Big helicopter helps stop fierce Big Isle brush fire
HAWAIIAN PARADISE PARK, Hawaii -- Credit favorable winds and big National Guard helicopters with stopping the runaway Puna district brush fire in its tracks.Officials were reluctant to declare the fire contained as bulldozers worked into the early evening to finish and widen firebreaks. But they were describing the blaze as "stopped."
The area burned now stands at 2,200 acres, pending a more accurate assessment, Civil Defense official Bruce Butts said.
The fire was in a four-mile-wide unpopulated expanse of grass and brush between the 1,200 houses of the Hawaiian Beaches subdivision and the 2,000 houses in Hawaiian Paradise Park.
Only scattered hot spots were active in the interior of the burn area by the nightfall yesterday.
A twin-rotor National Guard Chinook chopper capable of carrying 2,000 gallons of water, and a single-rotor Blackhawk helicopter carrying 600 gallons, went into service yesterday.
They were accompanied by three county and private choppers that had been dropping 100 gallons at a time for two days.
"When you're talking 2,000 gallons versus 100 gallons, it's a big help," Butts said.
Civil Defense chief Harry Kim added, "That (Chinook) is the one biggest piece of equipment that helped save the day."
Residents watching firefighters from subdivision roads breathed easier when the heavy helicopters went to work, Kim said. "You should have seen the smiles on people's faces," he said.
The efforts succeeded because of a change in weather that included cool winds, gentle air currents, and "very, very light" rains, Kim said.
"Regardless of the equipment, nature has the ace in the hole," he said.
Woman faces stiff new penalties in tax case
A woman may be the first to be indicted under a recent state law to increase penalties for preparing false tax returns.An Oahu grand jury yesterday alleged Helen C. Patlingrao prepared false returns and indicted her for 10 counts of submitting false statements and one count of first-degree theft. Bail was set at $5,000.
The theft charge alleges Patlingrao caused refunds exceeding $20,000 to be paid out by the government, said Deputy Attorney General Dwight Nadamoto.
He said the new law, passed in 1995, makes preparing false returns a Class C felony that carries up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
If convicted of the theft, a Class B felony, Patlingrao faces up to 10 years in prison. Previously, the state prosecuted most false-statement cases as misdemeanors.
'Hurricane Hunters' to research El Nino
Two Air Force Reserve "Hurricane Hunter" C-130 weather reconnaissance aircrafts were launched from Hickam Air Force Base this morning to monitor El Nino conditions in the Pacific.Of interest is a north Pacific storm which is expected to hit California this weekend.
The Air Force unit, stationed at Kesseler Air Force Base, was destined for the scrap pile nearly a decade ago during a Pentagon restructuring until U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye interceded.
The Hurricane Hunters gather data that is satellite-linked to the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, Fla.
Teachers give task force their qualified support
The Hawaii State Teachers Association today announced its support, in concept, of the Economic Revitalization Task Force's recommendations."We see students coming to school with physical and emotional needs that we cannot address because there aren't enough resources," said HSTA President June Motokawa.
She said, however, that county boards of education, a task force recommendation, "will not only increase the layer of bureaucracy with which schools must deal, it will increase operating costs."
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffMan arrested for theft of road signs, guardrail
Police last night arrested a man for allegedly stealing road signs and a guardrail.Officers spotted the suspect removing a sign near the H-1 freeway and Kamehameha Highway at the border of Waipahu and Waikele 11:26 p.m., police said.
Upon inspection of the suspect's car, officers found a highway post, a sign and a 11-foot guardrail, worth more than $400.
The property was recovered and returned to state officials.
Police say man sneaked into hotel to see movies
Police yesterday arrested and charged a 25-year-old man for allegedly going into a vacant Waikiki hotel room and watching movies.Paul Robuck, of Salt Lake, was charged with misdemeanor trespassing.
The charge has been downgraded from first-degree burglary.
He is being held on $500 bail.
Hotel officials noticed that movies were being charged to a vacant room at the 2138 Kalia Road hotel, police said.
When security checked the room, they found the suspect watching television.
Man runs from store with expensive kitten
Police are investigating the theft of a kitten from the Petland on Kalanianaole Highway.A male suspect entered the store on Tuesday and asked to see a Persian kitten worth $600 at 10:50 a.m., police said. When the kitten was given to the man, he allegedly ran from the store.
When the suspect was confronted outside the store, he punched an employee and fled, police said.
The kitten was returned to the store a few hours later by a woman. The suspect faces second-degree robbery charges.
SEALs treat isle man bitten by a shark
Three Navy SEALs and the Coast Guard came to the rescue of a 35-year-old Honolulu man whose right hand was bitten by a shark northwest of Oahu.The Coast Guard said the man was in stable condition this morning after he he was treated by the SEALs who parachuted to the ship at around 6:30 p.m. yesterday.
The Coast Guard cutter Rush was to rendezvous with the vessel, Captain Washington I, this morning and attempts will be made to transfer the injured sailor.
Man accused of rape of 12-year-old girl
Police yesterday arrested a 39-year-old man for allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl.The victim reported that she was sexually assaulted by the man yesterday, police said.
He was arrested on McNeill Street in Kalihi in connection with first-degree sexual assault.
Police ask public's help in finding fishing gear
HILO -- Police are asking for the public's help in recovering fishing gear stolen earlier this month.A suspect was arrested and equipment sold to a pawn shop was recovered, they said.
However, equipment sold to two individuals has not been found.
The two were described as a heavyset Asian man who drove a sedan and a Portuguese man in his 30s who drove a pickup truck.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 961-2279 or Crime Stoppers at 961-8300.
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