Jim Hale, grilling chicken at his Nanakuli home, saw smoke coming from a neighboring house, yelled to his wife to call 911 and yelled for his son, James Jr., and son-in-law, Nano Carlos, to help. Nanakuli neighbors
By Harold Morse, Star-Bulletin
aid in fire rescue"My son-in-law, he ran around behind the house to grab a water hose, and my son and me went through the parlor front door," Hale said.
"We grabbed the kids and got them out. Then I went back in for the grandfather.
"I went on my knees because the smoke was so high, and I found him by grabbing his leg."
They and a neighbor rescued the three young girls and their 80-year-old grandfather from the burning home yesterday afternoon.
The fire left the extended family of seven homeless.
The cause of the 4:23 p.m. blaze remained under investigation.
Damage estimates were $140,000 to the structure, $35,000 to contents with $3,000 exposure damage to a home next door.
The Red Cross provided lodging for the family.
C.L. Thames Jr. of the Red Cross disaster team said that victims would receive clothing and shoes and children would receive toys.
Beachgoers: Look out for stinging box jellyfish tomorrow through Saturday. Uninvited visitors return:
By Helen Altonn, Star-Bulletin
Jellyfish to hit isle beachesThe city's Ocean Safety Division has issued a jellyfish watch for the monthly arrival of the nearly transparent critters.
They're carried in deep water currents and usually show up on a lunar cycle.
The influx is expected to peak Thursday.
Their favorite areas are Waikiki, Ala Moana swimming channel, Hanauma Bay and Pokai Bay.
Lifeguards will post signs when the jellyfish show up.
Landy Blair, the division's box jellyfish specialist, will be looking for them, said Capt. Edmund Pestana at the lifeguard Operations Center.
"He'll be pulling them up with his bare hands; he's so used to the sting," Pestana said.
But the sting could cause shock of the circulatory system, particularly for people who are allergic to any kind of stings, he said.
"These box jellyfish stings hurt 100 times more than a Portuguese man-of-war. It reduces men to tears, it is so bad."
Tourists particularly are vulnerable because they go on night swims when the jellyfish go into beaches to breed, Pestana said.
The jellyfish are light sensitive so they leave when the sun comes up, he said.
Surfers are advised to wear jerseys with long sleeves and longer shorts than usual because the fragile jellyfish break apart and the pieces can float around and sting, he said.
"They can cling onto you if you're in the surf," Pestana said.
He said lifeguard stations are equipped with vinegar and ice packs to treat stings.
Medical attention is needed if pain persists.
Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop will discuss the tobacco problem at a conference April 10-11. Former health chief Koop
joins isle forum on tobacco"Physician Intervention for Tobacco Cessation," at the Ihilani Resort and Spa in Kapolei, is sponsored by the Consortium for Continuing Medical Education and the American Cancer Society. Physicians and nurses may earn credits.
The cancer society estimates that more than 4,300 Hawaii residents will be diagnosed with cancer this year and 2,000 will die from it. It is the second leading cause of death in the islands, the society says.
Workshops and talks will deal with tobacco intervention, ethics of the tobacco industry, physician influence on tobacco practices, barriers to intervention and other topics.
Koop will talk at a dinner 7 p.m. April 10 on "The Magnitude of the Tobacco Problem in the U.S. and Abroad -- An Escalating Problem."
He will attend breakfast April 11.
State Attorney General Margery Bronster will discuss the settlement with tobacco companies and its impact on Hawaii.
The faculty includes: Miki Arume of Kaiser Permanente, Honolulu; Dr. Dileep Bal, chief of California's Cancer Control Branch; Charles Duarte, Hawaii Med-Quest Division administrator; Dr. Michael Fiore, Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, University of Wisconsin; and Fred Fortin, Hawaii Medical Service Association.
Also, Jack F. Hollis, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland, Ore.; Dr. Thomas Houston, director, Smokeless States National Program Office; Dr. John McDonnell, Hawaii Medical Association; Dr. James Navin, Tobacco Cessation Conference Planning Committee chairman; Judy Okene, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical Center; Dr. Elizabeth Tam, University of Hawaii; and Dr. Tom Vogt, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research.
Body-boarder cut by shark
KEALIA, Kauai -- An 18-year old Flagstaff, Ariz., man suffered a small cut and a large bruise on his right calf when he was attacked by a shark at Kealia Beach yesterday afternoon.Kauai police said the man told them he was body boarding with two friends. He said he was in shallow, murky water when he felt a tug on his calf.
The man told officers he did not see the shark but his friends described it as about 6 feet long.
Friends drove him to Wilcox Memorial Hospital. Police described the cut as about 2 inches long, but there was an 8-inch bruise around it. The beach was closed for the day.
'Baywatch' pick delayed; union talks tomorrow
"Baywatch" executives say that by week's end they will announce whether Hawaii or Australia has been chosen as the new location for the world's most popular syndicated television series.Producers of the hour-long show appear to be proceeding as though they're relocating to Hawaii, including asking for more information from the state and Honolulu film offices and waiting for the outcome of talks starting tomorrow with the Teamsters union. The union provides drivers for the show.
Leo Reed, recording secretary for Teamsters Local 399 in Hollywood, is scheduled to arrive from Los Angeles today to meet with state and visitor industry officials about possible concessions to help cut the cost of filming in Hawaii.
Several acres of lava fall into sea off Big Island
HILO -- A "bench" of lava several acres in size collapsed into the sea yesterday, the largest collapse since Dec. 11 when 14-1/2 acres fell into the sea, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory spokesman Arnold Okamura said.The event occurred where lava reaches the seashore about three miles east of a Hawaii Volcanoes National Park viewing site.
It was reported by a tour helicopter yesterday to observatory scientists, who were attempting to determine the exact size.
Such collapses take place periodically as new lava flows to the seashore and accumulates in an unstable fashion.
Planners vote again on fate of Kam Drive-In
The city Planning Commission needs to take a second vote on whether to designate Kam Drive-In as a future park.While the commission voted against a favorable recommendation on the plan, it needed to take a second vote actually recommending denial, city planning officials said later.
The second vote takes place at 1:30 p.m. March 17 at the City Hall annex meeting room.
City Council Chairman Mufi Hannemann wants the city to purchase the 14-acre site and turn it into a park.
Vendors at the Kam Drive-In swap meet are fighting the park designation and also want to keep new development out.
The Honolulu Board of Water Supply has 23 meter readers, said spokeswoman Denise De Costa. A March 5 story included a higher number. CORRECTION
A story Saturday indicated that Election Systems & Software did not want to be paid the balance of its contract to supply election computers to the state. The company is hoping that the recount effort will show the state it deserves to be paid and to be considered when the next election contract is awarded. CLARIFICATION
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Police, Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffCOURTS
A second man has been indicted in the shooting death of an Army pilot at the Waianae Army Recreation Center last June. Another charged in
Latchum killingKeala Leong, 19, of Waianae will be arraigned Thursday in federal court on a first-degree murder charge.
He is also charged with attempted robbery and attempted burglary.
He joins Bryson Jose, 20, as a defendant in the death of John Latchum, 33. Latchum was killed while he was attempting to stop a group of intruders from breaking into the cottage he had rented for his family's use.
A criminal complaint was also filed last year accusing a 17-year-old Makaha boy as the shooter.
An FBI agent testified that the boy said he was ordered by Jose to shoot.
The boy appeared last year in federal court in a closed session, based on his juvenile status.
U.S. Attorney Steven Alm said the first-degree murder charge carries a potential death sentence.
The decision to seek that sentence must come from U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, and Alm said he has not yet decided to seek it for Jose and Leong.
A federal grand jury indicted Leong on Feb. 24, but the indictment was sealed until yesterday.
Bank robber sentenced to 37 months
Convicted bank robber Walter Westbrook Jr. has been sentenced to 37 months in prison and 500 hours of drug treatment.Westbrook, 28, pleaded guilty to robbing American Savings Bank at 94-060 Farrington Highway of $614 on July 27.
Westbrook had faced a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor yesterday ordered Westbrook to pay restitution of $2,189 to the bank and $928 to the bank teller.
Gillmor also stipulated that Westbrook attend educational and vocational rehabilitation while in prison.
He will then have three years of supervised release.
Timothy Culkin gets 20 years in brother's death
Timothy Culkin, the man who stabbed his younger brother but claimed self defense, received a 20-year sentence for manslaughter today.He also received one year in prison for reckless endangerment, which he has already served.
Culkin, 40, claimed his brother, Thomas, 39, was in an "ice rage" when he stabbed Thomas with a steak knife in self-defense on July 27, 1997.
"This makes him look like the bad guy and he wasn't," said father Mike Culkin. "Tim always looked after Tom."
A toxicologist testified there were 3.66 miligrams of crystal methamphetamine per liter of blood in Thomas Caulkin's system at the time of his death.
The family said Thomas Caulkin had a drug problem since his teens.
Second man charged in '98 Waianae murder
A second man has been indicted in the shooting death of an Army pilot at the Waianae Army Recreation Center last June.Keala Leong, 19, of Waianae will be arraigned Thursday in federal court on a first-degree murder charge. He is also charged with attempted robbery and attempted burglary.
He joins Bryson Jose, 20, as a defendant in the death of John Latchum, 33, who was killed while he was attempting to stop a group of intruders from breaking into his family's rented cottage.
U.S. Attorney Steven Alm said the first-degree murder charge carries a potential death sentence. The decision to seek that sentence must come from U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, and Alm said he has not yet decided to seek it for Jose and Leong.
A federal grand jury indicted Leong on Feb. 24, but the indictment was sealed until yesterday.
Bank robber, 28, gets prison, drug treatment
Convicted bank robber Walter Westbrook Jr. has been sentenced to 37 months in prison and 500 hours of drug treatment.Westbrook, 28, pleaded guilty to robbing American Savings Bank at 94-060 Farrington Highway of $614 on July 27.
Police said Westbrook entered the bank about 4:45 p.m. and presented a demand note written on the back of an envelope to a teller. Westbrook then fled in a stolen black Mazda, driven by an accomplice.
FBI agents arrested him at a Nanakuli residence.
Westbrook was identified in a photo lineup by a bank employee.
He had faced a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor yesterday ordered Westbrook to pay restitution of $2,189 to the bank and $928 to the bank teller.
Gillmor also required that Westbrook attend educational and vocational rehabilitation while in prison.
In addition, Westbrook received three years of supervised release.
"We think it was a fair sentence," said Shanlyn Souza, attorney for Westbrook.
Souza had originally argued that Westbrook had a drug problem at the time of the crime.
POLICE/FIRE
Bones found near Kunia area look to be human
Police are examining bones which they believe are human.The bones were discovered at 9 a.m. today in an empty lot next to corn fields near Farrington Highway and Kunia Road. Police said the remains appear to be a skull and a jaw bone.
In other news...
Two men died swimming in Oahu waters yesterday, the second and third apparent drownings since Friday.
A man identified by the medical examiner's office as John Robert Hendrick, 46, of Haleiwa, was trying to swim to shore from a boat anchored about 100 yards off of Sunset Beach at about 4:15 p.m., police said.
At 9:17 p.m., an unidentified man was pulled from the waters off of Waialae Beach Park. He was taken to Straub Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A man who drowned last week in a lagoon near the Ihilani Resort & Spa has been identified as 45-year-old Ted Davis, whose home is in Arizona.
The first suspect is described as 5 feet 4 inches tall with a slim build and fair complexion. The second boy is described as 5 feet tall with a slim build and a dark complexion. The second boy is described as 5 feet tall with a slim build and a dark complexion.
Anyone with information can call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.
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