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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
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Senate passes call to pull Hawaii troops
The state Senate has passed a resolution asking Gov. Linda Lingle to remove Hawaii's Army and Air National Guard troops from Iraq.
The nonbinding resolution passed with all 20 Democrats voting yes and three of the five Republicans voting no. GOP Sens. Fred Hemmings and Bob Hogue were out of town and did not vote.
The resolution, SCR 193, notes that 3,000 soldiers have been deployed from the Hawaii National Guard.
The resolution condemns the use of "false information" regarding Iraq's involvement in the terrorist attacks in New York and the Pentagon in 2001 as a reason to invade Iraq.
"The majority of Americans are troubled by the direction the war in Iraq has taken since its inception and support the withdrawal of United States troops. ... Despite public sentiment against having troops remain in Iraq, there has been no exit strategy proposed by the Bush administration," according to the resolution.
It says that without a "credible threat" to the country or Hawaii, the National Guard troops should return to Hawaii.
There was no debate on the measure, which now goes to the state House.
East-West Fest to have peace theme
Performances, cultural booths and a Peace Wall will be part of the annual East-West Fest from 1 to 6 p.m. April 15 at the Hawaii Imin International Conference Center, according to a news release from the East-West Center.
This year's event, put on by the East-West Center Student Participant Association, is themed "Celebrating Peace Through the Arts of the World."
It will feature a Peace Wall where children will be encouraged to contribute, performances representing 11 countries, a Japanese tea ceremony, a taiko drum show and an international fashion show.
Students will also be selling a new cookbook featuring recipes from the international East-West Center ohana.
Admission is free, and parking will be available on the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus for $3.
Honolulu Harbor gets bomb detector
Honolulu Harbor's Pier 1 is now equipped with a radiation detection device that will screen incoming and outgoing ships for materials used in nuclear weapons, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials announced yesterday.
The installation is part of a nationwide program to equip ports with the device, called a Radiation Portal Monitor.
"The best way to prevent a terrorist attack is by preventing terrorists or terrorist weapons from entering the U.S.," said Hilda Monatoya, Honolulu's acting port director. "This portal monitor will help."
The Border Protection office said the device is "extremely sensitive" and capable of detecting dirty bombs. It also measures natural sources of radiation in agricultural products and smoke detectors.
Leeward to introduce teaching program
High school students and people interested in teaching as a career can attend a free public information session Saturday on the new Associate in Arts in Teaching Program at Leeward Community College, the school announced in a news release.
The session will be held at 10 a.m. in Room PS 210-B.
The program is a two-year associate degree program for students interested in pursuing a teaching degree in elementary or secondary education. It allows students to take education courses and gain field experience during their first and second years of study.
Graduates will be able to seek employment or transfer to a baccalaureate program in elementary or secondary education.
For more information, contact Laurie Lawrence at 455-0361.
TAKING NOTICE
Regents honor navigator-kupuna
» The University of Hawaii Board of Regents has posthumously honored
Abraham St. Chad Kikiakoi Kalilioku Pi'ianai'a for his contributions to the university and state by giving him the Regents Medal of Distinction.
Pi'ianai'a, who died in February 2003, was an educator, seafaring voyager and respected kupuna who helped preserve the Hawaiian language and culture. He was the inaugural director of the Hawaiian-studies program in 1979, which became a permanent program in 1985.
» Entomology graduate students in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawaii at Manoa have received national recognition in recent competitions:
Master's student Margaret Gentz received a $1,500 scholarship at the National Conference on Urban Entomology; Christopher Kishimoto won first place and Ranit Kirschenbaum second at the 90th annual meeting of the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America; Jesse Eiben, Will Haines, Gentz and Kishimoto won the second-place team award in the Linnean Games tournament and will compete in the national meeting in December.
» Margaret McManus, assistant oceanography professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, is one of 18 winners of the 2006 Aldo Leopold Leadership fellowship. She will participate in training that will allow her how to communicate science to nonscientific audiences.
"Taking Notice" also runs on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Sea search launched for Maui kite-boarder
The Coast Guard and Maui Fire Department are searching for a person in the water last seen kite-boarding near Kihei, Maui.
A person contacted 911 at about 6:30 p.m. yesterday after seeing the man struggling and heading further offshore.
The 47-foot motor lifeboat crew from Coast Guard Station Maui arrived on scene and located the board.
An HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Barbers Point Coast Guard Air Station was on scene and assisting with the search.
HONOLULU
Pedestrian, 83, struck by city bus in Kalihi
An 83-year-old man was taken to the Queen's Medical Center in critical condition yesterday after being struck by a city bus in Kalihi.
Police said the man was in a crosswalk at the intersection of Kamehameha IV Road and North School Street when a city bus was making a left turn and struck him at 6:03 a.m.
Traffic investigators said neither speed nor alcohol appear to be factors in the collision and that they did not know whether the bus or the victim had the right of way.
Officials from Oahu Transit Services, which operates TheBus, said the driver had no passengers in his bus and that it was his first run of the day.
Anyone witnesses to the accident are asked to call the Traffic Division at 529-3499 and ask for Officer Thomas, the investigator for this collision.
CENTRAL OAHU
Helicopter helps spot suspect in car theft
Police helicopter crews witnessed a suspected auto thief crash a stolen car Tuesday while trying to avoid capture in Wahiawa.
Police said the suspect, a 23-year-old man, was spotted near the intersection of Wakani Street and Wakani Place at 11:46 a.m. after an anonymous caller told Wahiawa police that a man named "Sean" was sitting in a stolen Ford Mustang there.
Officers confirmed that the Mustang was stolen and tried to detain the man, but he drove off, police said.
A police helicopter that was overhead at the time followed the Mustang a short distance and watched as the driver lost control and struck a parked truck and then fled on foot into a nearby building, police said.
Officers searched the building and found the man, who was later arrested for investigation of auto theft and criminal property damage.
WINDWARD OAHU
2 men held in alleged burglary at auto shop
Police arrested two men early yesterday who were trying to break into a Kailua business.
Police said a neighbor saw one man on the roof of a business on Kainehe Street while another was on the ground acting as a lookout at about 12:11 a.m.
When officers arrived, they found one man waiting in a truck with drugs in his possession, police said.
The other man, meanwhile, was chased out of the BES Auto Repair shop when the owner arrived and searched his property, police said. Police arrested both suspects, ages 20 and 21, for investigation of second-degree burglary and drug offenses.