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» Saint Louis School juniors Simon Chen and Matthew Matsumura attended the National Young Leaders Conference with approximately 400 other outstanding high school students nationwide.

» Robbieana Leung, a senior at St. Andrew's Priory, and Amanda Kaku, an eighth-grader at Mid-Pacific Institute, are this year's winners of the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards for outstanding volunteerism.

Leung, 17, of Honolulu founded Sunshine for Shriners, a service group that visits young patients at Shriners Children's Hospital. She started the club with help from her Girl Scout troop and classmates.

They solicited donations of games, snacks, art supplies, CDs and DVDs to share with the young patients once a month.

Kaku, 13, of Aiea, has been playing the piano weekly for terminally ill patients, their family members and the staff at the Maurice Sullivan Family Hospice Center in Ewa Beach for the past four years.

Kaku, who began playing when she was 4 years old, started playing at the hospice center when her grandfather went to stay there. After his death, people there told her how much they would miss her piano playing, so she decided to continue.

As the state's top winners, Leung and Kaku received $1,000, an engraved silver medallion and an all-expenses-paid trip in early May to Washington, D.C.

Prudential also recognized two other Hawaii volunteers: Robert Hill, a senior at St. Anthony Junior/Senior High School in Wailuku, and Yiuing Michelle Lee, a senior at Sacred Hearts Academy in Kaimuki.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

EAST OAHU
Motorcyclist sought after leaving injured passenger

Police are looking for a man who failed to render aid to his 19-year-old female passenger after she fell off the motorcycle he was driving on the H-1 freeway early yesterday.

The accident happened about 12:49 a.m. on the H-1 freeway westbound near Ainakoa Avenue.

Police said the woman, of Aiea, fell off the motorcycle after the driver performed a stunt in which he pulled the motorcycle up onto its rear wheel. After the woman fell off, the driver allegedly fled the scene, police said.

The woman was taken to the Queen's Medical Center in serious condition and has since been upgraded to fair condition.

Police said she had a fractured left shin and several large cuts to her face and body.

The driver's identity is unknown. It is also unknown what type of motorcycle he was driving, police said. Officers have been unable to question the victim because she is under sedation, police said.

Speed and recklessness are believed to be factors in the crash.

LEEWARD OAHU
3 teens held in theft from Waipahu store

Police arrested three 17-year-old males Thursday night after they allegedly tried to run off without paying for food.

Two of the suspects were seen leaving a Waipahu store, and an employee tried to block them but was shoved out of the way by a third suspect, police said.

Police were called, and the suspects were located nearby and arrested for investigation of second-degree robbery.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Big Isle police step up speeding enforcement

Big Island police are cracking down on speeders and have issued 105 more speeding tickets this year than in the same period of 2004.

As of this week, police have given out 1,045 speeding tickets. At this time last year, 940 speeding tickets had been issued.

"Police officers are on the lookout for speeders," said police Sgt. Dexter Veriato. "We hope this increased enforcement effort will cause motorists to think twice about speeding."

About 61 percent of the 33 fatal accidents on the Big Island last year were fully or partially blamed on speeding, he said.

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No-contest plea made in online teen sex case

A bus driver pleaded no contest yesterday to arranging over the Internet to have sex with a 13-year-old last summer and showing up at the prearranged location.

Oahu resident Steven Koba, 43, was arrested on Aug. 5, about a month after he chatted online with an individual he believed was a 13-year-old girl. He actually was communicating with an investigator from the state attorney general's office.

Koba will seek a deferral of his no-contest plea at a hearing on May 18. First-degree electronic enticement of a child is punishable by a maximum 10-year term.

So far, a half-dozen individuals have been charged under the statute, which took effect in 2002. The electronic enticement law enables law enforcement to pose as underage teens on the Internet to help children from being victimized online.

Bus driver pleads guilt to tax evasion charges

One of four indicted city bus drivers has pleaded guilty to failure to file taxes for tax years 2000 to 2002 and tax evasion.

Bert Miyamoto entered his plea before Circuit Judge Michael Town on Feb. 17. He will be sentenced on May 6.

Three others who pleaded not guilty to identical charges and are awaiting trial are Arthur Aiwohi IV, for tax years 1998 to 2000; and Daws Dymond and James Taba, for tax years 2000 to 2002.

Taba also was charged with filing a false and fraudulent tax return and second-degree theft for tax year 1998 and failure to file for tax year 1999.

Tax evasion, filing a false and fraudulent tax return and second-degree theft are all Class C felonies punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 and/or up to three years in prison for each violation.