HILO -- Mayor Stephen Yamashiro says a proposed food irradiator is his issue, and the state Campaign Spending Commission will determine that he acted properly when he spent campaign money to support it. Big Island mayor accused of
By Rod Thompson, Star-Bulletin
campaign violation over irradiatorA "preliminary determination" by the commission released by irradiation opponent Lanny Sinkin this week said Yamashiro was prohibited from donating campaign money to promote the issue.
Sinkin filed a complaint with the commission in October after Yamashiro transferred $17,000 from his campaign to Friends of Agriculture, which supported irradiation as a way to kill insects in Big Island fruit.
The group opposed efforts by Sinkin and others to block irradiation with a ballot measure. The measure lost by 470 votes.
Commission Executive Director Bob Watada said Yamashiro is contesting the preliminary determination and a hearing may be held within a few weeks.
The preliminary determination says Yamashiro was technically a candidate although he was not running in last year's elections.
State law says a candidate's treasurer or committee may spend money on "the campaign of the candidate, question, or issue with which they are directly associated."
Yamashiro said, "I don't think anybody can dispute that irradiation is my issue."
But the preliminary determination says Yamashiro's committee was not directly related to the issue because they only dealt with his campaign.
The Inserection Adult Fantasy Store's fight to stay in McCully is over. McCully sex shop settles
By Gordon Y.K. Pang, Star-Bulletin
with 7-11 over eviction7-Eleven Hawaii Inc., Inserection's landlord, was granted a "writ of possession" from District Court allowing eviction proceedings to begin.
In the face of that, Atlanta-based parent company Focus Entertainment International agreed to a settlement with 7-Eleven to leave on its own in March.
7-Eleven and Focus Entertainment agreed that its 10-year lease contract was "entered into with a mutual misunderstanding of the facts," 7-Eleven spokesman Jim Boersema said.
"We thought it was going to be a video store," he said. "It's a different kind of video store than what we had anticipated."
A person answering the phone at Inserection said this morning that the store would be open as usual.
He referred other calls to Focus Entertainment.
Focus Entertainment officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
McCully City Councilman Andy Mirikitani, who led a citizens effort to evict Inserection, praised the decision at a news conference today.
"Shutting down this sex shop in McCully is just the first step in protecting all of Honolulu's family neighborhoods from these corrosive institutions," he said. On Tuesday, the Council's Zoning Committee advanced a measure curtailing the presence of adult entertainment establishments.
Three students arrested for setting off homemade fireworks at Campbell High School last week have written letters to apologize and express remorse that 10 people were injured, Principal Louis Vierra said. Campbell youths apologize
By Harold Morse, Star-Bulletin
for fireworks blasts, injuriesRobert Elliott, Campbell vice principal who oversees facilities and security, told a Parent Teacher Student Association meeting last night at the Ewa Beach school that security procedures are under review.
Sandra Kurata, vice principal for special education, reported asking an arrested boy: "Doesn't it bother you to think that you hurt someone?"
She said he replied: "Well, I didn't mean to hurt anybody. I tried to put it (a bomb) where I didn't think anybody would come."
The first such fireworks injuries at Campbell in some years took place a week ago yesterday. The three suspects -- two youths, 15, one, 17 -- were arrested the next day.
"We've been very fortunate that we haven't had more injuries," Kurata said.
Dangers involved with fireworks and homemade bombs aren't limited to Campbell, said Vierra.
"I've been in three high schools," he said. Every one had explosives go off, he added. "That's why the governor's pushing for a total ban. I certainly support that."
Robert Pratt, 17, a Campbell senior, one of two students present, said the evacuation that followed the explosion of a "sparkler bomb" in a stairwell included some massive confusion.
1st charged in zone law faces jail until her trial
Prosecutors want the first woman charged with violating the state's "hooker-free zone law" to remain in jail until her trial date on Jan. 29.While walking along Kalakaua Avenue Monday morning, Kristin Artusy, 20, was arrested for violating the state's "geographic restrictions" law.
As a condition of bail for a previous prostitution-related arrest on Dec. 23, Artusy is prohibited from entering or walking along the streets of Waikiki from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
She was arrested again after her preliminary hearing this morning on that violation.
A hearing Tuesday will determine whether she can be kept in jail until her Jan. 29 trial for the original prostitution charge.
Laie woman, 48, killed crossing Kam Highway
A 48-year-old Laie woman was struck and killed today while crossing Kamehameha Highway near Anemoku Street at 6:58 a.m., police said.Witnesses told police the woman was in a crosswalk when she was hit by a pickup truck. Speed and alcohol were not factors, police said. The driver, a 58-year-old Laie man, was not arrested, although police opened a third-degree negligent homicide investigation, officers said.
The incident is the second pedestrian fatality in three days.
On Tuesday, 68-year-old Alice Yokoyama was killed after being struck by a pickup in Aiea.
Sewer fee equity bill shot down in committee
A City Council committee has shot down a sewer fee equity bill for the second time in three months.It may, however, still return.
The bill was designed by Councilman John DeSoto and the city administration to bring down sewer fees for single-family households and raise them for condominium/apartment households.
The average family using 10,000 gallons of water would pay $29.73 per month.
Currently, a single-family household using that much pays $31.78 while a multifamily household pays $24.79.
The measure was shot down by the members of the Budget and Public Works Committee representing districts heavily populated by condominium and apartment dwellers: Donna Mercado Kim, Andy Mirikitani and Jon Yoshimura.
Committee Chairman John Henry Felix and member Rene Mansho voted for the measure.
Bill seeks to resolve fee on city property
The Easter Seal Society of Honolulu would still be allowed to charge an entry fee to its annual Taste of Honolulu program under a bill advanced by the City Council's Executive Matters Committee.Other organizations, however, would not be allowed to charge fees when using the Honolulu Hale grounds bounded by Beretania, Punchbowl, King and Alapai streets.
City Council Chairman Mufi Hannemann raised the issue of the group charging people to enter city property several months ago after the agency charged $2 admission for the Taste of Honolulu event.
It was the first time in the event's seven-year history that an entry fee had been charged.
The bill requires the organization to ensure that, during the event, the public and city employees can access city buildings as well as the walkways if they have other business.
The bill also calls for all organizations using City Hall grounds to go through a formalized process involving filling out an application, showing proof of liability coverage and paying for maintenance.
This year's Taste of Honolulu is from June 25-27.
Lee to take command of Pacific Army Reserve
Col. Robert G.F. Lee has been picked as the new commander of the 3,000-member 9th Regional Support Command and the Pacific Army Reserve.Lee was commissioned through the University of Hawaii ROTC program in 1971 and commanded the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry in 1988.
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Police, Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffPOLICE
Man robs bank, may be one who struck Monday
Bank of Hawaii's University Avenue branch was robbed yesterday by a man the FBI believes is also responsible for Monday's downtown robbery of Territorial Savings.Yesterday's robbery was reported at 1:22 p.m. The suspect gave a demand note to a teller that read, "I have a gun, give me all the money," and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.
The suspect is a slim man in his late 20's or early 30's, about 6 feet tall with a mustache and pulled-back black hair.
He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a red shirt with a Wylie Coyote logo, sunglasses and a baseball cap.
Police investigate case of bones found in 1997
HILO -- Police have opened a homicide investigation into the death of a man whose bones were found in 1997, but who wasn't positively identified until recently, Lt. Francis Rodillas said.Tests identified the victim as John J. Kammerer, 29, of no permanent address, and determined that he died from blunt force trauma to his skull, Rodillas said.
Kammerer was reported missing March 17, 1994, and on June 14, 1997, bones which turned out to be his were found in the extinct Puulena Crater, in the Puna District.
Anyone who knew Kammerer is asked to call Detective Paul Ferreira at 961-2378 or Crime Stoppers at 961-8300.
In other news...
Police are looking for 28-year-old Calvin M. Chun, a suspect in several robberies last month. Chun is 6 feet 3, 230 pounds and has two distinguishing tattoos: a billiard "8" ball on his right hand and the name "Lila" on his neck.
Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.
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