Cayetanos open doors of Washington Place for holiday season
Gov. Ben Cayetano and his wife Vicky have invited the public to celebrate the holiday season with a visit to Washington Place.The Cayetanos will hold a Holiday Season Open House Wednesday and on seven other December evenings, opening the governor's mansion for public tours.
Christmas decorations, including a gingerbread house in the formal dining room and a children's Christmas tree on the yellow lanai, will be on display.
The governor will kick off the season with a tree-lighting ceremony on the front lawn at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The 15th anniversary of Hawaii Foodbank will be marked that night with presentation of Safety Net Awards honoring Foodbank volunteers.
Visitors throughout the month are asked to bring a canned food donation for the Foodbank, which provides food at a low cost to island social agencies serving the poor and homeless.
The mansion, which was home to Hawaii's last monarch, Queen Liliuokalani, will be open to the public from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6. It will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. Dec. 12, 13, 19, 20, 26 and 27.
Public parking will be available at the Department of Health, the Kalanimoku Building parking entrance on Punchbowl Street (across the street from the state Capitol) and the Vineyard Street parking garage (at the corner of Punchbowl Street).
Isle police set sights on wages comparable to other U.S. cities
Hawaii's four counties may have to ante up in a big way next year when contract negotiations begin for members of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers.SHOPO attorney Michael Green yesterday said the union will not challenge an arbitrator's ruling this week to give county police officers only a 5 percent raise. But he warned it will no longer tie proposed pay increases to what other government employee unions receive.
The 2,500-member police union had fought for a 12 percent pay increase before disagreements led to arbitration.
"(We're) no longer looking at other unions and what other unions get," Green said. "Those days are gone.... We're coming back, and we want the same money of comparable cities in the United States," he said.
SHOPO released a list of average city wages for police departments from the Labor Relations Information System which shows Honolulu scraping the bottom of the barrel.
The ranking showed only four cities in Louisiana -- Monroe, Lake Charles, New Orleans and Lafayette -- had lower monthly pay for its police departments than HPD'S $1,393 entry-level wage and its $2,150 top wage.
The best-paying city was Richmond, Va., which pays new cops $2,634 a month and those at top scale $4,192.
SHOPO fears more and more Hawaii officers are transferring to mainland police departments for the better pay.
New water billing provides more information
Board of Water Supply customers starting Monday will receive a newly designed water bill.The old postcard billing format has been replaced by a larger, letter-size statement. It comes with a return envelope for convenient payment.
Customers not only will receive a statement with more information about water consumption and billing charges, but also will have the option of making payments in two installments, he said.
For questions and more information about the new billing, call customer service at 527-6184 during normal business hours.
Kauai Electric workers could go on strike
Eighty-two Kauai Electric workers could go on strike at midnight Sunday, when their collective-bargaining contract expires.The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1260 and representatives from Kauai Electric's parent company, Citizens Utilities, have been in negotiations since September.
"The key issues are job security and benefits," said Brian Ahakuelo, the union's assistant business manager.
The strike authorization has been approved for midnight Sunday, but it does not mean there will be a strike at that exact time, Ahakuelo said.
The next round of talks is scheduled for Saturday.
The union has scheduled a rally tomorrow in front of the Hana Kukui Center in Lihue.
The 82 workers, who range from linemen to operators, represent all but about 20 staffers at Kauai Electric, Ahakuelo said.
Canada-bound mail affected by strike
A postal strike in Canada is affecting mail sent from Hawaii and other points in the United States."It's certainly a pain. I have had mail returned from there," said Hawaii Kai resident Jan Booth, originally from Toronto. The strike has been going on since Nov. 19.
Although Canadian postal workers are on strike, the U.S. Postal Service is accepting certain types of mail for delivery to Canada.
The bad news is that most U.S. mail to Canada has been suspended since Friday. Canada-bound letters mailed in the United States are returned to senders.
The U.S. Postal Service advises customers with returned mail to fill out a PS3533 form and provide the envelope or wrapper of the returned mail to get a postage refund.
U.S. post offices will accept an unlimited number of Express Mail documents (letter- and flat-shaped items) from all customers. But the number of Express Mail parcels and dutiable items is limited to no more than four, per customer, per visit. Global Package Link customers will continue to receive full service. Express Mail and Global Package Link Service are delivered by private courier in Canada.
Fire Commission taking applications for chief
The city Fire Commission is accepting applications for a fire chief to replace retiring Chief Anthony Lopez.The job pays $85,374 per year and is open only to Hawaii residents who are U.S. citizens.
Minimum qualifications are five years of training and experience, and three years in a responsible administrative position in a fire department.
Unpaid traffic fines will be increased Jan. 1
Wayward motorists who haven't paid outstanding traffic fines will incur additional penalties effective Jan. 1.Under a graduated scale that increases with the length of delinquency or nonpayment of fines, the added assessment will be a 5 percent fee on the unpaid balance owed more than 30 days, 10 percent on what's owed more than 60 days and 25 percent on what's owed more than a year.
The only way out of paying these additional penalties is to have the court waive them for good cause.
See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffMoanalua High orchestra thankful fire wasn't worse
On this day of thanksgiving, Moanalua High students and faculty can feel thankful the school has an orchestra.Orchestra members, who were on campus last night rehearsing for a March 21 concert at Carnegie Hall, reported a fire in the cafeteria building at 8:26 p.m.
The fire inside a laundry room was extinguished and caused only minor damage. But it could have been worse.
"It's a good thing the kids were there," fire Capt. Rocky Silva said. "When we arrived we could see flames from the (laundry room) window, so we had to make a forcible entry."
"If it had kept burning, it would have set off the propane," Silva added, pointing to a propane tank on a table less than 10 feet from the fire.
Firefighters found a large pile of rags burning on the floor beneath an open window when they entered the laundry room.
Moanalua is the only public high school in Hawaii with an orchestra, and, luckily, members were on campus last night.
Senior Kenton Takata, 17, says he and other members were leaving the band room after rehearsal when they began smelling the smoke.
"It smelled like a trash can fire, but then we looked toward the (cafeteria) and saw smoke coming from the window," Takata said. "We went to check it out, and you could see the reflection of the flames inside."
Ex-cop withdraws plea in attempt to 'clear his name'
A former police officer who withdrew a drug-related guilty plea faces two more charges that could lead to a prison term of 20 years to life.Alfredo Villanueva Jr. yesterday pleaded not guilty to aiding a drug conspiracy led by convicted drug kingpin Frank Moon, and to public corruption for allegedly giving police criminal history information to Moon for money.
"He welcomes a trial and the chance to clear his name," said his attorney, William Harrison.
A federal grand jury Tuesday indicted Villanueva, formerly of the Honolulu Police Department, on the new charges. He is under house arrest pending his March 31 trial, and faces 10 years to life for aiding a conspiracy and 10 years for public corruption.
Villanueva, 37, initially was indicted for allegedly conspiring to obtain criminal history checks for Moon, and faced up to five years.
He pleaded guilty, admitting he got $15,000 to provide Moon with police information to help him decide whom to trust. As part of his plea agreement, he resigned in 1996 after 16 years with the department.
In July, before sentencing, he appeared before U.S. District Judge David Ezra and unsuccessfully tried to withdraw his guilty plea.
But Ezra reversed his decision a month later.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall Silverberg said he warned Villanueva at that time that a grand jury could reindict him for more serious charges and penalties.
"The bottom line is that the government is upset that he withdrew his plea," Harrison said.
He said the initial bribery charge centered around Villanueva's golfing friendship with Parsons Iosua. He said Iosua was in Moon's organization, but Villanueva didn't know it.
Harrison said Villanueva had no relationship with Moon, who led a conspiracy to distribute crystal methamphetamine and cocaine, and met him once during an undercover investigation.
The indictment alleges Villanueva provided criminal history information to Moon, who didn't want drug distributors who had pending criminal charges for fear they would turn him in.
It also alleges he received $26,500 in 1993, primarily for providing the checks.
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