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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
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Top general bids Marines farewell
About 340 Kaneohe Marines and sailors who were leaving for Iraq received an unexpected, high-ranking sendoff at Hickam Air Force Base over the weekend.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his wife, Lynne, who were on a stopover from a flight from China, rushed over to greet the departing Marines and sailors, according to the American Forces Press Service.
"I couldn't not come to say hello to you," Pace told the troops, according to the Pentagon press agency. "I had to come over and wish you good luck."
The departing Marines and sailors are with 1st Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, and are scheduled for a seven-month deployment in Iraq.
The American Forces Press Service reported that Pace's visit was warmly received by the troops.
"It's great that the general and his lady came by to see us off," Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Rivera, a radio operator, was quoted as saying.
Obama's books are campus hits
Books by Hawaii-schooled Barack Obama occupy the No. 1 and No. 3 spots in the top 10 books being read on college campuses, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
"The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" occupies the top spot, while "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" is No. 3.
A U.S. senator from Illinois and Democratic presidential contender, Obama was born in Hawaii and graduated from Punahou School in 1979.
Other top reads, according to the journal's March 23 edition, include Kurt Vonnegut's "A Man Without a Country" (2); "The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography," by actor Sidney Poitier (4); and "Campus CEO: The Student Entrepreneur's Guide to Launching a Multimillion-Dollar Business," by Randal Pinkett (5).
The Chronicle's list is compiled by information from bookstores on 28 U.S. college campuses.
Experts to monitor Big Isle forest
A rain forest on the Big Island is one of 20 sites across the country selected by the National Science Foundation as part of the National Ecological Observatory Network, the University of Hawaii announced in a news release.
NEON is a 30-year effort to monitor natural landscapes across a wide range of ecosystems in the United States. The Laupahoehoe forest was the only tropical rain forest selected as an observatory and is one of 20 sites to be established and funded by the National Science Foundation.
"Selection of the Laupahoehoe site is very important for the state of Hawaii because it will allow us to find answers to some of our islands' most serious and pressing environmental issues," said Becky Ostertag, a UH-Hilo science co-leader of the project, in the news release. "These include climate change, biodiversity loss, invasive species and much more."
More than 80 researchers, educators and land managers, led by scientists from the U.S. Forest Service Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry and the Universities of Hawaii at Manoa and Hilo, worked on the proposal that led to the selection of the 12,000-acre Laupahoehoe site.
United Way to offer items for bid
Gift certificates, dance lessons, hotel giveaways, spa packages, music, artwork and season tickets for University of Hawaii games are some of the items available to bid on at Aloha United Way's annual fundraising auction taking place now until April 25.
The funds from the auction, along with those from AUW's annual fundraising campaign, will go toward the organization's mission to build a stronger, healthier community.
Visit auw.cmarket.com to participate in the auction or to make a donation to Aloha United Way, or call AUW's marketing department at 543-2203.
SHINING STARS
Kahakui wins environmentalist honor
Hawaiian outrigger canoe paddler and environmentalist Donna Kahiwaokawailani "Kahiwa" Kahakui was honored this month as the U.S. winner of an international award recognizing women who do good things for the environment.
Kahakui was the American first-prize winner in the Yves Rocher Foundation's "Women of the Earth" awards, which recognized women who have made significant contributions to preserving nature. She attended the foundation's award ceremony in France earlier this month.
Mayor Mufi Hannemann proclaimed March 23 Donna Kahakui Day, and the state Legislature also recognized her work.
Kahakui is the founder of Kai Makana, which translates as "gift from the sea," an organization dedicated to the educating people about preserving the ocean and marine life. Projects have included beach and reef cleanups, educational events and awareness-raising events. Kahakui has made multiple long-distance paddles in a one-person outrigger canoe to draw attention to Kai Makana's programs and its goal of protecting the ocean.
Her paddles have been in the Hawaiian Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand and New York. More about the Kai Makana program can be seen at www.kaimakana.org.
"Shining Stars" runs Mondays through Thursdays.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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WINDWARD OAHU
Neighbor's car kills woman in driveway
An 80-year-old Kauai woman died Sunday afternoon after being struck by a car in her driveway earlier in the day.
Police said the Puhi woman was transported to the Queen's Medical Center, where she died.
Kauai police identified the woman as Alepia Motilla. She had been standing outside her home on Ono Street at about 8:30 a.m. when her 60-year-old neighbor accidentally hit her with his car.
Police said the man reversed his car into Motilla's driveway and mistakenly stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake.
The man hit Motilla, a parked truck and the corner of a house, police said.
Motilla received major injuries and was initially taken to Wilcox Memorial Hospital. She was later airlifted to Queen's, where she died at about 4 p.m.
LEEWARD OAHU
Driver in H-1 crash dies in hospital
A 26-year-old male driver died yesterday at the Queen's Medical Center from injuries sustained March 10 in an H-1 freeway accident -- the second person to die in the crash.
The accident occurred at 5:07 a.m. in the westbound lanes of H-1 near the Farrington Highway overpass. A 25-year-old male passenger died in the crash.
The driver's death marked the 24th Oahu traffic fatality of the year, compared with 20 at the same time last year.
Dead hiker was Mililani man, 68
The city Medical Examiner's Office said the hiker who died Sunday was a 68-year-old Mililani man, but did not release his identity.
The man apparently suffered a heart attack while hiking in Waianae Valley, a Fire Department spokesman said.
Two hikers found the man and tried to resuscitate him. He was airlifted to Hawaii Medical Center West, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy is scheduled for today.
CENTRAL OAHU
Threat to husband leads to arrest
Police arrested a 53-year-old woman who allegedly threatened her 47-year-old husband with a handgun Sunday in Wahiawa.
At about 11 a.m. the couple was arguing when the woman threatened her husband with a handgun and then left in her vehicle, police said. The husband called police, who contacted the woman on her cell phone. The woman turned herself in to police at about 3:30 p.m.
Police arrested her on suspicion of first-degree terroristic threatening and possession of an unregistered firearm.