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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
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Tainted site won't be developed
Landowner James Campbell Co. has agreed to refrain from developing an area of Central Oahu for housing or hospitals to prevent exposure to contaminated soil and groundwater, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced yesterday.
The development ban at the Del Monte site covered by the federal Superfund environmental cleanup law also applies to schools, including day-care centers, and other projects intended for use by vulnerable individuals, the EPA said.
Under a consent decree, no construction will be allowed that damages or interferes with the cleanup of the groundwater and soils at the site.
The EPA placed the Del Monte site on the national Superfund list in 1994 because of concern about contamination to groundwater that is a source of drinking water.
The Kunia Well was disconnected from Oahu's drinking water supply system in 1980 when contamination was discovered and the EPA was informed of a 1977 spill of nearly 500 gallons of pesticides within 60 feet of the well. In 2005, a separate consent decree was negotiated with Del Monte Fresh Produce Inc. to clean up soil and groundwater contamination.
West Bank occupation protested
Local activists marched to the Prince Kuhio Federal Building yesterday to petition Hawaii's Congressional delegation for a change in the government's support of Israel.
Letters delivered to the offices of Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka and U.S. Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Mazie Hirono called for "an end to U.S. military, economic, diplomatic and corporate support for Israel's illegal 40-year occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem." They called for "a change in U.S. policy to one that supports a just peace between Palestinians and Israelis based on equality, human rights and international law."
The Honolulu demonstration by about 50 people was planned to coincide with rallies in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere on the anniversary of Israel's 1967 Six-Day War with Egypt, Syria and Jordan.
"It is this conflict which is helping to fuel the violence in Iraq, sending young men and women from our bases in Hawaii to kill and be killed," said the Rev. Neal MacPherson, pastor of Church of the Crossroads, in a statement read outside the federal building. "The situation in Palestine-Israel is as near to us as our wallets."
The United States has spent a massive amount of money -- almost $100 billion -- to support Israel since 1967, said George Hudes of Hawaii Jewish Voice for Peace.
"It is the longest military occupation in history," said Margaret Brown, one of the organizers.
Hudes, MacPherson and Brown are members of Friends of Sabeel, an international group that supports an ecumenical movement in Jerusalem.
Kaiser High offers SAT program
Kaiser High School will have a four-week SAT program this summer.
The classes, which are open to all students grades 8 through 12, will meet from noon to 2:30 p.m. on Sundays between June 17 and July 8.
Tuition is $80 and includes two textbooks and test materials. Registration forms are available at Kaiser High's main office or by calling 261-6666.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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Puna boy killed in stabbing
Hilo police arrested a 38-year-old Puna man in the fatal stabbing of a Puna boy and the wounding of a 34-year-old woman yesterday, who remained hospitalized last night.
Police said the man had not yet been charged, and would not say for what offenses he was arrested.
The woman was taken to Hilo Medical Center and was in guarded condition last night. The boy was pronounced dead at 5:30 p.m., police said. Police did not give the age of the boy.
Puna officers responded to a report of a disturbance in the Ainaloa subdivision at 11:30 a.m. yesterday. Hilo detectives are investigating. The man was being held in the Hilo cellblock.
Anyone with information concerning this case is asked to call Detective Ian Lee Loy at 961-2381 or the nonemergency police number at 935-3311. Anonymous calls may be made to Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 (Hilo) or 329-8181 (Kona).
HONOLULU
Couple is caught in shoplifting case
Police arrested a couple who were allegedly shoplifting Sunday at an Ala Moana store.
About 6 p.m., store security saw a couple stealing merchandise and stopped them as they left the store, police said. During the investigation, officers found what they suspected were drugs on the woman, who is 44 years old and from Waianae, police said.
She was arrested for investigation of second-degree theft and drug violations. A 52-year-old Ewa Beach man who was with the woman was arrested for investigation of second-degree theft.
Man found hiding following break-in
Police arrested a 28-year-old Kalihi man who was found hiding in a yard after the alarm at a Nuuanu home went off Sunday night.
The alarm sounded about 9:20 p.m., police said.
Police officers saw signs of forced entry at the home then found the suspect hiding in the enclosed yard and arrested him for investigation of first-degree burglary.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Crash victim ID'd as Oklahoma man
KIHEI, Maui » An Oklahoma man who died in a head-on collision on Maui Sunday has been identified as Jerry Killough, 68, of Oklahoma City.
Three other people were critically injured, police said.
Police traffic investigator Lawrence Becraft said that at 4:52 p.m., Killough was driving south on Piilani Highway near Alanui Kealii Street in South Maui, when he crashed head-on with a pickup truck going in the opposite direction that had crossed the center line.
Killough's 63-year-old wife Sharon and his 14-year-old grandson Brandon Roberts, also of Oklahoma, were listed in critical condition.
Also listed in critical condition was Kaleiakahiwalani Jeremiah , a 4-month-old infant who was riding in the pickup truck.
Killough's death is the 12th traffic fatality in Maui County, compared with eight at the same time last year.
CENTRAL OAHU
Missing hunters emerge unharmed
Three hunters who did not return from a trail near Mililani Technology Park on Sunday night ended up driving out yesterday afternoon, shaken but safe.
Rescue and search crews, including three helicopters and two engines, from the police and fire departments started looking for them just before 8 a.m., when one of their fathers called to report them missing.
The 22-year-old man and two 17-year-old boys went hunting around noon Sunday with six dogs and hunting knives. They go hunting on that trail frequently, parents said, but this was the first time they didn't return by nightfall.
Just before 10:50 a.m. yesterday, a police helicopter located the three returning to their truck.
They had no flashlights and the only cell phone on them had gotten wet. They did the right thing, firefighters said, by staying put and sleeping rather than wandering lost in the dark.