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Newswatch

Police, Fire, Courts

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Saturday, September 30, 2000

Marriott trying to buy
Hawaiian Regent Hotel

The Hawaiian Regent Hotel may be purchased by Marriott International.

Marriott announced it is in final negotiations but that sale of the 1,304-room Waikiki hotel at 2552 Kalakaua Ave. likely won't be closed for at least 45 days.

If the transaction goes through, Marriott plans to operate the property as the Waikiki Beach Marriott Hotel. Marriott has said it plans to eventually sell the hotel and take back a long-term management contract.

The third largest hotel on Oahu, the Hawaiian Regent opened in 1971. It has been owned and managed by Honolulu-based Otaka LP since 1986. Details of the planned purchase were not made public.

If Marriott closes the transaction, it said, it intends to rehire all 520 hourly employees and retain most hotel management.

Kaneohe Marines train with hike, explosions

Training activity at the Marine Base at Kaneohe Bay will be stepped up beginning Monday because of a series of different military operations.

From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Marines will be conducting explosive training which will mean an increase in noise.

About 70 Marines will hike from the base to Bellows Air Force Station beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Their route will include Mokapu Road, Kapaa Quarry Road, Pali Highway and Kalanianaole Highway.

Flight operations of the P3C Orion subhunters stationed at Kaneohe will be on a 24-hour basis from Tuesday through Saturday as part of a readiness evaluation.

On-base briefings cover Gulf War illness

A series of briefings on Gulf War illness will be held throughout Oahu next week at several military installations.

Topics include investigation results on reported chemical or biological war use and potential environmental exposures, health protection efforts and resources available to Gulf War veterans and their families.

The first briefing will be held at 3 p.m. Monday at Pollock Theater Building 1 at Camp Smith. Meetings also will be held:

Tuesday: 8 a.m. at Fort Shafter's T101 conference room; 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. at Schofield Barracks' Smith Theater; and 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii's base theater at Kaneohe Bay.

Wednesday: 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at Pearl Harbor's Sharkey Theater; 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Hickam Air Force Base's memorial theater; 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. at Tripler Army Medical Center's Kyser auditorium.

Thursday: 7 p.m. at Fort Shafter's Richardson Theater.

Tomorrow

Some events of interest

2-4 p.m. tomorrow, 350 Ward Ave.: Grand opening of the Democratic Party of Hawaii's headquarters for the Gore/Lieberman campaign and the coordinated campaign of its congressional, state and county office seekers. For information, call 596-2980.

MONDAY

7-8:30 p.m. , Hawaii Convention Center, Room 311: Public briefing on the city's Major Transportation Project to ease congestion. Free validated parking. For information, call 528-6821.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers

1 dead, 1 injured in 8-story fall

A 19-year-old man died and an 18-year-old woman was critically injured last night after they fell from an 11th-story lanai at a apartment building near Ala Moana Center.

The two were at a party at an apartment at 1617 Kapiolani Boulevard. A railing on the balcony gave way when the couple leaned against it, police said.

They fell eight floors onto the top of the parking lot, about 11:49 p.m., police said.

Both were taken to Queen's Medical Center, where the man was pronounced dead.

Police said many of the lanais in the building are undergoing repairs, including the one that gave way.

Boat blast injures 2

By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Two women were launching a fishing boat at Keehi Lagoon
this morning when their boat motor exploded. They were
starting the engine when it exploded shortly before 6:40 a.m.,
a fire captain said. The women were taken to Straub Clinic
and Hospital. The 55-year-old was treated for minor
burns, the 33-year-old for minor cuts.

Big Isle murder suspect surrenders in N.D.

MANDAN, N.D. -- A suspect in a 1994 Big Island murder turned himself in to authorities in North Dakota yesterday.

Oliver White was indicted by a Hawaii County grand jury this month on robbery and second-degree murder charges in the death of Vernon Souza Jr., a rodeo-horse dealer from Kauai who was visiting the Big Island.

The grand jury indicted Jason Santos on similar charges in the case.

Santos is awaiting extradition in Nevada.

Souza's badly burned body was found in a section of charred brush off Saddle Road on Sept. 30, 1994.

An autopsy showed he died from a cut throat and had sustained blows to the head.

Prosecutors said the indictment resulted from an investigation by new detectives who were assigned to the case in May of last year.

Two arrested for firing gun outside Kalihi club

Two 19-year-old men were arrested for allegedly firing a shotgun outside a Kalihi nightclub this morning.

One suspect returned with a sawed-off shotgun to a nightclub on Hart Street and Waiakamilo Road at 1:20 a.m. after an argument, police said.

The suspect reportedly fired a round into the air before fleeing in a white pickup truck driven by the second suspect. A second shot was fired as they drove off, police said.

No injuries were reported.

Police stopped the suspects on Peterson Lane and North King Street. The shotgun was recovered.