of Y2K on its systems and people. The validation is a multi-level test to ensure that multi-ship battle groups can work together as a team without interference from Y2K-related problems.
Similar tests with the Constellation aircraft carrier battle group earlier this year had no problems.

City's 'Vision' program wins national award
The city has received a "Best Practices" award from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department for its Vision 21st Century Oahu program.
The goal of the vision program is to "fundamentally change the way government does business," Mayor Jeremy Harris said in accepting the award yesterday.
Harris set up 19 teams across the island last year and told them to come up with their own visions for their neighborhoods in the coming decades.
The Housing and Urban Development Department awarded 100 projects or organizations from a field of more than 3,000.
Three other Hawaii projects were awarded:
The Weed and Seed Program, a city, state and federal undertaking to wipe out crime, particularly drug activities, in at-risk neighborhoods.
The ABC Fund, also known as the Agenda for Building Community, a community process initiated by all four counties.
The Hawaii County Continuum of Care Program, which was started by Hawaii County and deals with housing and homelessness issues.

In other news ...
The destroyer USS Hopper will be open for public tours from noon to 4 p.m. tomorrow at Pearl Harbor Bravo Pier 22.
Visitors can enter through the Nimitz Gate. Children must be at least 8 to go aboard.

Corrections
State Sen. Marshall Ige has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges that he violated state campaign finance laws, contrary to a reference in an Aug. 4 Quotable column on the editorial page.
Four people were cited Tuesday for hiking into the closed Sacred Falls state park. A story in yesterday's Star-Bulletin incorrectly reported that five people were cited.

Police, Fire, Courts

By Star-Bulletin staff

Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers

Sex offender on probation, faces trial
Circuit Judge Richard Perkins yesterday sentenced a convicted sex offender to five years' probation for failing to update his address as required by state law.
John R. Guidry is believed to be the first person convicted under Hawaii's version of "Megan's Law" since it was passed in 1997.
The sex offender registration law is named after a New Jersey girl kidnapped, raped and killed in 1994 by a sex offender who moved into her neighborhood.
Guidry was arrested earlier this year for fourth-degree sexual assault -- exposing himself to two teenagers -- and failing to update his address in the sexual offender registration. Hawaii's law requires sexual offenders to notify authorities when they move.
Guidry is expected to go to trial in October. He had been convicted in 1990 of indecent exposure and sentenced to a year probation, said deputy prosecutor Paul Wong.
Before the year was up, he was convicted of raping a woman. He again was given probation and ordered to undergo sexual offender therapy.

Waimanalo man slain; son is arrested
A 38-year-old Waimanalo man was arrested last night in connection with the slaying of his 73-year-old father.
The suspect allegedly stabbed his father at their Mekia Street home at 9:15 p.m., police said. The father was taken to Queen's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
According to court records, the son was arrested in June 1993 for abusing his wife. He pleaded no contest to an amended charge of third-degree assault. He was sentenced to one year probation and required to undergo domestic violence counseling and alcohol assessment.

Father drowns after taking boys to beach
A 47-year-old man apparently drowned around midday yesterday off Temple Beach at Laie.
The victim was there with his two sons. While the father went diving, the sons went surfing.
Later, the father was seen floating face down about 300 yards offshore. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

In other news ...
The medical examiner's office has identified the couple involved in Tuesday's murder-suicide in Salt Lake as Candace Robino and Lionel Ortiz.
Police said Ortiz, 31, shot his girlfriend Robino, 26, in the head at their fourth-floor Likini Street apartment. He then apparently shot himself.
Three people were hospitalized after a head-on collision on Kunia Road yesterday. Two of the drivers, an Ewa Beach woman, 27, and a 40-year-old off-duty policeman, were taken to Queen's Hospital, where they were reported in guarded and fair condition, respectively. A 22-year-old Schofield Barracks man was treated at St. Francis West Hospital.
Six Army helicopters have been fighting a brush fire that spread to the Army Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island.
An estimated 30 percent of a plant habitat inside the training area has been scorched, an Army spokesman said.
A 31-year-old man was listed in critical condition this morning at Queens Medical Center in Honolulu after being injured by an airplane propeller on Molokai.
Sheri Ann Sugawa of Pearl City died yesterday at Queen's Hospital from injuries suffered Wednesday when her car crashed into a tree on Kailua Road in Kailua.