Honolulu Advertiser publisher resigns
Honolulu Advertiser Publisher Larry Fuller resigned yesterday as head of the morning newspaper and the Hawaii Newspaper Agency, production arm for the Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.Fuller's resignation comes after 20 years with the Gannett Co., which owns more than 80 newspapers around the country. He has headed Gannett's Hawaii operation since May 1993.
The resignation, effective immediately, was a surprise to management and employees at the News Building.
It was announced on the eve of a meeting of Gannett officials about recent readership polls. Sue Clark Johnson, president of the chain's western division, will conduct the meeting in Honolulu today.
Dennis Francis, vice president for circulation, was named interim general manager until the president-publisher position is filled.
Fuller, 56, said he intends to remain in Hawaii and pursue several interests. He is a member of the Governor's Economic Recovery Task Force and "will continue to be active in assisting economic development initiatives."
He also is on the boards of Child and Family Service and the University of Hawaii Foundation.
Fuller said he has agreed to "work with Gannett on consulting assignments."
Fuller said he decided to take a "time out" from his newspaper career, which began when he was 16.
"I feel good about what we have accomplished in reorganizing departments and making them more customer oriented," he said. "In these times, we will survive by listening to the customers and giving them what they want."
Fuller said he and his wife, Suzanne, plan to stay in Hawaii for the time being and travel in the Pacific Rim.
He was president and publisher of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader in South Dakota for eight years before his assignment to Hawaii.
Previous positions with Gannett included president of New Media Services and regional vice president.
Aa lava lights up sky above Puu Oo
HILO -- A large channeled flow of aa lava ran more than four miles seaward from Puu Oo crater last night, lighting up the sky for miles around, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said.Beginning at 6:20 p.m. instruments showed small but sudden bulging of the ground under Kilauea due to increased magma from deep in the earth. The magma then moved underground about 10 miles to Puu Oo.
Lava burst from the outside base of the crater and flowed over older flows and through remnants of native forest not touched by previous flows.
The speed of the flow, flowing over Pulama Pali four miles from the crater within a few hours was due to the lava remaining in a confined channel rather than spreading, said geologist Christina Heliker.
By daylight, magma feeding the flow slacked off, the flow cooled so it no longer lit clouds above it, and the event appeared to be over.
Some children of immigrants malnourished, experts say
President Clinton is expected to announce plans soon to restore food stamp assistance to legal immigrants who are elderly, disabled or children, but local agencies say help is needed now because people here literally are starving."Church food pantries are bare, and the poor have nowhere to turn," said Pat McManaman, executive director of Na Loiono na Kanaka, a legal agency that represents immigrants.
Sheri E. Steisel of the National Conference of State Legislatures told state lawmakers yesterday that she expects Clinton in his State of the Union address on Jan. 27 to announce proposals to restore food stamps to legal immigrants who were cut off in the sweeping 1996 federal welfare reform.
The reform forced 10,600 Hawaii immigrants to go without the assistance, which translates into $1.26 million a month lost locally in food stamps, Steisel said. The estimated value of lost benefits nationwide is about $70 million a month.
McManaman said the lack of food stamps means many immigrant families are going hungry, and added that she has received reports of malnourished children.
Health expert decries secondhand smoke
Arnold Schwarzenegger may look macho puffing on a cigar, but he's endangering those around him as well as himself, says a specialist on environmental tobacco smoke.Schwarzenegger is among the celebrities promoting stogies in magazines such as Cigar Afficionado, a $4.95 quarterly that sells "pretty well here," according to Borders Books & Music at Ala Moana.
"We're having a boom in cigar smoke now," says James Repace of Baltimore. And cigars are worse than cigarettes, he says. "They have a much bigger mass, they take longer to smoke, and they make more pollution."
Repace and Donald Shopland of Bethesda, Md., also an authority on smoking and health, will be among the speakers at a "Smokeless in Hawaii" conference tomorrow at the Ala Moana Hotel. Both have won prestigious awards.
Shopland, coordinator of the National Cancer Institute's Smoking and Tobacco Control Program, directs a series of publications on the topic. The latest, "CIGARS: Health Effects and Trends," is due for release soon.
The two will discuss the threat from cigars and environmental tobacco smoke, especially in the "hospitality industry workplace."
Bush honorary chair of USS Missouri group
Former President George Bush has been named honorary chairman for the USS Missouri Memorial Association, it was announced yesterday.Bush, a decorated World War II Navy pilot, responded from his home in Houston: "The battleship Missouri, preserved and maintained in Hawaii, will educate millions of visitors about World War II. It is important that future generations visit the USS Missouri and learn about a war that ripped the world asunder."
The deck of the USS Missouri was the site where World War II officially ended on Sept. 2, 1945, with the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay.
The USS Missouri will be towed from Bremerton, Wash., in April and arrive at Pearl Harbor in May. A one-day special opening will mark the 53rd anniversary of the end of World War II Sept. 2.
The grand opening of the Battleship Missouri Memorial is set for January 1999.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffFirefighter injured in Nanakuli blaze
A firefighter was injured in a brush fire that has has been burning since yesterday afternoon in the Nanakuli area.The blaze was reported yesterday at 3:13 p.m. Some areas around Kahe Point Beach Park were still burning this morning, fire officials said.
Six fire companies have responded to the fire, officials said. No homes were in danger.
1 nabbed, 3 sought in armed robbery
Police yesterday arrested one boy and are looking for three others in a Waipahu armed robbery.Four boys allegedly demanded money from a boy at a bus stop in Waipahu at about 9:30 p.m., police said. The victim gave the suspects $1 and attempted to flee.
One suspect then pulled out a handgun and threatened to kill the boy. Another suspect stole a silver chain off the victim's neck.
The four suspects then forced the boy to board a Makaha-bound bus. The victim was able to flee during a stop in Kapolei, police said.
The suspect in police custody, 17, was booked for first-degree robbery and kidnapping.
Armed man hunted in Kailua robbery
Police are searching for a man who allegedly robbed Michael's Liquors in Kailua yesterday.The suspect entered the store and purchased chewing gum from the owner at about 2:20 p.m., police said.
The man returned about 10 minutes later, reportedly armed with a handgun.
Police said the man fled with an undisclosed amount of money from the Kailua Road business.
The suspect was described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, 22 to 28 years old, weighing about 120 pounds, with a tan complexion and short dark hair.
Woman hurt slightly by purse snatcher
Police are searching for a man who allegedly snatched a woman's purse last night in downtown.The woman, 32, told detectives the suspect grabbed her purse on Queen Street, police said. The suspect then fled through the Bishop Street cafe area at about 10:40 p.m.
The woman suffered a chipped tooth and bruises to her arm, police said.
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