Newswatch
State Attorney General Margery Bronster says she is not prepared to ask the Bishop Estate's five trustees to step down while her office investigates the trust. But she did not eliminate the possibility such a request might be made. Attorney general says Bishop trustees
won't have to step down - yet"I don't think that the decision has been made that under no circumstance would we at any time in the investigation seek that," Bronster said Friday. "But I think right now we don't have the evidence that I feel comfortable in going to the court and asking for that."
She spoke with reporters after meeting in her office with four representatives of Na Pua a Ke Ali'i Pauahi, a group of Kamehameha Schools alumni, students and parents who have criticized the trustees' management of the institution.
Calls for some or all of the trustees to be removed during the state probe have been made by Na Pua and the authors of a newspaper essay that raised possible improprieties by the estate's board.
Bronster said she will submit an initial report and a plan for a broader investigation to Gov. Ben Cayetano on Monday, after he returns from a trip to Las Vegas. She expects to brief him on the probe's status then.
She disagreed with the estate's stand that the school is the only beneficiary of the charitable trust, established under the will of Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Some of the beneficiaries are represented by Na Pua, the attorney general said.
"Is an institution bricks and mortar, or is the institution the entire community being served by that institution?" she asked. "I think I have a broader view than the trustees may have."
Thirteen-year-old Katherine Siersma reluctantly reboarded a Delta flight to California. Another Delta mishap;
tires blow out on Reef RunwayShe called her sister Heidi Siersma, who lives in Pearl City, to let her know how the jet had tires blow out Friday afternoon moments before it was to take off from the Reef Runway at Honolulu Airport. "She was scared," sister Heidi Siersma said.
It was the second time in little more than two weeks that a Delta flight had to abort a takeoff because of mechanical problems.
On Aug. 7, a warning light indicating a cargo door was not secure caused Delta Air Lines Flight 54 to be aborted at Honolulu Airport. Braking the aircraft started a tire fire. Twenty-five of the 295 passengers aboard the Aug. 7 flight to Atlanta were treated for injuries that included a fractured ankle, back pain and abrasions.
Yesterday no one was hurt, repairs were made on the runway, the L-1011 was moved back to the terminal, and it left last night, minus eight passengers who decided not to take the delayed flight.
