A $1 million emergency appropriation bill to start building the new Kapolei High School has been signed by Gov. Ben Cayetano. $1 million OK'd to start
building Kapolei HighThe school is set to open by August 2000 for the school's first class of ninth-graders.
After Cayetano signed the measure yesterday, Schools Superintendent Paul LeMahieu said the new school will relieve overcrowding problems that plague Campbell High School.
Cayetano said the Department of Education is using construction funds that had been earmarked for Iao Intermediate School. But it will take 12 to 16 months before construction on that projectcan start.
New scholarship fosters dreams despite disability
Joe Shrestha graduated from Hawaii Pacific University in a wheelchair.Now an HPU graphic artist and computer science teacher, Shrestha has created a scholarship for students enrolled in computer science or the master's in information systems at HPU, and those with disabilities will get first shot.
"I would like to encourage students, especially those with a disability, that dreams can be achieved if they don't give up," Shrestha said. "I know how hard it is to compete in the world."
The university's office of development said the alumnus launched the Shrestha Scholarship Fund by donating $2,000, and he will continue to contribute each year until establishing an endowment large enough to finance a full scholarship for perpetuity.
For more information on the scholarship, call 544-0213.
Hokule'a starts training to recreate ancient trip
After a month in dry dock on Sand Island, the Hokule'a will be blessed today and put back to sea to train for its hardest voyage yet: Rapa Nui.The Hokule'a, Hawaii's first traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe, plans to set sail for Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, in June. It will also sail to the Marquesas Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago and Tahiti before returning to Hawaii six months later. The crew will rely on celestial navigation rather than modern navigational instruments.
This voyage will be especially difficult, according to crew member Kamaki Worthington. Rapa Nui, about 2,300 miles west of Chile, is small and isolated and will be difficult to find through celestial navigation. The Hokule'a will also be sailing against prevailing wind and currents the entire trip.
Nainoa Thompson will navigate the Rapa Nui leg of the voyage.
Sailing to Rapa Nui will complete the "triangle" of Polynesian islands that the Hokule'a has visited since it first set sail off Windward Oahu in 1975. The canoe has followed the migration paths of ancient islanders.
Two at Camp Smith may become generals
Two Marine Corps colonels stationed at Camp Smith have been nominated for promotion to brigadier general.They are Jerry C. McCabee, chief of staff for the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific; and Johnny R. Thomas, assistant chief of staff for the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific.
Lee Cataluna leaving KHNL for new position
Lee Cataluna, morning anchor for KHNL, resigned from the station today, saying in a press release that she could not discuss her new position except that it was "within a network show."She will also produce her musical "Ulua" this fall.
The release said Cataluna was prohibited by contract to discuss management policies at the station but that management did "everything it could to motivate her to follow her own dreams outside KHNL."
During her four and a half years at KHNL, Cataluna launched the two-hour morning show that rose to the No. 2 rating among Hawaii's four morning shows. She later moved to evening anchor but recently returned to the morning spot. The press release said the evening news remained in fourth place.
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Police, Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffPOLICE/FIRE
Homeless man charged in Chinatown killing
Police yesterday charged a 39-year-old homeless man in connection with the slaying of a 40-year-old transvestite earlier this month.Mark Tynes was charged with second-degree murder, police said. He is being held on $100,000 bail.
Tynes allegedly cut the man's throat during an argument in Chinatown on March 14.
The victim was taken to Queen's Hospital in critical condition. He died five days later.
Waianae man booked for threats to cops
A 38-year-old Waianae man was arrested yesterday for allegedly threatening the lives of two police officers.The man, who has a lengthy criminal record, was arrested for disorderly conduct at 2:30 p.m., police said.
When the man was in the police squad car, he reportedly threatened the police officers and their families.
He was booked on two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening.
Cops seek robber who beat his female victim
Police are seeking the public's assistance in locating a man who beat a woman during a robbery Wednesday at Kona Abrasives, 148 Mokauea St.The robbery was reported at 12:30 p.m.
The suspect is about 5 feet 7 and weighs about 160 pounds. He was wearing a blue or green shirt, faded bluejeans, light brown baseball cap and slippers.
Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.
Courts
Murder suspect faces new trial after hung jury
Although his murder trial ended in a hung jury this week, John J. Griffiths' troubles aren't over.He could face a retrial as soon as May, the state said yesterday. Griffiths, 36, stood trial for the execution-style shooting a decade ago of Eric Kamanu, a runner-up in the 1986 Mr. Hawaiian Islands bodybuilding competition.
The deputy prosecutor said the murder stemmed from a dispute within a cocaine drug ring, involving Griffiths and Kamanu, 25. The defense said any of the state's witnesses against Griffiths had motives themselves for the murder.
Deputy Prosecutor Randy Lee said the state's evidence is enough to retry Griffiths. Eight jurors voted to convict Griffiths; did not. One juror, Tom Izon, said the evidence was not strong enough and some witnesses were not believable.
Two men indicted for computerized child porn
A federal grand jury has indicted two men on charges involving child pornography in computer graphics files.Dennis Menoni, 54, a former Honolulu resident, was indicted for computer transmission of material involving minors in sexually explicit acts.
Brian K. Cremen, an Oahu-based Navy man, was indicted for possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors.
Menoni is accused of 16 offenses from March to July 1998, in which he was alleged to have knowingly transmitted by computer visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
If convicted, he faces a maximum of 15 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 on each count, according to Lawrence Tong, assistant U.S. attorney.
Cremen is accused of a single count of possession of about 1,800 graphic files that contained visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, Tong said.
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