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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
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COURTESY HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
This iguana was captured yesterday at Makaha Elementary.
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Iguana caught at Makaha school
Makaha Elementary School students were kept inside their classrooms during recess yesterday morning while a 3-foot-long iguana was captured.
A police officer who oversees junior police officers spotted the green lizard about 10 a.m. yesterday on property next to the school.
The officer watched as the reptile crawled onto school property, said Janelle Saneishi, Department of Agriculture spokeswoman.
Police, school personnel and neighbors used a fishing net to capture the creature about 10:30 a.m.
Police brought the iguana to the Waianae Police Station, where plant quarantine inspectors picked it up.
The last known report of an iguana in the area was near Waianae High School in March 2002.
Iguanas are established on Oahu in areas such as Waimanalo. Some have also been found in Waipahu and on the North Shore.
It is illegal to possess or transport iguanas in Hawaii, and is a Class C felony. Illegal pets may be voluntarily turned in under the department's Amnesty Program. Anyone with information or knowledge of illegal animals is asked to call the state's Pest Hotline at 643-PEST (7378).
Man guilty of threatening Cheney
A man convicted last year for threatening the life of President Bush pleaded guilty yesterday to threatening the life of Vice President Dick Cheney while he was in prison for his threat against Bush.
Ronald Saville, 30, faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 4.
In exchange for his guilty plea, the government promises to drop a second charge that Saville again threatened Bush. A federal grand jury charged him in January with threatening both Cheney and Bush on Dec. 23 last year.
At the time, Saville was serving the remainder of his 14-month prison sentence in the federal detention center in Honolulu for his threat against Bush. He wrote a letter containing the threats and handed it to a guard to mail.
When Secret Service agents questioned Saville in January about the threats, he admitted writing the letter and detailed to them how he would carry out his threats, said Darren Ching, assistant U.S. Attorney.
Saville completed his prison sentence for his earlier conviction and is on federal probation.
Gun program certifies retirees
The state Attorney General's Office has established a firearm certification program to allow qualified retired law enforcement officers in Hawaii to carry concealed firearms.
The program would allow retired Hawaii officers to comply with a 2004 federal law that authorizes active and retired officers of any state to carry concealed firearms in every state.
The law requires that they must carry identification issued by the agency from which the officer retired, or a certification card issued by the state. Application forms and instructions are available at hawaii.gov/ag or by calling (808) 586-1160.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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WEST OAHU
Teacher helps nab alleged vandal
A Waipahu Intermediate School teacher saw a 14-year-old student yesterday morning allegedly spray-painting graffiti on a bridge at Farrington Highway and Aniani Place near the school.
The teacher then found the student on campus, detained him and called police. The student reportedly confessed to the teacher before police arrived that he had spray-painted his tag name, police said.
The student was arrested on suspicion of fourth-degree criminal property damage, a petty misdemeanor.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Driver injured in Kauai car crash
A 20-year-old man was critically injured in an early morning crash yesterday in Wailua on Kauai.
The man was taken to Wilcox Hospital for treatment and later airlifted to the Queen's Medical Center after the 2:47 a.m. crash.
The man was heading north on Kuhio Highway near the junction with South Leho Drive when he lost control of the vehicle and went off the highway, according to a Kauai County news release.
His 25-year-old passenger was taken to Wilcox Hospital, where he was treated and released.
Police said speed and alcohol might have contributed to the crash.
Blaze scorches Molokai acreage
A brush fire burned about 25 acres on Molokai south of Maunaloa in the mountains of the Puunana area about noon yesterday.
No one was injured and no structures were threatened, according to Maui County.
Firefighters brought the fire under control at about 3:15 p.m.
The cause remains under investigation.