Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Wednesday, May 27, 1998

Smooth sailing to Oregon
for Mighty Mo

By Gregg K. Kakesako Star-Bulletin

More than 2,500 people greeted the World War II battleship Missouri yesterday as it slid into the northwestern Oregon city of Astoria on its way to Pearl Harbor.

Temperatures hovered in the mid-50s as the 887-foot dreadnought was towed on the Columbia River by the tug Sea Victory.

Roy Yee, USS Missouri Association president, said there was "absolutely no problem" during the short trip, which started from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., Saturday.

Yee and Missouri association staff members rode the tug and kept a watchful eye on the battleship as it made its way to the Port of Astoria.

Yee, in a telephone interview, said the Missouri's crew will spend today preparing the ship to receive guests tomorrow.

Oregon residents will be able to visit the "Mighty Mo" for five days.

One of the reasons the 54-year-old Missouri made a freshwater port call this week is to attempt to flush saltwater marine organisms that may have accumulated on its massive steel hull while it was mothballed in Bremerton and to prevent those species from being introduced at Pearl Harbor.

Astoria is the Missouri's final port-of-call in the continental United States. The battleship is slated to leave June 3 and is expected to arrive at Pearl Harbor June 23.

http://www.ussmissouri.com

Man who conspired in a
$1 million 'ice' deal gets almost
5 years in jail

A man who pleaded guilty to conspiring to buy and then sell about $1 million of "ice" was sentenced to four years, seven months in jail yesterday.

Clinton Mau, 29, also received supervised release of five years from U.S. District Judge Alan Kay. Mau agreed to forfeit $40,832 from a drug deal.

Federal prosecutors accused six men of conspiring to possess crystal methamphetamine, or "ice," for about $1 million in Ala Moana-area hotel rooms in November 1995, and then intending to distribute the drugs.

Mau, Alfredo Bunag, 46, and Harland Kiliona, 25, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charges. Mau is the first of the three to be sentenced.

Kay ruled last July that three other local men accused of conspiracy would face trial on the mainland.

A judge declared a mistrial here after jurors deliberated for more than seven days, citing allegations of jury tampering and intimidation.

Of the three -- Robbie Sylva, Robin Saya and Frank Burke -- Sylva and Burke were found guilty last month in a federal court in Spokane, Wash.

They have not been sentenced. Saya faces trial Aug. 3.

Father pleads not guilty in injuries to twin sons

A Kalihi Valley man accused of breaking bones in his infant sons by shaking them is set to stand trial the week of July 13. Ramon Siuze, 41, yesterday pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree assault for injuring his 3-month-old twins, Raffy and Carlo.

The offense carries a term of up to five years in prison. Prosecutors have said they would try to extend the term to 10 years, based on laws that address crimes against children age 8 or younger.

Siuze's wife, Cleofe, took the twins to Kapiolani Hospital earlier this month, saying one had a rash and wouldn't stop crying.

Police said both twins had leg fractures and that Raffy had an arm fracture and a broken rib.

Honolulu Police Detective Jerry Trinidad testified at Siuze's preliminary hearing that a hospital doctor said the injuries suggested "shaken-baby syndrome," in which shaking can cause broken bones when infant limbs flail.

Trinidad also said Siuze said he was under stress and that he shook each twin at least six times in the last two months.

Siuze is in custody in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Search for Molokai man unsuccessful, halted

The Coast Guard has suspended the search for Molokai fisherman Chad Petronave, whose boat sank Saturday south of Kaunakakai Harbor. Rescue officials failed to find any sign of him after conducting an air, sea and land search yesterday until 6 p.m.

Petronave, 32, and his cousin Don Dela Cruz, 35, had failed to return Saturday night, police said. Dela Cruz was found Sunday in waters south of Molokai.

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

---

Police/Fire



By Star-Bulletin staff

Trucks collide for first
fatality on H-3 freeway

A city Public Works Department employee was killed yesterday in the first fatal accident on the H-3 freeway.

Timothy Haynes, 34, of Honolulu, a laborer in the division of refuse collection and disposal, died after being thrown from a city truck involved in the accident.

He died on the scene.

Haynes is survived by his parents and a brother, said Wayne Hamada, disposal operations engineer for the city.

The crash, on the Halawa side of the freeway tunnel, closed the Pearl City-bound lanes for more than eight hours.

The accident, reported at 12:50 p.m., occurred during a heavy downpour and followed an earlier crash involving a sedan, which traffic investigators say struck a concrete barrier.

The city truck veered into the path of an RSI-Roofing Supply truck while possibly trying to avoid the crashed sedan.

City spokeswoman Carol Costa said Haynes had been working for the Public Works Department since February and was previously a laborer assigned to auditoriums.

Two others in the city truck and the driver of the RSI-Roofing Supply vehicle were taken to Queen's Hospital.

MPs' traffic stop yields arrests for stolen car

Two men and a boy were arrested for allegedly stealing a car early this morning, police said.

When military police stopped a car for a traffic violation on military property, they discovered the car was reported stolen.

They kept the three suspects until Honolulu police arrived and arrested them at 12:30 a.m.

Maui girl, 16, upgraded from critical to guarded

A 16-year-old Maui girl, initially listed in critical condition after a traffic accident yesterday, was in guarded condition this morning at Queen's Medical Center on Oahu.

The girl, who lives Upcountry, was riding in the back seat of a car when it went off Kula Highway near Sun Yat-sen Park and crashed in a pasture at about 1:55 p.m.

While four other youths survived with minor injuries, the girl's neck was broken, and her arms and legs were paralyzed, Police Sgt. David Silva said.

Hikers rescued near volcanic eruption area

HILO -- Two hikers were lifted to safety by a county helicopter yesterday after spending two nights lost on a forest trail to the Puu Oo eruption area, the Fire Department said.

Jim Matabishop, 39, and Angie Kincaid, 23, were located by county rescuers Monday, but rescuers had to leave them for a second night because bad weather made a helicopter rescue Monday impossible, they said.

Pedestrian killed by car was Brooklyn woman, 70

The 70-year-old woman who died after she was hit by a car Monday night around 8 p.m. in Aiea has been identified as Felipa Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, of Brooklyn, N.Y., died of multiple injuries, according to the medical examiner's office.

Rodriguez ran across Kamehameha Highway near East Pali Momi Street when she was struck by a car driven by a 25-year-old woman, police said.

Rodriguez, who was not in a crosswalk, was taken to Queen's Hospital, where she died.

Kaneohe man arrested for punching man in car

Police arrested a Kaneohe man for allegedly punching a man through a car window early this morning.

The 33-year-old Kaneohe man got into an argument with someone in a bar. Later, he saw a friend of his opponent sitting in a car. Police said he reached over and punched the man in the head through the open car window.

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