|
Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
|
Council wants review on transit
City Council members want the city auditor to examine two city contracts totaling $96.2 million for work on the elevated mass-transit system.
In a letter earlier this month, five Council members asked city Auditor Les Tanaka to review information on contractors and subcontractors that worked with engineering firm PB Americas.
PB Americas, formerly known as Parsons Brinckerhoff, got an $86 million contract for the upcoming preliminary engineering report and final environmental impact statement for the city's proposed $3.7 billion mass-transit system running from Kapolei to Ala Moana. They also were awarded $10.2 million to work on the draft environmental statement.
Council members Barbara Marshall, Romy Cachola, Donovan Dela Cruz, Ann Kobayashi and Charles Djou also introduced a measure to require the administration to show where 40 proposed transit stops will be located.
"It creates awareness and transparency," said Dela Cruz. "We need to be cognizant of the affected communities."
Bill seeks popular-vote rule
A strategy to elect the president of the United States by a popular vote is heading for passage by state lawmakers. But it is likely to be vetoed again by Gov. Linda Lingle.
The House Judiciary Committee approved the measure last week, and it now goes to the full House for consideration. The Senate gave it the go-ahead earlier this month.
The proposal attempts to nullify the Electoral College system by awarding each state's electoral votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote. It would kick in only if states representing a majority of the nation's 538 electoral votes passed laws to make the same change.
Only Maryland and New Jersey have enacted the law so far.
It takes two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override a veto.
Man fined for unreported income
A Hawaii businessman was sentenced for failing to report $3.2 million in gross income to the state Department of Taxation for 2001 through 2005, the department said in a news release.
Honolulu District Judge Russell Nagata ordered Donald M. Naruse to pay combined restitution of $131,267 and fines totaling $8,000.
Naruse was the sole proprietor of Island Power Hawaii from 2001 through part of 2004. He was then president of Island Power Hawaii Inc. in 2004 and 2005.
Tax Director Kurt Kawafuchi said Naruse was responsible for filing annual general excise returns for both companies.
|
Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
|
Gun in diaper bag trips X-ray scan
Big Island police arrested and charged a 58-year-old Puna man after he allegedly carried a loaded .38-caliber pistol in a pink baby diaper bag into the State Building in Hilo.
Security personnel detained Johan Iseger of Nanawale Estates after he placed the bag on the X-ray machine.
Iseger was released after posting $2,000 bail.
Blaze scorches Molokai brush
A brush fire burned 350 acres on Molokai yesterday, a Maui County news release said.
The fire started about 9:30 a.m. in the Moomomi area and was under control by 2 p.m. Two helicopters from the county's Public Works Department made water drops and bulldozers from the department also helped.
No one was injured. The cause was under investigation.
EAST OAHU
Crews airlift hiker off Mariner's Ridge
Firefighters airlifted a 64-year-old hiker from Mariner's Ridge trail yesterday after she hit her head, a fire official said.
The woman was hiking with her husband and a third person when she slipped on rocks at 5:18 p.m. and suffered a head injury, said Honolulu fire Capt. Earle Kealoha.
The Fire Department helicopter took the woman off the mountain to a waiting ambulance at 6:18 p.m., Kealoha said.
WINDWARD OAHU
Woman on boat taken to hospital
City and military rescuers helped an ill woman off a boat yesterday near Kaneohe.
The woman was on a yacht with her husband about a mile from Pyramid Rock west of Marine Corps Base Hawaii, said Honolulu fire Capt. Earle Kealoha.
The man called for help at about 10:35 a.m. because the woman was experiencing nausea and dehydration, Kealoha said.
Military and Fire Department helicopters dropped firefighters onto the yacht. A military boat took the woman back to the base and she was driven to Tripler Hospital at about 11:40 a.m.
LEEWARD OAHUMan and girlfriend accused in assault
A 30-year-old man and his current girlfriend allegedly broke into the Waianae home of the man's ex-girlfriend and assaulted her.
Police arrested the 30-year-old man Friday and are still looking for the other suspect in connection with the Sept. 8 incident.
Police said the man's current girlfriend confronted his 32-year-old ex-girlfriend through a screen door and forced her way into the home to assault the woman.
The man also went into the house and tried to hit his ex-girlfriend with a baseball bat, but missed twice, police said. The woman locked herself in her bedroom, and the suspect and his girlfriend fled.
2 teens accused of raping girl
Police arrested two teenage boys for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl.
The girl told police she went to a 14-year-old boy's home to "hang out," Thursday afternoon at about 1 p.m. While at the Pearl City home, she was allegedly raped by the boy and his 16-year-old brother.
Both boys were arrested Friday night on suspicion of first-degree sexual assault.
CENTRAL OAHU
Man arrested after fight in Mililani
A 29-year-old man was arrested after he threatened and fought with a man he nearly struck with his car, police said.
The victim, another 29-year-old man, was standing in the parking lot of a Mililani-area bar at about 10:35 p.m. Thursday when the suspect drove into the lot while speeding and narrowly missed hitting the victim, police said.
When the victim confronted the suspect, he allegedly pulled out a handgun. The victim told the bar doorman, who then called police.
According to police, when the suspect approached the bar entrance, the two men got into a fight before police arrived. The suspect fled but was later apprehended. A loaded handgun was recovered.