Newswatch
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye believes the situation at the Bishop Estate has reached a point that the organization can no longer operate as it has in the past. Sen. Inouye says
Bishop Estate must change"I don't think the parties will be satisfied
with resumption of the status quo."Inouye said "that at this stage both sides are so polarized. They have gone to extremes. It will almost require drastic action.
"I don't think the parties will be satisfied with resumption of the status quo."
The Hawaii Democrat said it has always been his belief that "this matter should be resolved by the beneficiaries of the will (of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop), and that is native Hawaiians."
Inouye said he sides with those who believe that because the state Supreme Court justices, acting as individuals, can appoint the five Bishop Estate trustees, "it can be presumed that they have the power to dismiss them (trustees)."
Given the current situation, Inouye said he doesn't know if the intent of Bishop's will is being carried out. He also expressed the concern that "certain government agencies are beginning to take a look-see ... and who knows what the outcome will be."
"The stakes are very high," said Inouye, who in the past has expressed concern that the Internal Revenue Service has shown an interest in the operations of Bishop Estate as a nontaxable charitable institution.
"If the nature of the estate is changed drastically, it will obviously have an impact upon the economy of the state."
Critics of Bishop Estate believe four of the five trustees should be removed from their $843,000-a-year jobs.
"Based on what is currently available, they have clearly breached their fiduciary duties," said University of Hawaii law professor Randall Roth, who co-authored "Broken Trust" with U.S. District Judge Samuel King, Monsignor Charles Kekumano, retired Appeals Judge Walter Heen and Gladys Brandt, retired Kamehameha Schools principal.
The group asked for the removal of all trustees except Oswald Stender.
The article by the five prompted Gov. Ben Cayetano this week to order the attorney general to investigate the $10 billion charitable trust, which also is the state's largest private landowner. The trust faces growing allegations of conflicts of interest, political deals and mismanagement of its financial assets and Kamehameha Schools.
Godzilla will not be trudging through Kaneohe Bay next week despite a tongue-in-cheek "warning" issued by Windward Councilman Steve Holmes. Isle "Godzilla" filming
goes on without starBut yes, Big Fin Productions, the production company for the multimillion-dollar movie about the rampaging reptile, will be spending five days, starting Monday, filming mostly on private property at Kahuku, Kualoa Ranch and Waikane pier near Kualoa beach park.
"Godzilla, the creature, is not coming to Hawaii," a production official emphasized.
Any Hawaii footage in which Godzilla appears will have the creature created through a combination of complicated effects, including motion capture, computer animation and puppets, officials have said.
In his news release, Holmes tells Waikane residents that "one of the world's biggest movie stars is expected to terrorize the inhabitants ... at any moment." He said yesterday he he knew the film company was not bringing Godzilla to Hawaii, and was using the arrival as a way to notify Windward residents about possible traffic problems in the Kualoa-Waikane areas, and that part of the Waikane pier was being repaired at no cost to taxpayers.
The pier and Kualoa Ranch are substituting for Panama; the Kahuku property is to be Jamaica. The only filming in a public area is the pier scene, which includes a sea plane and dozens of locally rented boats that disembark dozens of people on shore to visit an area where Godzilla was supposed to have wreaked havoc.
The pier footage will be one of the film's three big "money" shots, meaning the company is spending a lot of money developing and filming the shots, which will be used in "teasers" to promote the picture.
"Godzilla," which began principal photography in Manhattan in May, stars Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Hank Azaria and, of course, Godzilla, star of 22 films.
The picture is slated for a May 1998 release.
WAILUKU -- Discovery of a dead girl prompted police to end a 24-hour standoff with a murder suspect holed up at a Kihei hotel and condominium complex. Police end standoff
after spotting bodyOfficers charged into Unit G-208 at the Maui Banyan after lobbing in tear gas and a flash grenade at 1:10 p.m. yesterday. The 17-year-old girl's body was spotted two hours earlier in the hallway outside the unit.
Police arrested Daniel Kosi, 24, who has been indicted in the Aug. 3 killing of kickboxer Eric Vinge. Kosi is being held on $1 million bail for the murder.
No charges have been brought in the girl's killing.
Two other people found in the unit -- Kosi's girlfriend and another man -- were also taken into custody, police said.
Lt. Glenn Cuomo said the man is believed to be an acquaintance of Kosi. "That doesn't at all mean that we considered them part of it," Cuomo said. He said he expects the two will be released soon.
Police had believed Kosi was holding hostages.
The standoff began at 1 p.m. Thursday after police learned of Kosi's whereabouts from a woman who had escaped after being handcuffed and locked in the trunk of a car at the Maui Banyan, police said.
Cuomo said the woman, found bound and gagged in the car, is a witness to the Aug. 3 killing.
The dead girl had been left in the hallway after apparently being killed inside the unit, Police Chief Howard Tagomori said. The cause of death was unknown.
Animal-rights activists are worried that this week's closure of Molokai Ranch's safari park means its animals -- mostly deer and antelope -- will end up decorating the walls of trophy hunters. Safari's closure
worries animal activistsBut ranch President James Mozley said the animals will "continue to be cared for by our veterinarian and park staff." He said the tame animals will be kept in the park's giraffe containment area and the others will roam the park's 300 acres.
The ranch's federal permit to exhibit exotic animals lapsed yesterday, and the ranch will not renew it or continue tours through the 300-acre park because it is "not appropriate to Molokai's heritage or culture," Mozley said. Most of the animals are descended from those in Africa.
There are between 90 and 100 animals in the safari park that, until the permit lapsed, were protected by the federal Animal Welfare Act.
Cathy Goeggel, president of Animal Rights Hawaii, said she is worried that the animals will be transferred to Palaau Valley, where she said the ranch holds "canned hunts," in which hunters shoot the animals for a fee and take them home as trophies.
A statement from Animal Rights Hawaii reads: "The decision to close the park follows a sorry history of neglect and abuse of the animals and multiple citations and fines of more than $70,000 for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act."
On May 7, the ranch agreed to pay $50,000 in fines resulting from federal charges of abuse and neglect of park animals.
The ranch was also cited for providing inadequate food, water and veterinary care, not maintaining perimeter fencing to protect the animals from poachers and not keeping proper records on the animals, said Wendy Koch, supervisory animal care specialist from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which licensed and monitored the safari park.
Koch added that the fines resulted from a consent decree and that the ranch did not admit or deny guilt.
Today, members of the Kam family got up with the sun, as they have for decades, to work in their family business. Kam family cooks final
plate lunches at Frankie'sBut at the end of their usual 12-hour day, when they lock the doors of their time-worn blue and white drive-in, a landmark in Waimanalo, they will be turning the keys over to someone else.
Frankie's at Waimanalo, which has dished up plate lunches and fast food to Waimanalo residents and island folk for 42 years, is shutting down.
At first the Kam family refused to be interviewed about ending the business.
"My mom -- she's 79 -- still runs the place. She doesn't want any fanfare," son Frank Kam said.
But the news is out, and customers are coming to partake of their favorite fare while they can.
Sam Kamuu, 34, a lifelong Waimanalo resident, has been eating at the drive-in "at least once or twice a week" ever since he can remember.
Kamuu was going to order his favorite, pork adobo plate lunch. His son Martin, 6, wanted the lau lau plate; and a cousin, Kekoa, 16, said he would order his favorite, a chili dog.
"Everything's good and they serve plenty," Kamuu said.
Frankie Kam, 84, founder of the family businesses, is retired but still does paperwork from home.
Kam's first business was Frankie's Market in Kalihi, which he took over from his father in 1942.
In 1953, he opened a second Frankie's Market in Waiau and the first Frankie's Drive Inn, which he built across the street from the Waiau market in 1955. The family sold the Waiau and Kalihi stores years ago.
