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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
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2 men are indicted in video game piracy
A federal grand jury indicted a 26-year-old Pearl City man and a 39-year-old Waialua man for distributing Microsoft Xbox game consoles containing unauthorized pre-installed copyrighted game software, a U.S. Attorney's Office news release said.
Don Perreira, 26, and John Oroyan, 39, were indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday for criminal copyright infringement, a felony.
The illegally modified Xbox game consoles contained hundreds of pre-installed games, feature-length movies, music videos and pictures, the press release said.
The two men each face a maximum five years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI's Cyber Squad investigated the case.
Woman sentenced in food stamp fraud
A federal judge sentenced a 45-year-old Maili woman Thursday to a year and one month in federal prison and three years of supervised release for food stamp fraud.
Thelma Lave had pleaded guilty May 26 to stealing more than $36,000 in food stamp benefits for a period of nine years, according to a news release by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Lave had represented to the state Department of Human Services that her husband did not live with the family and was not providing financial reports to her and their three children, the release said.
She also made false statements to obtain cash assistance and medical benefits, as well as public housing benefits from the Hawaii Housing and Community Development Corp. (the agency that administers low-income public housing). Those benefits totaled more than $198,000.
Chief Judge Helen Gillmor ordered Lave to pay full restitution to all state and federal agencies she defrauded, the release said.
Kahala Nui facility marks anniversary
Kahala Nui will celebrate today its first anniversary as a senior-living community in Waialae Kahala.
The celebration, from 3 to 6 p.m. on the lawn, 4389 Malia St., will feature a traditional luau and entertainment by the Makaha Sons.
Taking Notice: NFL program awards $36,000
» The National Football League Charities Pro Bowl Grant Program has awarded
$10,000 to
Waikiki Community Center and Hale Kipa Inc.; $7,500 to the
Valley of Rainbows and Hawaii Primary Care Association; $7,000 to
Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America; $6,500 to the
Boys and Girls Club of the Big Island and YWCA of Oahu; and $5,000 to
Hawaii Children's Cancer Foundation, Honolulu Armed Services YMCA, Lighthouse Outreach Center AOG, Prevent Child Abuse Hawaii, YMCA of Honolulu/Camp Erdman, Ohana Komputer, Special Olympics Hawaii, Salvation Army Hawaiian and Pacific Island Division and
HUGS/Help, Understanding and Group Support.
» Edwin K. Hayashi, former manager of Aloha Stadium, has received the 2006 Val Pinchbeck Award from the NFL for his more than 20 years of service to the Pro Bowl.
» Golden Key International Honour Society has recognized the chapter at the University of Hawaii at Manoa for earning gold status.
» The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawai'i presented state Rep. Marilyn Lee (D, Mililani) with the 2005 Award for Outstanding Elected Leader. The group cited Lee's "strong advocacy for and dedication toward a tobacco-free community."
» The University of Hawaii named the award winners of the Chung-Fong & Grace Ning Fund for Chinese Studies. The fund provides support for conference and research travel; purchase of books, materials or supplies; and the hiring of student assistance for graduate students and faculty members with China-focused academic projects.
History student Shana Brown will present "Why National History Is Popular: China's Historical Publishing Industry and National Studies" at a conference on "History and Memory" at the Macau Ricci Institute, and will follow up on research at the Feng Ping Shan Library at the University of Hong Kong.
Music student Frederick Lau will present "Celestial Music, Glamorous Angels: Girls Glitzing Up Traditional Chinese Music" at the annual meeting of the Society of Ethnomusicology in Atlanta.
Economics student Xiaojun Wan will purchase Version 6 upgrades for GAUSS statistical software.
Sociology student Yingshan Wei will attend the "Panel Study of Family Dynamics" conference organized by the Academia Sinica in Taipei to gather data for her dissertation.
Philosophy student Haiming Wen will present a paper, "What Is Chinese Philosophical Creativity?" at the Eastern Division Group Meeting of the American Philosophical Association in New York City.
» Todd Takeo Yonemura of Pearl City earned the rank of Eagle Scout. He is a member of Troop 49, which was chartered by the Honpa Hongwanji.
» Robert Perkinson, an assistant professor of American studies at the University of Hawaii, has been included by the Open Society Institute among 17 Soros Justice Fellows for 2006 nationwide to share in a $1 million grant pool. Perkinson is writing a history of American punishment with a focus on Texas, which has a high incarceration rate.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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WINDWARD OAHU
Kailua brush fire threatens homes
A brush fire burned between 10 and 12 acres in Kailua yesterday on the hillside behind the Kailua Assembly of God church on Iliaina Street.
The fire got as close as 200 to 300 feet to homes, said fire Capt. Kenison Tejada.
About 45 firefighters fought the brush fire, which started at about 1:05 p.m., and had it contained by 4:30 p.m.
Unconscious man's identity is unknown
Police are looking for anyone with information concerning a 29-year-old man found unconscious with head injuries in a Kailua parking lot Feb. 4.
The man was found unconscious at 2:45 a.m. in the public parking lot on Aulike Street wearing a black sweatshirt and green camouflage pants.
He was taken to Castle Medical Center, where he remains in a coma, police said.
Police said he was last seen in the area with about eight other males.
Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cell phone.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
2 die in collisions on Kuhio Highway
WAIPOULI, Kauai » A 66-year-old Missouri resident was killed Thursday evening as she tried to cross Kuhio Highway fronting a shopping mall.
Fredrika Weisenthal, 66, from Missouri, was walking across the highway near Papaloa Road when she was struck by a truck driven by a Kauai man at about 7 p.m. There is no crosswalk in that area.
Weisenthal was transported to Wilcox Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Police believe that alcohol might have been a factor in the crash.
A second fatal traffic accident occurred yesterday afternoon, also on Kuhio Highway, near the Moloaa Sunrise Fruit Stand. Police could not provide details on that accident.
The two deaths mark the second and third traffic fatalities on Kauai this year.