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POSTED: Thursday, March 04, 2010

Procession goes to Punchbowl after services

Private services for Frank Fasi will be held this morning at Nuuanu Memorial Park Mortuary.

After the services, a motorcade will go through downtown Honolulu, according to Michael Pili Pang, executive director of culture and arts for Honolulu, who organized yesterday's memorial service.

The funeral procession is expected to travel past Honolulu Hale and the Frank F. Fasi Municipal Building.

The procession will then go the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl, where Fasi, a former Marine, will be buried.

 

Maui onion snacks recalled due to possible salmonella

Tim's Cascade Snacks has recalled its “;Hawaiian Kettle Style Potato Chips—Sweet Maui Onion”; and “;Hawaiian—Sweet Maui Onion Rings”; because of possible salmonella contamination.

The Angola, Wash.-based company is voluntarily recalling the products because of possible health risks, the state Department of Health said yesterday.

The department is notifying retailers statewide to remove the product from shelves.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail people and others with weakened immune systems, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday.

Salmonella can afflict healthy people with fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare cases, it can cause infected aneurysms, endocarditis and arthritis. No illnesses have been reported, the FDA said. Visit hsblinks.com/239 for a list of the recalled items by bar code.

 

Coqui found in backyard of home in Manoa Valley

State officials say they have found a coqui frog in Oahu's Manoa Valley, but that it's just a lone amphibian and not part of an infestation.

State Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Janelle Saneishi said yesterday the invasive frog was recently found in the backyard of a home.

Saneishi said the male frog may have been brought in on a plant or landscaping. Department officials are monitoring the frog so they can capture and remove it.

The coqui is native to Puerto Rico. In Hawaii, the frogs have no natural predators and have formed large colonies on Maui and the Big Island. In large numbers, the mating calls of the coqui males are so loud they're said to rival the sound of jet planes.

 

Former isle-based sailor to plead guilty in assault

BRENTWOOD, N.H. » One of two former Navy submariners charged with beating a man in Portsmouth, N.H., last year has struck a plea deal with prosecutors.

The New Hampshire Union Leader says 24-year-old Sandy Portobanco of Los Angeles plans to plead guilty at a hearing today. He and 23-year-old Gerald Smith of Honolulu were charged with numerous felonies after Stephen Huntress was beaten last May. Huntress, a former town councilor in Kittery, Maine, suffered serious brain injuries. Portobanco and Smith were crew members of the Pearl Harbor-based USS Greeneville nuclear submarine, which was being repaired at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

 

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Maui County faces deficit of $14 million

WAILUKU » Maui County Finance Director Kalbert Young says the county is facing a nearly $14 million budget shortfall for the current fiscal year that ends June 30.

Young says he believes the shortfall can be accommodated through fiscal restraint, and the administration of Mayor Charmaine Tavares has a plan to restrict spending.

Young spoke of the deficit and county efforts to cover it Tuesday during a meeting of the Maui County Council Budget and Finance Committee.

He says county officials hope to cover the deficit by postponing a bond sale, reducing self-insurance coverage and taking other steps that wouldn't impact public services.

For instance, the county would cut funds already budgeted for two popular county programs—road resurfacing and speed bumps.