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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
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Kahuku Hospital to get $950,000
Kahuku Hospital will get $950,000 in emergency funds that will allow it to remain open through May under a bill signed into law by Gov. Linda Lingle.
The goal is to eventually have the 25-bed private hospital be run by the state as part of Hawaii Health Systems Corp.
The legislation to keep the facility running was prompted by the hospital's announcement in November that it would be forced to close because of serious financial troubles.
Senate Bill 1260 passed 25-0 out of the Senate last month and advanced unanimously out of the House.
Man is convicted in 'ice' sale
A federal District Court jury has convicted a 34-year-old man of drug charges stemming from a sale of more than a half-pound of crystal methamphetamine to an undercover police officer.
Lawrence Sheldon was arrested Dec. 5 after delivering "ice" to the agent at the Foodland parking lot on Beretania Street, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Sheldon, who was convicted last week, had sold smaller quantities of the drug at least three other times, the department said.
Sheldon was charged for conspiring to distribute ice and distributing the drug.
He faces a mandatory 10 years in jail and up to life imprisonment on each charge. His sentencing has been scheduled for Aug. 6 before Judge Michael Seabright.
SHINING STARS
Teen honored for battling animal cruelty
Alvin Park, 15, of Mililani has won the Outstanding Activist Award from peta2, the world's largest youth animal rights organization, for his fight to get Kentucky Fried Chicken to stop its suppliers' alleged abuse of chickens and the fur industry's cruel practices. Park has organized peta2's international "Kentucky Fried Cruelty" campaign and held regular protests at local restaurants. He also has protested the Canadian seal hunt and the Jungle Fun store at Ala Moana Center, which sells toys made of rabbit fur.
Kailua High School's Surfrider Robotics team and teacher David Izumi were honored before the state House of Representatives for placing among the top 10 winners in an international ocean technology contest. They were winners in an underwater remote-operated vehicle in two competitions last year.
Team members are Jacob Pantastico, Keoni Hall, Zachary Fischer, Trevor Johnson and Nathan Franco, who participated in the international contest. State winners were Dalfred Kaipo, Nicholas Poleshaj, Alex Vallejo-Sanderson, Shalynn Romano, Kahue Kaopuiki, Noah Park, Sen-Katsu Takata and John Trueman. Joner Castillo, Godwin Pirga and Jill Springer also helped in design and construction.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Firefighters entered the Piikoi Tower through the parking garage entrance on Piikoi Street on Saturday night. A fire gutted one apartment.
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Tower fire alarm apparently failed
Matthew Walker wants to know why the pull stations for the fire alarm in a Makiki high-rise did not work Saturday night when a fire gutted one apartment and damaged at least two others.
Walker, an owner at the 120-unit Piikoi Tower where the fire occurred, was collecting resident signatures yesterday to press for an explanation from the resident association and manager.
"We want to know what happened," he said yesterday in front of the apartment at 1556 Piikoi St.
The fire alarm at the 20-story building did not sound until a central manual switch was turned on, said Marcie Farias, president of the Piikoi Tower Association.
"I got a call. I went down and turned on the switch," she said. "That's the first thing I thought of."
Farias did not know whether the switch was a power switch or a manual override. Finding out why the alarm system, which passed a safety inspection last year, failed to initially sound was a "foremost priority," she said.
The fire started at about 7:40 p.m. in Unit 707, an unoccupied one-bedroom apartment. It damaged an upper unit as well and led to water damage in the unit below, said Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Terry Seelig.
No one was injured in the fire, and firefighters had it under control less than 30 minutes after the call. The building does not have a sprinkler system. Seelig said the manager told him there were some problems with the alarm system, which had malfunctioned before by turning on without being pulled. The cause and damage of the fire were still under investigation yesterday, he said.
WINDWARD OAHU
Man allegedly hits wife with golf club
Police arrested a 33-year-old Kaneohe man yesterday for allegedly hitting his wife with a golf club.
At about 7 p.m. the man and 34-year-old woman were arguing about the custody of their children when the man struck her with the club, police said. She was taken to the Castle Medical Center in stable condition with injuries to her head. The man was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault.
HONOLULU
Man allegedly tries to shoot wife
A 47-year-old Honolulu man allegedly attempted to murder his wife Sunday morning by shooting a gun at her in her apartment near Queen and Beretania streets, police said.
The 37-year-old woman was walking past her kitchen to her bathroom when her estranged husband grabbed and bound her with tape, then cut her stomach with a knife, police said. The man then fired at her with a gun but missed and fled the area, police said.
An ambulance took the woman to the hospital with a surface cut on her stomach, police said. Police arrested the man on suspicion of attempted murder and kidnapping.
Gunfire in street leads to arrest
Police arrested a 22-year-old Honolulu man yesterday who allegedly fired a gun near Keeaumoku Street. Police responded to a report of a man firing a gun at about 2 a.m. and spotted the man, who fit the description of the suspect. Police found the pistol on the man during a pat-down, police said. The man was arrested on suspicion of several gun charges and five warrants.
Man hit on head with metal object
Police arrested a 19-year-old man after he allegedly attacked a 22-year-old man Saturday with a weapon and damaged his vehicle near Kona and Pensacola streets.
The victim reported to police that the younger man damaged his vehicle and then used a metal object to strike him on his head at about 3:10 a.m.
The man sustained substantial bodily injury and was treated at the hospital, police said. The younger man was arrested at his home on suspicion of second-degree assault and third-degree criminal property damage.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Kauai man starts out-of-control fire
A Kauai man admitted he started a rubbish fire that got out of control Saturday and burned about 50 acres of private land on Kauai's North Shore.
Wainiha resident Ray "Kuna" Harada Jr. was cited for illegal burning after admitting to police that he was burning rubbish when the fire spread onto private land along Wainiha Powerhouse Road, a Kauai news release said.
Firefighters brought the fire under control at about midnight Saturday night, six hours after it started. They extinguished the fire by 2 a.m.