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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff
and wire service
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Nader to discuss presidential run
Consumer advocate Ralph Nader is scheduled to speak at the University of Hawaii next month to rally support for his 2008 presidential bid.
Nader, who is running as an independent, is scheduled to speak at 8 p.m. July 3 at the Art Building Auditorium, 2535 McCarthy Mall.
Organizers are asking for contributions of $10, or $5 for students.
For more information, call (202) 471-5833 or e-mail: events@votenader.org
Teacher gets redemption chance
A state judge gave former Academy of the Pacific teacher and athletic director Brad Kitsu a second chance yesterday to keep his record clean of any convictions.
Kitsu pleaded guilty in April to misdemeanor marijuana possession and felony possession of drug paraphernalia.
Circuit Judge Richard Pollack granted Kitsu's request for a conditional discharge, which will allow Kitsu to have the guilty pleas cleared from his record if he performs 150 hours of community service and stays out of trouble for the next five years.
Pollack said he granted the conditional discharge because a felony conviction might hamper or prevent Kitsu from being a schoolteacher or coach.
"And that, I think, will be a loss to this community," he said.
Pollack noted the outpouring of support Kitsu received from educators and athletic coaches.
When Kitsu was arrested in May 2007, Academy of the Pacific Head of School Molly Sperry suspended him for the rest of the year and has not offered him a contract since, Sperry said.
A person is eligible for a conditional discharge if he has no prior drug convictions and can receive a conditional discharge only once.
Kitsu has already had a conviction kept off his record when another state judge granted him a deferred acceptance of his guilty plea in 2004 to a misdemeanor assault charge.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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Man charged in H-1 copper thefts
A 43-year-old man with an extensive criminal record was charged yesterday with copper theft after a weekend stakeout of an electrical light pole in Makakilo.
James Bronson Taylor Jr. also was charged with second-degree criminal property damage.
A deputy sheriff had been conducting surveillance on the H-1 freeway near the Makakilo Drive overpass to catch and arrest suspects involved in copper theft.
Taylor, spotted walking down the Makakilo Drive onramp toward a street light post, was apprehended after he allegedly pulled wire from a box in the ground. Police arrested him at 5:30 a.m. Sunday, a police affidavit said.
A state electrical foreman with the Transportation Department estimated 180 feet of wire weighing 70 pounds and worth $2,000 was pulled, police said.
Taylor was convicted in the past of fourth-degree theft and violating temporary restraining orders and a protective order.
Taylor's bail was set at $25,000.
LEEWARD OAHU
Woman allegedly hit with hammer
A 34-year-old Waianae man was arrested for allegedly hitting a woman with a hammer twice during an argument Sunday night.
The two were arguing at the suspect's home on McArthur Street, police said. The man was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault. The 32-year-old woman was taken to Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center and treated for injuries.
HONOLULU
Body found in park deemed a suicide
The Medical Examiner's Office determined yesterday that the man whose body was found Friday at the archery range at Kapiolani Park committed suicide.
He was identified as Shigemitsu Inohana, 57, of Wailea, Maui.
The Medical Examiner's Office found Inohana bled to death due to self-inflicted stab wounds to the neck.
Burglar took safe from business
Police are looking for a male suspect who burglarized a doctor's office and restaurant in a Honolulu building in the 1800 block of South King Street early yesterday morning, taking a safe.
Police said a witness saw a male with a flashlight near the businesses at 3:27 a.m. yesterday.
The witness drove away, but later saw the same male a block away loading some items into the back of a white van. The witness later saw the van reversing into the parking lot at the scene of the burglary.
The witness called police. When police arrived at the scene, the officer found someone had forcibly entered both businesses, and the van was gone.
An all-points bulletin was broadcast and the van was found parked nearby unattended, with a safe in the back, police said.
The business owner identified the safe as the one taken from his office.
WAIKIKI
Security guards catch shoplifter
Police arrested a 25-year-old man who was caught allegedly stealing merchandise from a Waikiki department store.
Police said the suspect was in the store at about 9:20 yesterday morning. Security personnel in the store saw the suspect take two wallets and a belt, with a total value of $642, police said.
Store security stopped the suspect and called police, who arrested the man on suspicion of second-degree theft.
