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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff
and wire service
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Group gathers gifts for troops
Operation Homefront of Hawaii is holding a drive beginning tomorrow to collect items for care packages for deployed troops.
Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen should receive the gifts of aloha by July 4, said Vickie Cariello, coordinator of the nonprofit organization started by military spouses in 2001.
The collection of items will run through May, which is Military Appreciation Month.
The kickoff will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange, 4725 Bougainville Drive, where a collection box will be kept. Other collection sites are at all five Lex Brodie's Tire Co. outlets.
Operation Homefront also needs funds for shipping the care packages. It cost the organization about $2,000 to ship a ton of items last year, Cariello said. The items will be packed by June 8.
She said a letter from Spc. Romar Naira of the 72nd Military Police Company expressed his desire to have packages with items not easily found outside Hawaii.
"I know that my fellow locals would love to have some cuttlefish and some mochi crunch snacks or something that can only be found in Hawaii," Naira wrote. "I know that most of us have been away from the islands for about a year or more. So anything from home will be great."
Send cash donations to Operation Homefront of Hawaii, 35 Halawa Drive, Honolulu 96818.
For more information, visit www.operationhomefront.net/hawaii or contact Cariello by calling (866) 569-9185 or e-mailing Hawaii@operationhomefront.net.
Auction to sell forfeited items
A public auction of property forfeited to the state is being held today at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in the Pikake Room by Rosen Auctions.
Inspection of the property begins at 11 a.m., and the auction begins at noon.
Property includes a 2001 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab pickup truck, a 1998 Acura CL two-door coupe, a 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility vehicle and a 1998 Honda Civic four-door sedan. Other items include laptop computers, big-screen TVs, digital and film cameras, sound systems, electronics, tools, jewelry and a deluxe stainless-steel gas grill.
For a list of items, go to www.rosenauctions.com or call Rosen Auctions at 537-2728.
The items are a result of state and county law enforcement agencies' seizures and forfeitures of assets used in or acquired in connection with criminal offenses.
$2M funds Kahului Airport study
Kahului Airport will receive $2 million in federal funds to conduct a noise compatibility study and to update the airport's master plan.
In a news release, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said the last time an airport master plan study was undertaken for the Kahului Airport was in 1993.
The Kona Airport will also receive $1.2 million for improvements to the airfield to ensure safety. Work will be done to portions of taxiways A and G, Runway 17/35 and the north and south aircraft aprons.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Theft of gas on rise on Kauai
KAPAA, Kauai » There has been a sharp increase in the number of reported gas thefts from government and construction vehicles on Kauai, said county officials, who asked the public to watch out as gas prices rise.
To date, the majority of reported gas thefts have been confined to government base yards and construction sites, Kauai Police Assistant Chief Roy Asher said yesterday. The number of thefts was not available.
But since those who have been hit have taken security measures, Kauai officials are concerned that the public could be the next target.
"Unfortunately, as the price of fuel goes up, the likelihood that thieves will target accessible vehicles goes up, too," said Lt. Daniel Fort. "But there are measures that residents and visitors can implement to prevent this from happening to them."
Police say small details, such as parking a vehicle in a well-lit area, avoiding parking with a fuel door obscured and considering buying a locking gas cap, could help keep the gas in the owner's car and not in someone else's.
Anyone convicted of the third-degree theft of gasoline, diesel fuel or other related petroleum products used as propellants could be sentenced up to a year in jail, police officials added.
Car hits police, prompting shots
Big Island police officers fired their guns Thursday night at two women in a car in the Hawaiian Beaches subdivision that struck and slightly injured an officer.
Police arrested a 27-year-old Pahoa woman for investigation of first-degree attempted murder later Thursday night. Police also arrested a 30-year-old Wainaku woman yesterday morning at a Keaau business establishment on suspicion of promoting a dangerous drug.
Police said vice officers were trying to serve a search warrant at 7:25 p.m. Thursday at Kahakai Boulevard and Moano Street. The car's driver accelerated rapidly toward one of the officers, slightly injuring an officer as the suspects fled the scene, police said.
Officers fired their guns at the car, hitting it several times, police said. The gunfire did not strike the two women inside the car, police said.
Police located the car abandoned in another part of the subdivision and found the 27-year-old nearby.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Alston Kimura at 961-2278.
WEST OAHU
Arrested officer has previous DUI
A police officer arrested earlier this week for investigation of driving under the influence has a previous drunken-driving conviction.
James Urban, 31, of the Kapolei police district was arrested at 2:19 a.m. Tuesday for allegedly driving under the influence while off duty and in a marked blue-and-white police vehicle in Kapolei.
In December 2006 he was convicted of operating a vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident involving damage to a vehicle or property. He was sentenced to two days in jail, and his driver's license was suspended for 90 days.
Urban has been placed on paid leave since Tuesday's arrest and is also the subject of an internal affairs investigation, said police spokesman Maj. Frank Fujii.
HONOLULU
Man is arrested in online sex case
Charges are pending against a 23-year-old Mililani man who was arrested Thursday morning after allegedly going to meet in Honolulu whom he thought were two 13-year-old girls to have sex.
Police said the man showed up 10:50 a.m. Thursday at 800 S. Beretania St. allegedly to have sex with two girls he met over the Internet. Instead, police arrested him on suspicion of two counts of first-degree electronic enticement of a child.
