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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
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Boat rides are free at USS Arizona
The USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center will be offering free evening boat rides at Pearl Harbor for three days starting this weekend. The harbor-side tours being offered Saturday, Sunday and Monday will showcase ships decked out with holiday decorations and lights. The boats leave the visitor center each evening at 7, 7:45 and 8:30 p.m. Free tickets are limited to available seats and distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis beginning at 6:30 p.m. on the day of each tour.
Box giveaway promotes proper grease disposal
The city Department of Environmental Services will give out free oil change boxes starting tomorrow at various Foodland and Times supermarket locations with the purchase of a turkey, roast or ham.
The free boxes will be passed out to encourage the public to dispose fat, cooking oil and grease in the boxes and in the trash instead of dumping it down the drain.
Throwing it in the trash would help cut down on the number of sewage spills on Oahu, officials said.
Dozens of sewage spills that have occurred on Oahu were attributed to cooking oil and grease that were poured down the drain, according to city officials.
Six years ago, the FOG (fat, oil and grease) program was implemented to address the problem. The number of sewage spills attributed to fat, oil and grease has declined, but officials said there is room for improvement.
About 1,400 boxes were passed out to shoppers in November before Thanksgiving, said Eric Takamura, director of Environmental Services.
The following is a schedule of the times and locations where oil change boxes will be available:
» Tomorrow: From 2 to 7 p.m. at Times in Kahala, Liliha, McCully and Waipahu and Foodland at Market City
» Saturday: From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Times in Kahala, Waimalu and Waipahu and Foodland at Market City
» Dec. 18: From 2 to 7 p.m. at Times in Kahala, Liliha, McCully and Waipahu and Foodland in Liliha
» Dec. 19 and 20: From 2 to 7 p.m. at Times in Kahala, Liliha, McCully and Waimalu and Foodland in Kaneohe
Families testify in killer's sentencing
Family members of murder victim Spc. Felicia LaDuke and convicted murderer Spc. Jeffery White testified yesterday in the sentencing phase of White's trial.
On Tuesday in a Wheeler Army Airfield courtroom, a jury found White, a truck driver with the 325th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, guilty of premeditated murder involving LaDuke. He faces life in prison or life with an eligibility of parole in 20 years.
On Oct. 7, 2005, White and LaDuke, a motor transport operator with the 25th Transportation Company, 524th Combat Support Battalion, headed to Kaena Point in LaDuke's rental car. White repeatedly punched her and then strangled her. He pushed her body out of the car and ran over her three times.
Both had been involved in a dispute over custody of their son, Elijah.
Some members in the courtroom gallery and the jury wiped away tears when LaDuke's father, Steve, and stepmother, Donna LaDuke, testified.
LaDuke drove caravans to Fallujah and Baghdad and told stories of fallen soldiers in the Iraqi war, LaDuke's father said. "When she returned to Hawaii, I thought she would be safe."
White's mother, Rhonda Henderson, said, "No mother wants to hear their child will be behind bars for the rest of his life."
"I have serious remorse for the (LaDuke's) parents," she said.
White's sentencing was to reconvene at 9 a.m. today.
Mysterious irritant affects Mililani school
The state Department of Education was investigating whether a pepper spray may have caused several Mililani Mauka Elementary students to feel eye, nose and throat irritation yesterday.
School officials found a can on the campus that resembled a mace or pepper spray, just hours after about a dozen A-Plus students began coughing and complaining that their eyes were stinging, said Greg Knudsen, spokesman for the state Department of Education.
Earlier in the day, six other students were taken to Wahiawa General Hospital after they complained about a noxious odor that caused them to experience a burning sensation in their noses and throats. Those students, including one who vomited, were treated and released, said the school's principal, Carol Petersen. "They are all fine," she said.
The group of students in the after-school program did not need to be taken to a hospital after washing off at the school, Knudsen said.
After the morning students felt sick, a Hazmat team searched for the source but did not find it. The can was found after the A-Plus children became sick in the afternoon and Knudsen said it is possible that the two incidents were linked.
According to Knudsen, one student said he had seen a boy "spraying something."
"This is just speculation at this point," he said. "The investigation is ongoing."
Classes at the school, which enrolls 709 students, were not canceled.
Box jellyfish arrive on Oahu shores today
Ocean safety officials are warning beachgoers about a box jellyfish influx for some Oahu beaches today, but expected it to diminish tomorrow.
The Ocean Safety Division said 20 box jellyfish were found yesterday morning in the pond areas of Kuhio Beach. An official said this month's influx, which is smaller than previous months, has already begun to decline. Areas affected by box jellyfish include Hanauma Bay, Pokai Bay, Makaha Surfing Beach, and Waimea Bay.
SHINING STARS
Dinsmore elected as chairman of KCAA board
The Board of Trustees of KCAA Pre-Schools of Hawaii elected
Jeffrey C. Dinsmore of the McNaughton Group as its chairman for 2006 to 2007;
Kimo Steinwascher of Kaneohe Ranch, Co., Ltd., vice chairman;
Susan Scott, a community volunteer, treasurer; and
Robert S. Ostrem, Jr. of Jerry Hay, Inc., secretary.
New trustee Lisa Yogi, a professor in the Early Childhood Program at Honolulu Community College, was also elected to the board.
Hawaii Theatre Stars, a volunteer support group for the historic Hawaii Theatre, elected Jeffrie Jones its 2006 to 2007 president. The director of philanthropy for Hawaii Pacific Health/Straub Clinic & Hospital takes over from founding president Karen Huffman, who will remain on the board.
Sandra Johnston will serve as vice president; Barbara Wong, treasurer; Mele Pochereva, recording secretary; and Iris Iwana, corresponding secretary.
Waikiki Health Center's 11th annual Back-to-School campaign raised $32,000 to provide physical exams, immunizations and general medical care to needy and homeless children. Gifts included $5,000 each from co-sponsors Longs Drugs and University Health Alliance, and $2,000 from the Hawaii Medical Service Association.
"Shining Stars" runs Monday through Thursday.
THE GOOD NEIGHBOR FUND
Monetary gifts may be sent to:
Honolulu Star-Bulletin's
Good Neighbor Fund
c/o Helping Hands Hawaii
P.O. Box 17780
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817-0780
Clothing, household items and gifts can be donated at the Community Clearinghouse, 2100 Nimitz Highway.
You may also participate in the Adopt-A-Family program, in which businesses, employee groups, social clubs, families or individuals can help a specific family.
Call 440-3804 for information about the program or to arrange for pickup of large items.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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HONOLULU
Woman sought in Makiki bank robbery
Police are looking for a woman who robbed the Makiki branch of First Hawaiian Bank Tuesday.
Police said the woman entered the bank at 1111 S. Beretania St. at about 2:41 p.m. and passed a note to a teller demanding money. Police said the suspect also threatened the teller, saying she had a gun and that she had an accomplice nearby who was going to hurt the teller if she didn't comply with the demands.
The suspect got away with cash, police said.
She was described as being in her late 30s, 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing about 100 pounds, with a fair complexion. She was wearing wire-frame prescription glasses, a large white canvas hat, a gray long-sleeve sweatshirt and light colored sneakers.
Marshals nab fugitive in Chicago assault
U.S. marshals in Honolulu on Tuesday arrested a 41-year-old man who allegedly hit a Chicago police officer with a car in April.
The Sheriff's Office in Cook County, Ill., working through their regional U.S. Marshals office, contacted the U.S. Marshals Hawaii Fugitive Task Force after learning that Joseph Costa might be staying in Waikiki.
Deputy marshals arrested Costa and turned him over to the Honolulu Police Department for extradition back to Illinois.
He was arrested on outstanding warrants for aggravated battery on a police officer and aggravated stalking, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
WINDWARD OAHU
Fire scorches home on base in Kaneohe
Fire damaged a home on Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe late yesterday morning.
The fire was reported at 11:08 a.m. yesterday.
The Federal Fire Department, and base Emergency Services and police responded within minutes to the 11:08 a.m. call, a Marine spokesman said. The fire was brought under control within 10 minutes upon firefighters' arrival.
No one was home at the time of the fire. The Marine that lived at the home is away, and his wife and children are on vacation, Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Binford Strickland said. Alternative base housing will be available for the family when they return, he said.
Friends find body of diver off island
The body of a 59-year-old diver was found Tuesday night off Mokolii Island, commonly known as Chinaman's Hat, fire officials said.
Friends found the body of Milton Oshiro of Kaneohe at about 7:40 p.m. just below the surface of the water and brought his body to shore. The fire department was sent to Kualoa Regional Park at about 7:01 p.m. after receiving a call about a missing diver.
Oshiro's daughter told search crews her father normally dives in the area and may have been out in the water from about 9 a.m. and usually returns around 2 p.m.
The cause of death has not been determined.
[THE COURTS]
Dealership attendant charged with theft
It was Jarvis Kanakaole's job as a former lot attendant at Pflueger Honda to wash cars and park them.
But prosecutors say he overstepped his duties when he drove a Dodge Ram pickup off the lot on June 3 and never returned it.
An Oahu grand jury indicted Kanakaole yesterday on charges of unauthorized computer access and auto theft.
In asking the court to set bail at $11,000, Deputy Prosecutor Vickie Kapp said Kanakaole had accessed the dealership's computer system without permission and deleted the truck from the inventory, leading others to believe it had been sold.
Kanakaole later moved the car from the front of the dealership to the back lot. Another employee spotted him driving the truck off the lot, she said.
Kanakaole was subsequently fired, General Sales Manager Don Brower said. The truck was never recovered.
A grand jury bench warrant has been issued for Kanakaole's arrest.
Attorney disbarred over real estate cases
The Hawaii Supreme Court disbarred former Honolulu attorney Stanley K. Yamada Jr. from practicing law, effective Nov. 30.
The factors resulting in his disbarment include lack of competence and diligence, failure to expedite litigation, obey court rulings, deposit client funds in a trust account and cooperate in investigations by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
He also offered an "agreement" to settle an ethics complaint, falsely held himself out as an attorney when he was administratively suspended, misappropriated part of his incarcerated client's claim award and falsely certified that his handling of funds was ethical, the Hawaii Supreme Court announced yesterday.
The cases involved clients in real estate litigation matters. Yamada was ordered to pay $23,763 in restitution to his clients.
Yamada, a graduate of Pepperdine University, was admitted to the Hawaii Bar in October 1981.