Municipal building evacuated after smoke detected
The Honolulu Municipal Building was evacuated at mid-morning today after smoke was detected from a basement restroom.The 14-floor building, plus basement, houses 12 city departments -- including the Fire Alarm Bureau, which had to be moved to its alternate site at the central fire station at Beretania Street.
Smoke was detected about 10:15 a.m. in a ladies' restroom in the building's basement at the mauka, Diamond Head corner. The cause of the fire, which originated in a ceiling, was not immediately known.
The basement houses the Fire Alarm Bureau, Oahu Civil Defense headquarters, and the city's computer system, which handles functions including payroll and drivers licensing. City Managing Director Bob Fishman said the city's mainframe computer was not affected by the smoke.
Firefighters about 11 a.m. were going through the building floor by floor; more than a half-dozen fire trucks were at the scene.
Cause of kayaker's death unknown; autopsy today
An autopsy was scheduled today in the death of a 30-year-old Alexandria, Va., military man whose body was found Saturday by Fire Department divers.He was wedged in the reef on the east side of Mokulua Island off Kailua Beach.
The man was reported missing Friday when he failed to return with a rented one-man kayak, which was located 10:17 that night on Mokulua Island. His body was found at 12:40 p.m. Saturday.
He had severe head injuries that do not appear to be consistent with a fall, said police.
The man, a military officer, was in Hawaii for a conference.
Journalism department at UH found lacking
A national academic accreditation team has some concerns about the journalism department of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.The team last week recommended finding the department in noncompliance on two of 12 standards, according to Lowell Frazier, chairman of the journalism department.
A possible consolidation with the UH Communications Department and a staff shortage worried the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.
Three of the department's eight staff teaching positions are unfilled, according to Frazier.
"By the end of the calendar year, we are projected to be down to half our usual number of faculty," Frazier added.
He said that because the report is only a recommendation, the UH administration can help correct the problems within the next year.
The accreditation team, however, did praise the journalism department for having a good teaching faculty with a solid professional orientation.
The department is one of 109 accredited departments out of more than 400 journalism programs in the country.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staff6-week-old girl injured; Kailua man arrested
A 23-year-old Kailua man was arrested yesterday for questioning over injuries sustained by a 6-week-old girl left in his care.The baby was taken to the hospital Saturday morning and treated for a fractured left leg.
Her mother told police the baby was asleep and uninjured when she left her Kuulei Road home Saturday for work.
According to police, the woman's boyfriend called her at 9:30 a.m. and said the baby would not stop crying and had a possible broken leg.
The man was arrested yesterday for second-degree assault.
Meanwhile, homicide detectives are investigating the death of a 2-1/2-year-old boy who was taken to Kapiolani Hospital at 11 a.m. Saturday by his mother.
The woman, 33, said she awoke from a nap and found her son turning blue. There are no signs of physical abuse but an autopsy will be performed, police said.
The woman, a Young Street resident, was not arrested.
Kalihi man arrested in knife-slashing
Police are seeking to charge a 21-year-old Kalihi man with attempted murder for allegedly slashing another man above the left eye during a confrontation yesterday morning.The suspect, arrested at his Kaiwiula Street apartment at 9:58 a.m., accused the other man of sexually assaulting his girlfriend, then lunged at him with a long kitchen knife, police said.
The injured man was treated for a deep laceration above the eye.
Police seek suspect in kidnap and rape case
Police are looking for a Waimanalo man who allegedly kidnapped, raped, beat and terrorized his estranged girlfriend this weekend.Webster Kalai, 49, has an extensive criminal record, including a 1968 conviction for murder, police said. He is 5 feet 10, 170 pounds, with salt and pepper hair.
The woman told police Kalai beat her Friday morning because he thought she was having an affair. He then took her to his house where she allegedly was forced to have sex, beaten and threatened with two large knives through the night.
Kalai's mother called police Saturday morning after the woman came to her for help, police said.
Woman visiting Kauai raped by acquaintance
A 22-year-old woman visiting Kauai reported she was raped early yesterday by a man she knows, police said.The woman told police she was sexually assaulted at 2:13 a.m. while visiting the Kauai Marriott Hotel. Police arrived at the hotel and arrested the man.
The woman was treated at a hospital and released.
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