Akaka bill foes to meet at palace
Those who oppose the Native Hawaiian Recognition Bill, also known as the Akaka bill, are calling a meeting for noon tomorrow on the grounds of the Iolani Palace.The bill is scheduled to be heard by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee Tuesday, which is chaired by Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye. A House committee has already passed a companion bill.
"It's the decision of the Hawaiian people, whether we are going to take a stand at Iolani Palace," said Lela Hubbard, who said she was helping get the word out to a variety of groups and individuals this weekend.
"This is the call, ka hea, to all Hawaiians," Hubbard said. "It's crisis. We've hit our Waterloo. Our land is going to be lost by this bill."
She said information about the bill will be passed out at the meeting, then the group may march to the federal building. Invitees are asked to bring food, water and sleeping bags, she said.
"Frankly, what I'd like to do is occupy Dan Inouye's office."
Isle Red Cross gets donation for budget deficit
The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation has given $200,000 to the Hawaii State Chapter of the American Red Cross to cover a budget deficit in the last fiscal year and support its work.The Star-Bulletin reported June 24 that the chapter was facing a $114,000 shortage for the fiscal year that ended June 30 because of a large volume of disasters the past year and the state's economic situation.
Roger Dickson, the chapter's chief executive officer, said the Weinberg Foundation's "generous donation ... will help support our ongoing disaster relief and emergency preparedness programs."
Hawaii's coral making some underwater whoopie
A nearly moonless night in July in Hawaii -- how romantic. Especially for Hawaiian rice coral.The few days following mid-summer's new moon is the only time the coral spawn.
The coral live in calm, shallow waters throughout the islands. However, on your own, it's not easy to see the spawning -- the mixture of coral eggs and sperm sometimes in a milky, misty bath. The successful spawn become a swimming larval stage of the coral, which eventually settle down somewhere to establish or add to a coral colony.
To teach the public more about all forms of coral spawning, the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources has created a pamphlet, "Reef Renewal: Hawaii's Unique Coral Spawning Events."
"Our hope is that the public appreciates that corals are living animals that are the basis of our reef ecosystems," said Athline Clark, aquatic resources planner. "Spawning is a critical time when the reef revitalizes."
Copies of the pamphlet are available at the DLNR Aquatic Resources offices in Honolulu, Maui, Kauai and Hilo and Kona on the Big Island; and at the University of Hawaii Sea Grant Extension office in Kona, at the Maui Ocean Center and Waikiki Aquarium.
An annual event this weekend to view the coral spawning at the Waikiki Aquarium has become so popular that it's sold out this summer.
For more information on the pamphlet, call 587-0100.
[WINNERS & LOSERS]
[WINNERS]
<< The Duke: Surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku is a big step closer to having a commemorative postal stamp after the Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee recommended it for approval by the Postmaster General. A final decision is expected this fall.Big Man on Campus: In his first public speech, new University of Hawaii President Evan Dobelle called for major changes throughout the UH system, including a four-year campus on Maui and an audit of the UH bureaucracy.
Tin-woman: A little more than a year after a bone-marrow transplant for leukemia, Oahu resident Anna Zimmerman was to compete in today's Tinman triathlon in Honolulu.
[LOSERS]
>> Chef Chai: Popular island chef and restaurateur Chai Chaowasaree lost his bid for a preliminary injunction that would have prevented his deportation back to Thailand. The chef's lawyers are considering their options to keep fighting.Waianae brothers: Joseph Poomaihealani III was found guilty Friday of the murder of Dino Arado, who came to the aid of a neighbor who was being assaulted. Poomaihealani's younger brother, John, and friend Brandon Lizardo were found guilty of assaulting the neighbor. All three will be sentenced Dec. 5.
Kailua businesses: Less than two years after the last road project disrupted sales, merchants at the Kailua Beach Center are once again about to face a sewer-line project that will rip up the road in front of their businesses.
Corrections and clarifications
>> The Kailua Bay Advisory Council is seeking applications for contracts to improve windward water quality. An article on Page A3 yesterday incorrectly referred to the contracts as grants.>> The rescue of a Jet Ski in trouble occurred at the Pakalas surf site on Kauai. A story in Newswatch in some editions Thursday said the rescue occurred in Maui County.
>> Dawn "Dede" Bustamante's name was misspelled in a story and headline on Page A1 in yesterday's edition. She was murdered on March 14, 1975, not in 1976 as reported in a second reference in the same story.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Publisher and Editor in Chief John Flanagan at 529-4748 or email him at jflanagan@starbulletin.com. Corrections and clarifications
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffNeighbor Islands Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Woman found dead after fire sets home ablaze
A woman was found dead after a fire in a Kihei home Friday night, said Maui County Assistant Fire Chief Alan Cordeiro.The woman, whose identity is not being released, was home alone at 661 Kaapuni Place and was found in a bathroom after the fire was under control, Cordeiro said.
Engines from Kihei and Kahului and a rescue unit from Kahului responded to a call from the house at 8:18 p.m., when the woman reported a couch on fire. When firefighters arrived 10 minutes later, the house was burning. The fire was brought under control at 9:51 p.m. and extinguished at 12:35 a.m. yesterday, Cordeiro said.
Damage to the house was estimated at $115,000 and $85,000 to its contents. The cause of the fire is undetermined and is under investigation, Cordeiro said. He said an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of the woman's death.
Kauai waters reveal drowned Japanese visitor
A Japanese visitor to Kauai apparently drowned at Poipu Beach shortly after noon yesterday, a Kauai Police spokeswoman said.The woman, of an unknown age, was found unresponsive and face-down in the ocean across from the old Waiohai Hotel. The woman was floating about 100 yards offshore, in 25-foot water. Beachgoers pulled her to shore, where resuscitation efforts failed. Foul play was not suspected.
Hiking mishaps keep Kauai rescue busy
Two hikers were rescued by helicopter in two separate incidents on the Na Pali Coast of Kauai Friday.The search and rescue team first responded to an 11 a.m. incident in which a woman hiking in Kalalau Valley apparently slipped on a wet trail and hurt her back, said Dave Walker, acting battalion chief of the Kauai Fire Department. The 21-year-old Honolulu woman was flown out at about noon and refused treatment.
At 6 p.m. the Air-1 helicopter rescued and treated a woman for shoulder injuries. The Kauai woman was hiking in Hanakapiai Valley, about three miles in from the trail entrance at Haena, Walker said.
Honolulu
Police nab 2 suspects in bus stop robbery
Police arrested two men in connection with a robbery at a Halawa bus stop.A 19-year-old male reported being approached by two men at 2:45 yesterday morning. The 19-year-old suspect demanded the victim empty his pockets and the 15-year-old male punched the victim in the face, police said.
The victim ran away and called police. Police arrested the two suspects for second-degree robbery.
Nap turns into nightmare as victim wakes to knife
A man reported being threatened with a knife as he lay sleeping at an Ala Moana Park bus stop across from the shopping center.Police said the 51-year-old man was awakened at 10:40 Friday night by a 21-year-old man who put a knife to his throat and threatened to kill him. The suspect fled into the park and was later arrested for terroristic threatening in the first degree.
