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New state hospital administrator named
Barbara Peterson, formerly with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, is the new Hawaii State Hospital administrator.Peterson replaces Wayne Law, who resigned as hospital administrator in August to return to his position as chief of the Kauai Community Mental Health Center.
Peterson is a registered nurse with more than 25 years of experience as a hospital chief executive officer. She was on a monitoring team reviewing mental health services in state-operated prisons.She was chief executive officer of the 150-bed Oakwood Forensic Center.
She also directed psychiatric inpatient services at Fallsview Psychiatric Hospital and integrated hospital programs and services with community support systems for two counties.
Law will continue to help the Health Department develop a statewide community-based system of care. Anderson said his leadership led to a "nationally recognized standard of care" at the state hospital, which has operated since 1991 under federal court oversight.
Pacific health group gets Parkinson's grant
The Pacific Health Research Institute has received a $1.8 million federal grant to study risk factors associated with Parkinson's disease.Sen. Daniel K. Inouye said the grant, from the National Institutes of Health's Institute of Neurological Disorders, will fund a four-year study.
Leading it will be Dr. G. Webster Ross, neurologist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical and Regional Office Center and University of of Hawaii professor of medicine.
His team will investigate possible links between various factors and changes in the brain associated with Parkinson's Disease. The factors include occupations, diets and environmental toxins.
Punahou kindergarten teacher wins honor
Carol Nakamura of Punahou School will receive a national award Thursday in Atlanta recognizing her as the kindergarten teacher of the year.As the grand-prize winner of the third annual Scholastic Early Childhood Professional Award, she receives round-trip tickets to Atlanta to attend the National Association for the Education of Young Children Conference, $2,000 of Scholastic products, a feature story in "Early Childhood Today" and "Parent & Child" magazines, and $250 of Clifford Educational products.
Maui's Schlesinger named physician of the year
S. Larry Schlesinger, president of Maui Plastic Surgery, has been named Physician of the Year for 2000 by the Hawaii Medical Association.He is the first plastic surgeon and only the fourth Maui doctor to receive the honor in the association's 144-year history.
Schlesinger was honored for providing 17 years of support for professionals with alcohol and substance abuse problems and for starting a homeless clinic on Maui in 1991. He also was cited for a four-year effort with Shakley Raffetto, Maui Circuit Court administrative judge, to create a drug court on Maui and starting the nonprofit Friends of the Maui Drug Court in 1998.
Schlesinger is a diplomat of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, member of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and Lipoplasty Society of America.
He is past president of the Northwest Society of Plastic Surgeons and has practiced plastic surgery in Hawaii for 20 years. He has offices on Oahu and in Kona, as well as on Maui.
State energy official Kaya receives federal post
U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson has appointed Maurice Kaya chairman of the federal state Energy Advisory Board.The 21-member advisory board to the U.S. Department of Energy develops recommendations for the department and the U.S. Congress regarding initiation, design, implementation and evaluation of federal energy-efficiency and renewable-energy programs.
Kaya is Hawaii's energy program administrator. He has headed the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism's Energy, Resources and Technology Division.
Richardson praised Kaya for his outstanding services to the board.
Under Kaya's leadership, Hawaii has earned national awards for its innovative energy programs.
"Hawaii should be proud of its aggressive energy management programs and proud of the national recognition we are getting from nationally respected leaders like Maurice Kaya," said Seiji Naya, DBEDT director.
Hawaii ranks a close second to New York in improving energy efficiency during the past 20 years. Hawaii led the nation in cutting energy use and reduction in carbon emissions from 1970 to 1997.
UNICEF greeting cards go on sale Monday
UNICEF greeting cards will be available for sale for two weeks beginning Monday in the Laniakea YWCA lobby on Richards Street.Cards may be selected from catalogs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays, and from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturdays. After Nov. 24, sales will be handled by a volunteer from home. Call 734-3191 for information.
All proceeds from UNICEF sales are used to help children in more than 145 countries in the developing world.
H-1 University on-ramp west to close Thursday
The makai-bound University Avenue on-ramp to west-bound H-1 freeway will shut down from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday for barrier work.Motorists are advised to allow extra travel time and to take alternate routes.
How well did we do as 'Geneva of Pacific'?
A panel of scholars will examine how well Hawaii has fulfilled its quest to become "the Geneva of the Pacific" at a luncheon discussion Nov. 16 at the Hawaii Imin Center.The scholars will include Siegfried Ramler, president of Friends of East-West Center; Brenda Foster, Gov. Ben Cayetano's assistant for international relations; Charles Morrison, president of East-West Center; Willa Tanabe, dean of University of Hawaii's School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies, and Chatt Wright, president of Hawaii Pacific University.
Cost is $15 per person. Reservation and payment deadline is noon Monday. Call 944-7691.
Demonstrators on Kauai to protest Akaka bill
Organizers of the Aloha March in Washington, D.C., say they will slow down traffic Saturday on Kuhio Highway in Anahola, Kauai, to protest the Akaka bill and to educate people about the history of the Hawaiian Home Lands.Butch Kekahu, Aloha March organizer and founder of Koani Foundation, said demonstrators will urge motorists to slow down and pull over so they can receive educational material on these issues. He said many native Hawaiians oppose the Akaka bill because it is considered a hindrance to independence.
"The free ride is over," Kekahu said. "We want people to know they're not driving on American soil here. This is native Hawaiian property. If you're on our roads, we want you to know our history and our problems."
Demonstrators will gather at the south entrance of the Anahola homestead from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. Refreshments will be served, and there will be roadside music and crafts.
The free event continues at the Anahola Clubhouse from 1 to 5 p.m. Call Kekahu at (808) 822-7040
The courts
Pollution control planned at luxury-homes site
KEALAKEKUA, Hawaii -- A tentative agreement over possible water pollution from the Hokuli'a luxury residential development will allow workers to return to the job site to prevent further pollution.Four Kona residents who use waters north of Kealakekua Bay for recreation and fishing earlier filed suit in Kona Circuit Court to revoke development permits. They said the developer, Oceanside 1250, violated its water pollution control permit when it failed to stop a large mass of dirt and debris from washing into the sea Sept. 8. They also said this might occur again.
An announcement from the office of Robert D.S. Kim, attorney for residents Walter Kelly, Charles Flaherty Jr., Patrick Cunningham and Michele Wilkins, said the agreement was subject to approval by Judge Ronald Ibarra, who essentially approved it at a hearing later yesterday. The judge called for some minor modifications which the parties were instructed to stipulate into the agreement, Ibarra's clerk said.
"Workers who return to work will be specifically assigned to commence and build specific pollution control measures, including but not limited to removal of dirt and sediment trapped on silt curtains, dredging authorized by the Department of Health," Kim said of the agreement.
The parties worked during the weekend to ensure that proper pollution measures would be implemented and that workers would not be laid off. "It is anticipated that all of the workers will be called back," Kim said.
Hokuli'a is intended to consist of 730 house lots, an 80-unit lodge and a golf course.
Man to receive life term for murdering his wife
A man convicted yesterday of the 1996 shooting death of his wife will face a life sentence with the possibility of parole when he is sentenced Jan. 22.It was the second trial for Danny Haili, who never denied killing his wife, Philimena. The first trial two years ago ended in mistrial after one lone juror held out against a guilty verdict.
Haili was convicted of second-degree murder yesterday after the jury deliberated two possible charges.
His attorney, Samuel King Jr., had argued that Haili was under extreme mental and emotional disturbance and should be convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter. After hearing his wife's admission that she was having an affair, Haili became enraged and fired 11 bullets point blank into his wife.
But Deputy Prosecutor Lynne McGivern said Haili was a controlling husband and physically abused her. Haili was in control before, during and after the shooting and showed no signs of extreme mental or emotional disturbance, McGivern said.
Tomorrow
Some events of interest
7 p.m., Kalihi Valley District Park: Kalihi Valley No. 16 Neighborhood Board meeting, 1911 Kam IV Road.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Suspect in Maili standoff arrested in April assault
A 31-year-old man, charged with being an armed felon in connection with Sunday's nearly six-hour standoff in Maili, was arrested at the police cellblock yesterday for an assault that allegedly occurred in April.Roy K. Kiyabu of 87-550A Farrington Highway is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail for the firearm offense.
He was also booked yesterday for second-degree assault for allegedly slapping his then-girlfriend on the right ear during an argument that took place on April 10.
The woman learned several days later that she had a ruptured right eardrum caused by the slap, police said.
Police had been seeking to arrest Kiyabu for the assault since April.
Burned bodies found at Volcano are identified
HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK -- Two people found dead in the park Sunday were identified as Ivan S. Klein, 42, of Washington, D.C., and Nancy Everett, 41, of Volcano.Their burned bodies were discovered about four miles from the end of Chain of Craters Road near where lava from Kilauea Volcano enters the ocean, Ranger Doug Lentz said.
The announcement of the victim's names included a warning that seaside lava formations can collapse suddenly, sending waves of scalding water over people nearby.
But the park officials didn't specifically link the victim's burns to scalding, saying only that park investigators are looking into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
3 missing servicemen picked up on Bird Island
The Coast Guard picked up three servicemen yesterday who were reported missing after their 12-foot pleasure craft failed to return as expected from a dive trip Sunday.Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Nickolas Zaborski, Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Damian Williams and Marine Corps Lance Cpl. James Wood left Kaneohe Marina early Sunday afternoon with lifejackets, flares and a VHF-FM radio.
Zaborski's wife, Allison, called the Coast Guard at about 6 a.m. yesterday to say they were missing. They had been expected back at about 5 p.m. Sunday after going for a dive off Bird Island when high surf sank their boat.
The three were spotted without their boat on Bird Island at about 9 a.m. yesterday. The Coast Guard airlifted them by helicopter to Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe.
The Coast Guard and a Fire Department harbor operations boat from the Marine base assisted in the search.
Two men, woman busted in Hilo marijuana raid
HILO -- Police arrested three people for marijuana possession in a raid on a house south of Hilo yesterday, then released them pending further investigation.Two men, 44 and 21, and a woman, 44, were arrested in Paradise Park subdivision, police said. Officers seized 54 marijuana seedlings and 7.7 pounds of dried marijuana valued at $45,000. They also seized $7,700 in cash and are looking into the possibility seizing the house for forfeiture, they said.
