WAILUKU -- Herbert Campos, selected as the interim Maui trustee for the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, says he supports no changes in the agency's leadership, including A. Frenchy DeSoto as its chairwoman. Health expertise wins Mauian
By Gary Kubota, Star-Bulletin
interim seat on OHA boardCampos, 63, says he wants to focus on helping native Hawaiians in the months before the election of trustees, will vote according to his conscience and will not take sides in any leadership dispute.
Campos, a former Maui County fire chief and now branch manager for the Hawaii Medical Service Association, said he will be running for the Maui trustee seat in November.
OHA trustees yesterday by secret ballot voted 7-1 to select Campos to succeed Abraham Aiona, who stepped down because of poor health.
The selection required at least six votes -- a number the group was unable to muster in the last attempt to select a trustee to succeed the late Billie Beamer.
Eventually, the choice fell to Gov. Ben Cayetano, who selected Gladys Brandt. Brandt supported DeSoto as chairwoman, reducing the power of former Chairman Clayton Hee.
Both Hee and members who support DeSoto backed the selection of Campos.
Hee and trustee Colette Machado said they voted for Campos because of his diverse qualifications and important experience in the health field.
Campos, who has served as an officer of Hawaiian health groups, says he feels many native Hawaiians need to adjust their diet to live healthier lives. "We realize this change has to come in the lifestyle of the Hawaiians," he said. "We've got the worst health in diabetes, and the males have a very high rate of heart problems."
Campos, who had angioplasty surgery in his early 50s, said he eats the same food but less of it, and his health has improved.
Campos said trustees might look at ways to subsidize Medicare with an insurance plan for native Hawaiians 65 years and older.
UH gets federal grant for economic study
The U.S. Economic Development Administration today awarded $215,000 to the University of Hawaii-Manoa to address economic development problems in the Pacific region.The grant will be used by Manoa's Pacific Business Center Program to study and promote business in Hawaii, the American Affiliated Pacific Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.
The 15-year-old center has provided expert business advice to more than 1,500 clients, focusing on small business development, while also serving larger companies, said UH President Kenneth P. Mortimer.
The program benefits the unemployed and underemployed as well as the disadvantaged, minorities and women.
Crews still working on Aiea phone outage
About half of GTE Hawaiian Tel's 2,500 Aiea customers are still without service this morning in an outage that may last through the weekend.Phones in the area have been out since Tuesday, when a contractor working on the H-1 freeway accidentally damaged underground telephone cables near Alvah Scott Elementary School.
Crews are working around the clock to fix the cables.
The company said it will credit customers automatically who lost phone service because of the outage. Customers do not have to call the company to claim the credit.
GTE Hawaiian Tel continued to provide cellular phones for free use by affected customers at the 7-Eleven store at 99-187 Aiea Heights Drive.
Many -- but not all -- customers with phone numbers beginning with 484, 486, 487 and 488 were affected.
Service continued to be restored on a priority basis.
H-3 tunnel cleanings scheduled two Sundays
The H-3 Kaneohe-bound tunnel will be closed for cleaning Sunday, and the H-3 Halawa-bound tunnel will be closed the following Sunday, June 7, for cleaning, the state Department of Transportation said.Closings will be from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in each case.
During closings, there will be contra flow through the other tunnel.
To minimize delays, motorists are advised to take either the Pali or Likelike highway.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffTwo men threaten driver with rifle, steal his cab
Police are looking for two men who allegedly pointed a rifle at a cab driver's head, threatened to shoot him and stole his cab last night.The cabbie, 44, picked up the men at 11:45 p.m. from Gussie L'amour's bar, 3251 N. Nimitz Highway. He drove them down Aolele Street, near the airport, police said. One of the men placed a rifle to his head and demanded the cab, police said. The other suspect said, "Shoot him," police said.
The cab driver jumped out of the car and with his cell phone called police. Police later found the cab without the suspects.
The two men are described as in their 20s, both around 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 130 to 150 pounds. One wore a Polo shirt and long pants; the other wore a baseball cap, with a black shirt and pants.
Robbery suspect, armed and angry dad arrested
Pearl City police arrested a man early this morning for a home robbery on April 12.The suspect was arrested for first-degree robbery and two counts of kidnapping at 1060 Kamehameha Highway at 1:43 a.m.
A man was arrested early this morning for apparently pointing a handgun at his 19-year-old daughter after she came home too late, police said.
The man was arrested at 984-1117 Noheaiki St. in Waipahu at 2:45 a.m.
Stranded hiker rescued from Big Isle cliff face
POLOLU, Hawaii -- A hiker stranded on a cliff face overlooking the ocean south of Pololu Valley in North Kohala was rescued by the Hawaii County helicopter at sundown yesterday, the fire department said.The hiker was not injured.
Family of slain man offers reward for info
HILO -- The family of Sean Burgado, 27, found dead of a gunshot wound to his chest at his Waiakea Uka home May 21, 1997, is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of his killer, police said.Anyone with information is asked to call police at 961-2252 or CrimeStoppers at 961-8300.
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