An Oahu children's librarian, Dave Del Rocco, will share stories in Hawaiian and spin tales of popular Hawaiian legends at 15 neighbor island public libraries from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4. Oahu librarian to spin legends
for keiki on neighbor islandsDel Rocco will present children's story times on Molokai, Maui, Hawaii and Kauai on:
Aug. 31: Molokai Public Library, 10 a.m.
School-within-school debate goes to interim superintendent
Supporters of a school-within-a-school at Mountain View are continuing their fight to keep the popular Connections program despite the principal's decision to end it.But time is running out, because classes at the Big Island school begin Aug. 20. Connections teachers already have been reassigned to other grade levels, and Connections students have been reassigned to new classes.
Parents and teachers in the program last week made their second appeal this year to the Board of Education, which turned the matter over to interim schools Superintendent Al Suga.
Suga said it was unclear whether Mountain View's school/community-based management council had approved the program three years ago, and that he will review school bylaws to determine who has final say in whether the program stays or goes.
"If we can't resolve this, I'm inclined to look at the value of Connections and not dwell on procedure," Suga said.
First-year Principal Clifton Iwamoto last April announced he was ending the program, saying it had not been approved by the council and that it was causing divisiveness within the school community.
Jewelers offer rings to break-in victims
Several jewelers have offered to donate wedding bands to the newly wedded couple who lost valuables to thieves who broke into their car last week on the North Shore.After saying "I do" Friday at Waimea Bay Beach Park, William Lyman, 25, and Michelle Daney, 23, returned to the car to find a window smashed.
Her purse, with credit cards and checks, had been stolen.
William Lyman, a Navy SEAL stationed at Pearl Harbor, and Michelle Lyman, a teacher, couldn't afford rings, much less the loss.
"I just about lost all faith in the aloha spirit with the break-in," said Michelle Lyman.
Then the North Shore decided to throw them an aloha-style wedding from limousine to a wedding night at a resort Friday.
Flowers, photography, cake, champagne, videography, minister, wedding coordinator and waterfall site were donated.
The Wedding Ring Shop in Ala Moana Center and Carats and Karats in Honolulu both volunteered to give the couple simple gold wedding bands.
"We were so amazed," Lyman said.
"It shows us there really is such a thing as aloha."
DLNR to hold hearings on coral harvesting
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources will hold two public hearings next week to discuss proposed amendments to state rules on the commercial harvest of pink and gold corals, and new rules for the harvesting of black coral.The corals are used in jewelry.
The state is proposing a minimum size requirement for harvesting, and a more comprehensive definition of corals in their "raw" state that would make the rule apply to both live and dead coral.
Another proposal is to create a state general permit for harvesting pink or gold corals and eliminate the specific regulating of the Makapuu coral bed.
A hearing will be held on Maui at the Maalea Fishing Club facility at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and on Oahu at the DLNR board room at 1151 Punchbowl St. at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 20.
Park allowing pets wins permit
"Bark Park," a park for people with pets, is now open for use.The state Department of Land and Natural Resources recently issued the permit for public and pet use of the park, on the corner of Diamond Head Road and 18th Avenue next to Diamond Head Memorial Park.
People & Pet Park Inc., the organization that pushed for Bark Park, is now recognized as a foundation by the Internal Revenue Service. As a result, the organization is exempt from federal income tax.
Donations to the park can be sent to: People & Pet Park Inc., P.O. Box 10045, Honolulu 96816-0045.
See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
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Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffPrison escapee found, suspected in robbery
Police yesterday arrested a Laumaka escapee suspected in the Monday robbery of American Savings Bank.An officer recognized the man, 35, from a bank surveillance photo, police said. The man was arrested and found to have escaped the Laumaka Work Furlough program. Narcotics were found in his possession. It was not disclosed whether the money was recovered.
Pickup, flatbed crash, killing one on Big Island
HILO -- Big Island police said a man died yesterday when his pickup truck crossed the center line of the Hawaii Belt Road north of Hilo and crashed into a flatbed truck carrying a load of tires.The victim, Calvin Christino Reyes, 34, of Papaaloa, was declared dead at Hilo Hospital.
The driver of the truck, Kenneth L. Perreira Sr., 54, of Hilo, was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for minor cuts and bruises.
Reyes' death was the 26th Big Island traffic fatality of the year.
Woman reports kidnap, assault at Sand Island
Police are searching for a man who allegedly kidnapped a woman at gunpoint and assaulted her.She said an acquaintance wanted by CrimeStoppers kidnapped her at gunpoint and sexually assaulted her at Sand Island Park on Monday. She called police after she dropped the man off in the airport industrial area.
Soldier who took child arrested at Schofield
A soldier was arrested yesterday for allegedly kidnapping his daughter from his former wife in Louisiana.The man, 20, took his daughter on July 17 and didn't return her on July 30 as scheduled, police said. The man fled Louisiana and returned to Schofield Barracks.
Yesterday at 6:30 p.m., Honolulu police and U.S. Army officials arrested the man at the military base.
Maui charter boat firm sues
WAILUKU -- A charter boat business has filed a lawsuit in Maui Circuit Court, charging it sustained damages and loss of income as a result of dust and soil erosion from the construction at Maalaea in 1996 and 1997.Silent Lady Charters names as defendants developer Maalaea Triangle Partnership, general contractor Oahu Construction Co., and Maui County.
The lawsuit, filed Monday, charges that the builder and developer failed to follow shoreline permit conditions in controlling the dust.
It also alleges the county failed to enforce the conditions, including limiting grubbing of land from April through October of 1997.
The lawsuit alleges the builder violated the conditions by grading during the rainy season from December 1996 through March 1997.
Man gets 5 years in drug case
A Makiki man who used a car parked in front of his home as a transfer point for about 6 pounds of crystal methamphetamine will serve five years in federal prison.U.S. District Judge David Ezra handed down the sentence to Bong Uk Lee after granting a government motion to depart from a mandatory 10-year term for crimes involving "ice."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lou Bracco said an investigation of another incident led officials to Lee, who was indicted last October for conspiring to possess and distribute more than 100 grams of the illegal drug in 1994.
Bracco said Lee, 33, pleaded guilty to the charge and has cooperated with officials in an ongoing investigation.
He said Lee didn't touch the drug, but made it possible for it to be transferred from one person to another. He also said Lee negotiated for money in the transfer.
Bracco said the court would recommend that Lee, a Pennsylvania State University graduate, be allowed to enroll in boot camp or drug treatment.
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