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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
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Travelers advised to arrive early
State officials remind travelers to arrive early at the airport due to stepped-up security this Labor Day weekend. Passengers should arrive three hours before domestic and international flights, except for two early morning United Airlines flights. United begins its flight operations at 5 a.m. Passengers on Flight 72 to San Francisco and Flight 934 to Los Angeles should arrive no earlier than 5 a.m. Interisland passengers should arrive 1 1/2 to two hours before departure.
Medicare recipients get refund by mistake
About 231,000 Medicare beneficiaries nationally, including 204 in Hawaii, have mistakenly received a refund on their Part D drug plan premiums.
The regional office of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in San Francisco asks those who received the payments to take steps to correct the situation.
A refund check can be returned by writing "VOID" on its face and mailing it to Medicare -- Drug Premiums, P.O. Box 9058, Pleasanton, CA 94566-9058.
Those who received a payment by electronic direct deposit can mail a personal check or money order for the overpayment, made payable to MEDICARE, to the above address.
Or they can ask Medicare to directly debit the amount from their personal bank account by calling 866-292-8080 toll-free to make arrangements.
Medicare beneficiaries who already returned the payment are asked to call that number and alert a Medicare operator.
Monthly installments may be arranged if repaying the full amount is a hardship, Medicare said. Call 866-292-8080 and Medicare operators will assist in forming a payment plan.
Isles to be sister state with Isabela province
Gov. Linda Lingle and Gov. Grace Padaca of Isabela province in the Philippines were to sign a sister-state agreement this afternoon at the Philippine Consulate in Nuuanu.
Isabela, a province in northern Luzon, has a population of about 1.16 million, according to the province's Web site.
It is hoped the sister-state relationship will help develop trade, education, agriculture, tourism, health and other ties between Hawaii and Isabela.
Families of DUI victims to join checkpoints
Big Island police will be joined by surviving relatives of victims killed by drunken drivers during some of the Police Department's DUI checkpoints this Labor Day weekend.
The relatives will wave posters and help police pass out fliers with information about the tragedies surrounding the loss of their loved ones, the department said in a news release.
Among the relatives will be Theresa "Gigi" Macion, whose brother, Danny Padayao, a Honolulu police officer, was killed by a drunken driver in 2001 while setting up flares to secure a traffic accident scene.
Within weeks her sister, Miriam "Nani" Fernandez, was killed by an impaired driver on Queen Kaahumanu Highway.
Also handing out fliers will be Sandra Todd, whose son Steven Rapoza died in a 1996 Hilo crash with a man who was under the influence of both alcohol and cocaine.
The efforts are part of a nationwide campaign called "Drunk Driving: Over the Limit. Under Arrest."
Big Island police also plan to patrol public parks to look for both underage drinkers and adults who are too intoxicated to drive home.
As of Monday, Big Island police had made 805 DUI arrests for the year, compared with a revised total of 662 arrests at this time last year.
SHINING STARS
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Island Pacific Academy students Carly Leonors, left, and brother Calen explore the new upper-level biology lab during an open house at Island Pacific Academy in Kapolei, showcasing the school's new middle- and upper-level building.
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Kapolei's Island Pacific holds open house
Island Pacific Academy in Kapolei held an open house Tuesday for the public to view its new, $12 million state-of-the-art building for middle- and upper-school classes.
The academy has grown from 200 students in 2004 to 530 this year with the addition of ninth-graders, who will become its first graduating high school class in 2010.
The building boasts a high-tech, cutting-edge design and the latest technology, according to Headmaster Dan White. It is the first fully accredited, independent, nondenominational college preparatory school in West Oahu.
Matthew Iacchei, a graduate student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, has been awarded a Science to Achieve Results fellowship from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
He was one of 112 students chosen from more than 1,300 applicants in the nation.
"Shining Stars" runs Sunday through Thursday.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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WEST OAHU
Waipahu boy, 16, faces gun charges
Authorities charged a 16-year-old Waipahu boy who allegedly stole a handgun that another student had brought to school Tuesday.
Police said a 15-year-old boy had taken the 9-mm handgun from a garment bag in his father's home and brought it to his Waipahu school. The boy had bragged about the gun in school, police said.
Later, at about 2 p.m., while off campus, the older boy confronted the younger boy, stole the gun and then sold it on the street for $60, police said.
Police arrested the older boy for investigation of first-degree theft. The father, 38, did not pursue theft charges against his son, but police did arrest him for investigation of negligent storage of a firearm, a felony.
The boy was charged yesterday afternoon on negligent storage of a firearm, a Class C felony.
HONOLULU
Bomb squad called to Fern Street home
The police bomb squad was called to the McCully area Tuesday night to investigate a suspicious device found in a home.
Police said that at about 7:30 p.m. a man who was renovating his Fern Street home found what he said looked like a pipe bomb.
Police closed Fern Street and several surrounding streets while the bomb squad removed the device. It was later determined to be a military training device. Police planned to turn over the device to the military, a spokeswoman said.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Big Isle crews stop South Kohala fire
Big Island firefighters battled a brush fire Tuesday night that scorched about five acres and came within 120 feet of homes in Puako, South Kohala.
About 20 county and federal firefighters were joined by volunteers just before 9 p.m. along Puako Beach Access Road. The fire was brought under control about two hours and 40 minutes later and extinguished by 4:37 a.m. yesterday. No structures were burned.
[ THE COURTS ]
U.S. prisoners indicted for property damage
Three men convicted in state and federal court for violent crimes allegedly caused more than $1,000 in damage to the recreation cage at the federal detention center in March, according to court documents.
Bryson Jose, Robert Kupahu and Sean Matsunaga were indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury in an incident that occurred earlier this year.
Details of the March 17 incident were not available. Federal prosecutors could not be reached for comment.
Jose is currently serving a life term in federal prison for his role in the shooting death of an Army pilot in June 1998.
John Latchum and his family were vacationing at the Waianae Recreation Center cabins when a group of males tried to break in. Latchum was shot in the heart when he went outside and yelled at the fleeing boys. Jose was one of three boys convicted in connection with Latchum's murder and was considered the leader.
Kupahu is awaiting trial in federal court for conspiring with others to smuggle drugs and contraband into the federal detention center. He was convicted in state court of first-degree assault in 2004.
Matsunaga was convicted in federal court for his role in a July 1999 takeover robbery and shootout with police at the Kahala American Savings Bank.
Indictment describes drugs hidden in car
Fourteen pounds of methamphetamine was hidden in the drive shaft of a car that was shipped from California to Hawaii last month, according to federal court documents.
A federal grand jury indicted John Gouveia Jr., Jose Perez and Matthew Hernandez yesterday in a superseding indictment for conspiring to distribute the drugs.
Perez and Hernandez allegedly traveled to Hawaii from California on July 26 to pick up the car. Gouveia and Perez allegedly tried to remove the drive shaft the next day.