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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
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Airport work to increase noise
The state Department of Transportation is warning downtown and Ewa residents about possible increased noise and air traffic because a Honolulu Airport runway will be closed next week for airfield sign installation.
Runway 4L-22R will be closed between 9 p.m. and midnight Sunday to Sept. 21. Arriving and departing aircraft will be diverted to Runway 8L-26R.
City clerk notices more absentee voters
Nearly 60,000 Oahu voters have already cast an absentee ballot in this year's primary election, according to City Clerk Denise De Costa.
The number of absentee voters is up sharply, De Costa said. Two years ago, a total of 55,392 voters cast absentee ballots in the primary election.
De Costa reminded absentee voters to mail in their ballots as soon as possible. Mail-in ballots that don't arrive by Sept. 23, primary election day, will not be counted, De Costa said.
Monday was the first day of walk-in absentee voting and De Costa said the number of walk-in voters was almost identical to the first day numbers two years ago.
Honolulu Hale had 519 voters, Pearlridge Center had 227, Windward Mall had 304 and Kapolei Hale had 89 for a total of 1,139 voters. Two years ago, a total of 1,161 voters cast absentee votes on the first day of walk-in voting.
5 candidates penalized for late finance filing
Five candidates for state office will have to pay a $25 late filing penalty fee for failing to file a financial disclosure statement by the Sept. 5 deadline.
The state Ethics Commission received statements from 192 candidates about their income, debts and financial interest in property or businesses.
Paul J. Mattes, a nonpartisan candidate for governor, and four Republican candidates for the state House failed to meet the statutory deadline. The tardy candidates are seeking the following House seats: Nolan Y. Kido, 18th District (Hahaione-Aina Haina); Rose I.A. Niimoto, 24th District (Manoa); Collin C.O. Wong, 28th District (Kakaako-Downtown) and Kurt D.H. Zuttermeister, 49th District (Maunawili-Kaneohe).
The filing deadline for Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee candidates is Oct. 17, 20 days before the general election.
The public may view financial disclosure forms at the Ethics Commission office during weekday business hours. The office is in Suite 970 of the American Savings Bank Tower, 1001 Bishop St.
Meeting to discuss identity protection
Windward residents are invited to attend an informational meeting on how to protect their identification information, and their children from Internet predators.
State Reps. Pono Chong, Ken Ito (D, Heeia-Kaneohe) and Tommy Waters (D, Lanikai-Waimanalo) are sponsoring the "Learn How to Fight Back" meetings in partnership with the Honolulu Police Department.
Both safety issues will be covered from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Kailua High School cafeteria.
Chong (D, Maunawili-Kaneohe) said, "Identity theft is a serious crime that has the potential to ruin lives, especially seniors."
SHINING STARS
ARTS FIRST Hawaii gets $1M to aid schools in promoting the arts in reading and writing
The
U.S. Department of Education has awarded more than $1 million to
ARTS FIRST Hawaii for an arts education and research project called "ALA (Arts and Literacy for All) Project." (The Hawaiian meaning of "ala" also means "a path or road" or "to awaken or renew," according to a news release.)
The grant is for $275,000 to be awarded over four years to eight schools in the state. It will promote the integration of arts into reading and writing lessons.
Partners of ARTS FIRST include the Hawaii Arts Alliance, the state Department of Education, University of Hawaii College of Education, UH College of Arts and Humanities, Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools.
Ramon Christopher V. Go, an undergraduate researcher in the Pacific Region Diabetes Education Program, won the best oral presentation award at the recent National Institutes of Health STEP-UP Summer Research Symposium in Colorado. He is a research scholar in the Pacific Biosciences Research Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
"Shining Stars" runs Monday through Thursday.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Police seek suspects in school burglary
Kona police are asking for help in finding the suspects who broke into the Ke Kula 'O 'Ehunuikaimalino Hawaiian Immersion School in Kona between 6 p.m. Sunday and 7 a.m. Monday.
A school custodian reported shortly after 7 a.m. Monday she found a window open in the school on Konawaena School Road, police said.
The burglars got away with two laptop computers, a digital camera, a video camera, a printer and ink cartridges.
Burglars also broke a lock on a storage shed and removed a blower, a trimmer/edger and a weed whacker.
The stolen items' value is estimated at more than $5,000.
Anyone with information about the burglary is asked to call officer Steven Chung-Hoon at 326-4646, ext. 253 or the police nonemergency number at 935-3311. Anonymous calls may be made to CrimeStoppers at 329-8181 in Kona or 961-8300 in Hilo.
House destroyed in fire on Big Island
No one was injured when a fire destroyed a house yesterday morning in Keaau on the Big Island.
When firefighters arrived, the single-story building was fully engulfed in flames, fire officials said.
Firefighters responded to the 8:47 a.m. alarm and brought the fire under control at 9:12 a.m.
Man's suicide follows rape in same building
WAILUKU » Maui police detectives were investigating a connection between the apparent suicide of a man and rape of a woman in south Maui.
Stephen Mendoza, 38, plunged to his death from a sixth-floor balcony of the Island Surf condominium in Kihei at 4:57 a.m. Sunday, police said.
Police Lt. Glenn Cuomo said Mendoza had told acquaintances in the condominium that he feared he would be blamed for a rape.
Mendoza lived at a residence on Kahahone Place where a woman had been beaten and raped in her bedroom a few hours earlier, Cuomo said.
The woman, 40, beaten on the head and face, spent more than a day in the hospital before her release, Cuomo said.
HONOLULU
Man held in alleged car assault on officer
Police arrested a 51-year-old man after he allegedly struck a law enforcement officer with his vehicle.
About 10:18 p.m. Saturday, police said, an officer with the Department of Land and Natural Resources was issuing the suspect a parking ticket on Hobron Lane.
The suspect reversed and struck the officer on his knee. Police said the officer, 46, sustained minor injuries.
Police arrested the 51-year-old man on suspicion of assault against a law enforcement officer in the first degree.
[ COURTS ]
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Lugavai Momoe, left, Dillon Lepolo and Julius Mitchell were arraigned in District Court on Sept. 6. Circuit Judge Derrick Chan yesterday increased bail to $500,000 for Lepolo and Momoe and to $1 million for Mitchell, who is a convicted felon currently on federal probation.
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Bail in beating death rises after indictments
A Waianae man who died after being beaten and stomped by three men over a traffic incident died of a heart attack brought on by the attack, prosecutors say.
Dillon K. Lepolo, 22, Lugavai L. Momoe, 32, both of Waianae, and Julius F. Mitchell, of Makaha, were indicted by an Oahu grand jury yesterday in the Sept. 1 death of Roger Haudenshild.
Haudenshild was involved in a traffic-related scuffle with Lepolo, who promised to return with friends to kill him, prosecutors said. Lepolo and the other two males allegedly caught up with Haudenshild near Waianae Market and attacked him.
Haudenshild suffered a fractured tooth, a black eye, cuts and injury to the back of head, possibly from hitting the ground, prosecutors said.
An autopsy found Haudenshild died of a heart attack brought on by the beating, said Deputy Prosecutor Kathy Kealoha.
Circuit Judge Derrick Chan increased bail to $500,000 from $100,000 for Lepolo and Momoe and to $1 million for Mitchell, a convicted felon currently on federal probation.
Kealoha sought the bail increase, arguing that the trio presents a danger to the community due to the seriousness and brutality of their conduct.
Mitchell has an extensive criminal record, including three auto-theft convictions and a weapons violation in 1999, Kealoha said. He is currently on federal probation until Oct. 4, 2009.
Charity fundraiser accused of more theft
A former fundraiser for the Salvation Army charged with stealing more than $150,000 in donations is facing additional criminal charges.
An Oahu grand jury indicted Timothy Peter Janusz, 48, yesterday in connection with four more victims, including two elderly women. He is charged with five counts of second-degree theft, first-degree theft, racketeering, money laundering and second-degree forgery.
According to Deputy Prosecutor Chris Van Marter, Janusz allegedly directed donations of $12,000 and $2,000 from separate donors to be deposited into an account that he had set up. The name of his account is similar to that of the company that manages and oversees annuities that donors make to the Salvation Army.
Janusz is also accused of obtaining the 50 percent interest in land on the Big Island valued at $127,000 from a donor, selling the property for thousands below the market value, and depositing the $20,000 in proceeds into his account.
In another charge, he is accused of forging mileage reimbursement forms for nearly 1 1/2 years and receiving $10,000 in reimbursements he was allegedly not entitled to.