Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Friday, May 30, 1997

China plans a wintry
show in Hawaii this fall

A heavy jacket, a warm hat, earmuffs and wool socks may be needed if you want to attend what is expected to be a top visitor attraction here this fall.

Plans are being finalized for the '97 Hawaii Chinese Folk Lantern Festival, sponsored by China's government and the local Chinese community, it was learned yesterday.

The show, the first ever in the United States, is tentatively set to be held at the Dole Square in Iwilei for a three-month run starting in mid-August.

One of the featured attractions is a 250-by-30-foot walk-in freezer with an exhibition of elaborate ice sculptures by China's top artisans kept in top shape by a 23-degree Fahrenheit temperature.

Local coordinator Michael Zang of Sea Sky Corp. USA said there will be a huge display of traditional and modern Chinese lanterns in a 12,000- to 15,000-square-foot exhibition tent and a stage show featuring China's top acrobats, magicians, dancers and craft artisans.

UH eyes $4.7 million
student information system

The University of Hawaii is negotiating with a Phoenix-based software engineering firm to provide a new $4.7 million student information system in a deal that could also give the university equity in the company.

But members of the Board of Regents and at least one Manoa assistant dean yesterday warned that the UH should proceed with caution because such a deal also carries risks.

"We're entering into the world of capitalism here," cautioned retired banker Jack Hoag, noting that where there's a great potential for reward there's also great chance for loss.

Hoag wants an outside counsel to review the proposed deal with Buzzeo Inc. and wants a UH advisory committee to work with Buzzeo's six-member board.

The 4-year-old company would provide UH's 10 campuses with quicker access and more versatility in handling information on student registration, grades, payments and course schedules, said Eugene Imai, UH senior vice president for administration.

"This was a package that was very attractive and very appealing to us that set Buzzeo apart from every other vendor," he said.

Imai, at a regents budget committee meeting yesterday, said UH is pursuing the deal because Buzzeo, the top pick among a half-dozen software companies, has offered to make Hawaii one of its five nationwide "cluster" sites.

The move would bring 30 high-tech jobs and $1.2 million to $1.5 million in annual salaries to Hawaii and would boost educational tourism among visitors studying Buzzeo's system, he said.

Prosecutor vows another
trial in murder case

A deputy prosecutor is vowing to retry Wallace "Dido" Rodrigues for murder, after a Circuit Court jury couldn't reach a decision on the charge.

Judge Wilfred Watanabe declared a mistrial yesterday after two days of deliberations.

The jury did convict Rodrigues of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Rodrigues was accused of shooting 28-year-old Wayne Pemberton in the head near Palehua Road north of Farrington Highway the night of April 11, 1995.

Samson Fernandez, who arrived at the scene with Rodrigues, said he heard a shot, turned and saw Rodrigues shoot Pemberton with a handgun.

But juror Bruce Barben, who said he was one of seven on the 12-member panel who favored an acquittal on the murder charge, said he didn't find Fernandez to be a credible witness.

"Samson is such a notorious character," he said. "So many inconsistencies. You didn't know what part to believe and what part not to. Obviously, some of his statements were lies."

Brook Lee will return
home for floral parade

Brook Mahealani Lee will be returning home for the first time since being crowned Miss Universe to participate in the King Kamehameha Floral Parade on June 7.

While here, Lee and a representative of the Miss Universe Pageant will talk with Gov. Ben Cayetano and tourism officials about the possibility of bringing the 1998 Miss Universe Pageant to the Hawaii Convention Center.

See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
See our [Info] section for subscription information.

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Police/Fire


By Star-Bulletin staff

Shot fired at isle family

Police, dogs and a helicopter searched through a Windward neighborhood last night for two suspects who fired a shot at a Kaneohe family.

Police said about 9:15 p.m., a 40 year-old-man, his 44-year-old wife, and their 15-year-old son were driving on Mokapu Boulevard toward Oneawa Street when a man in a white van drove up.

After the man and family members exchanged words, the man fired a shot at the family, police said. Nobody was hurt.

The van, which had been reported stolen, was later found after it was in an accident on Halekou Road near the Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden, police said.

Officers from the police department's Special Services Division searched the Kaneohe neighborhood for the van's driver and a woman passenger. Police used dogs and a helicopter's high-beam lights to search near the botanical garden.

Discovery Bay bank robbed

Bank of Hawaii's Discovery Bay branch was robbed yesterday at 1:30 p.m. by a man who passed a teller a demand note.

It was the fourth robbery this week and 25th this year in Hawaii.

Police said the robber walked into a bar near the bank, pulled a pamphlet off a shelf, borrowed a pen from the bartender and wrote the demand note.

The suspect is described as in his 30s, about 5-feet, 6-inches tall, weighing about 160 pounds with short brown hair and a mustache and beard. He was wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses and a gray shirt and shorts.

Two men, meanwhile, have been charged with robbing two other banks this week.

John Thomas Dukes, 48, who has no permanent local address, is charged with robbing Bank of America's Ala Moana Center branch. He was initially arrested shortly after leaving the bank on outstanding criminal warrants.

Keith Deguzman, 31, voluntarily surrendered to FBI agents Wednesday night at a public library near his Moiliili residence and admitted responsibility for the robbery of Bank of America's McCully branch.

Other Police/Fire headlines
in today’s Star-Bulletin:

• Halau's instruments stolen
  
• Fire destroys Big Isle home

See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
See our [Info] section for subscription information.