Honolulu architect Charles Kaneshiro is designing a project that one day will be the final resting place for his father and several thousand other veterans. Island architect has personal
By Lori Tighe, Star-Bulletin
link to project at Punchbowl"I wanted this project," he said yesterday. "I have emotional reasons to do it. My father served in a way that honored his country despite his own emotions."
The Department of Veterans Affairs awarded Kaneshiro's employer, CJS Group Architects Ltd., a $104,000 contract to add about 5,000 inurnment sites in the above-ground columbarium at the National Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.
The department also awarded a $3 million contract to Royal Contracting Company Ltd. to stabilize the crater's rim.
The remains of more than 41,000 veterans and dependents are at Punchbowl, which no longer has room for graves and only has space in the columbarium.
The expansion will allow the cemetery to continue serving veterans and their families with the burial benefits they have earned, said G.E. Castagnetti, director of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Kaneshiro said his father -- the retired Rev. Morimasa Kaneshiro, who is still alive -- served in World War II as an interpreter in Okinawa for the Army, Navy and Marines.
"It was ironic because he was an Okinawan. He rarely talks about it. But he must have thought, 'What if I shoot my own cousin,' " Kaneshiro said.
"The bloodshed he saw was one of the main reasons he became an Episcopal priest."
Royal Contracting will build a retaining slope on a side of the crater facing Prospect Street to protect graves from erosion, said company Vice President Leonard Leong.
The work is scheduled to begin next month and should last a year, Veterans Affairs said.
The cemetery is expected to be open as usual to visitors.
Drop in power silenced KHPR Monday morning
Public radio station KHPR was silenced Monday morning by a drop in power at its transmitter on Wiliwilinui Ridge.Michael Titterton, president and general manager of Hawaii Public Radio, said the remedy was just to flip breaker switches, but engineers had to be flown to the site by helicopter.
He said new remote control equipment is being installed by Caughill & Paulitz engineering firm that will make it possible to rectify the problem, which has occurred in the past.
Gene therapy lecture is scheduled at UH
The public is invited to a medical lecture, "Gene Therapy: The Science Behind the Story," at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 22 at Keoni Auditorium in Jefferson Hall at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.Dr. R. Michael Blaese, chief of the clinical gene therapy branch at the National Human Genome Research Institute, will discuss the emerging use of gene therapy in clinical medicine. Reservations are required; call 537-7117.
CORRECTIONS
The state has requested contingency plans for all important computer systems whether or not they have been made to identify the year 2000 and beyond, says Mary Pat Waterhouse, state deputy comptroller. An article yesterday said fixed systems would not need new plans.
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Police, Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffHILO -- Police say they are conducting a homicide investigation into the death of a 72-year-old woman found last night at a house in Keaau, south of Hilo. POLICE/FIRE
Big Isle death investigated
By Rod Thompson. Star-Bulletin
as a homicideHer death is the Big Island's first homicide of the year.
The woman was found after a family member, apparently living at another location, called police to inquire about her well-being at 6:53 p.m., police said in a brief statement.
Investigating officers found the woman's body with several injuries described as puncture wounds. Police declined to release the woman's name. Other details of the case were sketchy.
Police said they have no suspects, and detectives are continuing the investigation.
Kahuku man charged in stabbing of boy, 14
Police yesterday charged an 18-year-old Kahuku man in connection with last week's stabbing of a 14-year-old boy.China Fong was charged with second-degree attempted murder, kidnapping and first-degree attempted assault, police said. He is being held on $170,000 bail.
The boy told police he accepted a ride from Fong at Hauula Beach Park Friday, and then Fong allegedly took him to a dirt road across from the Turtle Bay Hilton and stabbed him twice in the back with a small knife.
Fong then reportedly bound the boy and dragged him to a fence near a sewage treatment facility, police said.
When Fong attempted to tie him to the fence, the boy escaped and hid behind some bushes, police said.
The boy was treated and released from Kahuku Hospital.
Pair of armed men rob store of cash, jewelry
Police are searching for two armed men who robbed a Pearl Ridge jewelry store yesterday.The two suspects entered Superior Jewelry at 98-150 Kaonohi St. at about 6:30 p.m. with guns, police said.
The men tied up the store owner, a 61-year-old man, and took cash and jewelry.
Before leaving the store, the suspects took the videotape from the store's security system.
About $2,000 in cash was taken, police said.
The value of the jewelry is pending an inventory.
Moped theft suspect may have struck before
Police yesterday arrested a man who they believe is connected to a series of moped thefts in the University of Hawaii area.UH security saw two men attempting to steal a moped at 2503 Dole St. at 6:20 a.m., police said.
One man, 18, was apprehended by police.
The other suspect, 23, ran away.
The suspect was booked for auto theft, second-degree attempted theft and having fraudulent plates.
Search for lost Marine to be by air only today
Honolulu Fire Department personnel conducted a full day of air and sea search yesterday but were unable to locate the body of a Marine who was swept off one of the Mokulua islands Friday.Yesterday was the fourth full search day for Lance Cpl. Kenneth Abell of Bowie, Md.
"We're pretty sure he's not near the island anymore," Battalion Chief James Arciero said. "The surf was really big (Friday), so it can move a body away real fast. We were hoping he was somewhere near the island."
Arciero says the Fire Department plans today to do only an air search.
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