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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
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Cattle hunt postponed for Hilo ranchers
Associated Press
The state has postponed open hunting of cattle in the Hilo watershed area until next week to give ranchers time to recover animals that might have trespassed in forest reserves.
The Department of Land and Natural Resources had originally scheduled the eradication effort to begin tomorrow.
The hunt will now start Nov. 11 and target feral and trespass cattle found above the city each weekend and state holiday through Nov. 26.
The state has worked with ranchers on the Big Island to fix their fences and remove wandering cattle from state forest reserves. But the estimated 400 cows in the area that stretches north from Saddle Road and along the slopes of Mauna Kea to Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge are sufficient to warrant a public hunt, according to the department.
"Cattle pose a major threat to our native forests," DLNR Director Peter Young said Tuesday. "They remove the native understory vegetation, allowing alien weeds to move in and take over the native forest."
Each licensed hunter will be permitted to kill and remove two cattle a day, with no season limit. Access to the state land will be from Saddle Road, unless the hunter obtains a special permit from the state.
Public notices have been published informing people of trespassing cattle on state forest lands in Hilo, Hamakua, South Kona, Kohala and Kau.
Free flu shots offered at 5 HMSA clinics
A flu shot clinic scheduled Nov. 19 at Waikele Premium Outlets by the Hawaii Medical Service Association has been canceled, but five others will be held.
Anyone who was planning to get a flu shot at Waikele is asked to attend one of the other clinics. The clinics run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at:
» Leeward Community College, Saturday.
» Moiliili Longs Drug, Wednesday.
» Manoa Longs, next Thursday.
» Kapiolani Community College, Nov. 12.
» Ward Warehouse, Nov. 17.
There is no change to clinics scheduled on the neighbor islands. HMSA has been holding the clinics statewide since September.
HMSA, HMSA 65C Plus and HMSA QUEST members 18 or older may receive the flu shots at no cost while supplies last. The fee for nonmembers is $25. Medicare Part B beneficiaries also may get free immunizations.
UH and Kamehameha plan Kohala research
A research team from the University of Hawaii-Manoa and Kamehameha Schools will be studying the early years of Kamehameha the Great in North Kohala, under a $100,000, three-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Michael Graves, chairman of the Department of Anthropology at UH-Manoa, and Kehaunani Cachola-Abad, a graduate affiliate faculty member and cultural specialist at Kamehameha Schools, will conduct archeological research on Kamehameha I and his rise to power. They will research the area where Kamehameha was born, spent much of his youth and established himself as an innovative leader.
The NEH grant is part of a special program called "We the People," which promotes understanding of American history and culture.
SAT strategy session free for registrants
Strategies for succeeding on the SAT will be shared Tuesday during a one-hour information session at the Kaimuki Public Library.
The free program, titled "101 Test Secrets: Demystifying the SAT," will be conducted by New York-based Kaplan Test Preparation. Kaplan officials will discuss the importance of the SAT in college admissions, and share key score-raising strategies and tips for test-day success. Both parents and students may attend the session, which begins at 6 p.m.
Registration is required as seating is limited. Call the library at 733-8422 or register in person.
TAKING NOTICE
» State Sen. Donna Mercado Kim (D, Kalihi Valley-Halawa) has donated scholarships and Aloha Spirit Awards for the 23rd year to six students. Scholarships of $500 were given to seniors Terrence N. Kawano of Aiea High School, Perrie R. Mason of Farrington High School and Andrew Troy Blomberg of Moanalua High School. Jane Chesmore of Aiea Intermediate School, Linh Dao of Dole Middle School and Alexander J. Ching of Moanalua Middle School received $100 savings bonds, cash awards and plaques recognizing their aloha spirit.
» The Center Hawaii has announced that the Honolulu Gay Pride Committee has renamed its annual student scholarship the Donna Spaulding Memorial Scholarship Fund, in honor of the late leader in the gay community. Last year, the committee gave $3,000 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning Student Scholarships to Heather Kala Abing of Windward Community College, Theresa Brown of Remington Business College, Leroy Travis Craig of the University of Hawaii-Manoa, Ian Custino of UH-Manoa and Peter Dunn-Aurello of UH-Hilo.
» Kaitlin Luther, a recent graduate of Baldwin High School on Maui, was one of two delegates representing Hawaii at the 42nd annual National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia last summer. She is studying journalism and creative writing at the University of Hawaii.
» Julie Ogilvie, a Punahou graduate, was one of 50 artists nationwide to receive a Presidential Scholar Medallion at the White House. She was nominated through the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staff
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Car pursuit leads to capture of Big Island escapee
Big Island police caught a Hawaii Community Correctional Center escapee yesterday in Kaiwiki after a month of searching.
Two others who broke out of the facility with 23-year-old Kole Race-Joaquin on Oct. 2 have already been captured.
Police said Race-Joaquin was arrested about 10 a.m. yesterday after a "low-speed vehicle pursuit." He was first spotted yesterday while traveling in a car toward Hilo on Highway 19 in Papaikou. Officers tried to stop the car, but the female driver would not pull over, police said.
The driver eventually stopped near the entrance to Kaiwiki baseball park. Race-Joaquin tried to flee on foot but was caught.
The female driver and two female passengers were arrested for hindering prosecution in the first degree and promoting a dangerous drug. They are all being held at the Hilo police cellblock pending further investigation.
Race-Joaquin escaped last month with two other inmates: 25-year-old Shawn DeCosta and 31-year-old Frank Enos.
The three were able to get out of the Big Island facility by removing a screen and louvers to a restroom window, then lowering themselves to the ground with bedsheets that had been tied together.
Enos was arrested on Oct. 13 in Puna. DeCosta was found in Kohala on Oct. 19.
WEST OAHU
Police arrest teenager in robbery of boy, 10
Police arrested a 15-year-old boy after he allegedly robbed a 10-year-old boy who was walking home from school in Kapolei on Halloween.
The suspect confronted the victim about 2:20 p.m. Monday, demanded money and threatened him with physical injury, police said. The victim complied, police said.
On Tuesday the father of the victim found the suspect and identified him to police, who then arrested him for investigation of second-degree robbery.
Teen held in alleged attempt to steal beer
Police arrested a 17-year-old boy who allegedly tried to steal beer in Waipahu on Monday night.
The suspect was seen walking into a store and grabbing a pack of beer about 11:15 p.m., according to police. When a 52-year-old store worker approached the suspect to ask him his age, the boy allegedly punched the worker in the face.
The suspect tried to run away but was caught by a witness and held until police arrived and arrested him for investigation of second-degree robbery. Police said the victim suffered only minor injuries.
HONOLULU
Man admits wielding knife in Makiki bank
A 42-year-old man who allegedly stabbed a desk at a Makiki bank was charged yesterday in federal court with bank robbery.
Kenneth Kwang Jin Yi attempted to rob the Makiki branch of First Hawaiian Bank at 1111 S. Beretania St., according to an affidavit by Special Duty U.S. Marshal Taro Nakamura. The affidavit was attached to a criminal complaint.
Yi waived his right to an attorney and "admitted demanding money from the First Hawaiian Bank, damaging the tabletop area of the desk and repeating his demand for money while holding the knife in his hand," the affidavit said.
Yi allegedly walked up to a customer service representative, produced some papers and said, "I want my money now," the affidavit said. He then allegedly displayed a knife and stabbed the desktop.
The customer service representative then alerted another employee.
Meanwhile, Yi allegedly pulled the knife out of the desk and approached two other customer service representatives and again demanded money, the affidavit said. He then returned to the desk and stabbed it again with he knife.
Police were called, and Yi was arrested at the customer service desk.
Kapolei man charged with raping neighbor
Police charged a 57-year-old Kapolei man with allegedly raping his neighbor in September.
Police arrested Don Fujii at the Kapolei Police Station on Monday. He was charged with first-and third-degree sexual assault.
Police said a 36-year-old woman was raped on Sept. 3 between 1 and 1:30 a.m. Fujii was later identified and interviewed by police, then arrested. He was being held in lieu of $25,000 bail.