AUW now running ASK-2000
ASK-2000, Hawaii's only comprehensive help line for health and human services, became a part of Aloha United Way on April 1.Aloha United Way ASK-2000, an information and referral center, provides information on some 3,500 state, federal, county and nonprofit agencies statewide.
"The reality was that the program would have gone out of business if we didn't step in to manage it," said Irving Lauber, AUW president. "We could not let the community lose this vital public resource."
Aloha United Way was an original funder of ASK-2000 and has continued to support it since its inception.
The program was formerly managed by Hawaii Community Services Council.
Aloha United Way ASK-2000's Web site (www.ask2000.org) also may be visited by individuals needing help.
It receives more than 75,000 hits a year.
It contains a huge data base with information on all kinds of helpful organizations by name, specialty or geographic location.
Man pleads not guilty in death of salesman
Michael Robert Lawrence pleaded not guilty today to allegedly murdering a vacuum cleaner salesman who gave a demonstration in his Waialua home March 27.The trial starts June 21 before Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall.
Lawrence, 23, is accused of murdering Melchor Tabag with a hammer and meat saw. The body of Tabag, 41, was never recovered.
Windward fair to offer info on crime watches
A Neighborhood Security Watch fair promises to help educate citizens on crime and how to fight it from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Kailua Intermediate School, 145 S. Kainalu Drive.This year, the fair will emphasize drugs, domestic violence, victim witness assistance, Y2K and CrimeStoppers.
Windward watch coordinators want to bring members of Neighborhood Security Watches and Community Policing Groups together to share experiences, review and analyze reported data, generate new ideas and help reduce property crime.
Goodwill nets $30,000 at annual fund-raiser
The 1999 Goodwill Industries of Hawaii Fundraising Auction in February earned more than $30,000. The money will be used for vocational training, job placement and support services for people with disabilities and other barriers to employment.The agency, which has helped people with disabilities since 1959, served more than 1,350 people last year through its 16 job training, placement and support services.
More than 300 people found jobs.
Hanauma Bay needs cleanup volunteers
Friends of Hanauma Bay wants volunteers to help preserve the nature preserve from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday.Volunteers will meet in the Hanauma Bay upper picnic area next to the parking lot. They will get their work assignments there and such essentials as garbage bags. Residents are reminded to bring a photo ID to avoid having to pay the beach access fee.
Groups and individual volunteers needing more information may call 395-1217. However, advance calls aren't necessary.
Anyone wishing to take part can just show up.
New health plan serves Medicare recipients
A new health plan called Health Plan Hawaii Classic is available in Hawaii for people eligible for Medicare.Health Plan Hawaii, a health maintenance organization affiliate of the Hawaii Medical Service Association, has signed a contract with the Health Care Financing Administration to offer the plan.
The new plan, a Medicare+Choice plan, is available to residents with Medicare Parts A and B and those under 65 entitled to Medicare because of a Social Security disability.
"Through Health Plan Hawaii Classic, we're able to offer a Medicare+Choice plan with a wide choice of quality providers in a locally managed care network," said Bob Nickel, Health Plan Hawaii president.
For information about costs and benefits, call 948-6270 on Oahu or HMSA offices on the neighbor islands.
Police, Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffWoman dies in motorcycle crash
A 40-year-old woman was killed last night in a motorcycle crash on Bougainville Drive, 314 feet south of Lawehana Street near Costco Wholesale.The woman was a passenger on a 1993 Harley-Davidson being operated by her husband. Police vehicular homicide investigators say speed appears to be a factor in the 6:50 p.m. crash.
The couple were headed south on Bougainville Drive when the operator lost control of the motorcycle, which crashed into a utility pole, police said.
The couple, who were not wearing helmets, were thrown from the motorcycle upon impact, say police. The woman was pronounced dead at Queen's Hospital. Her husband is at Tripler Hospital, reportedly in guarded condition.
The woman is Oahu's 15th traffic fatality of the year and third from a motorcycle crash.
Student charged with sex assault
Police yesterday charged a 21-year-old Hawaii Pacific University student on multiple sex-assault counts stemming from an alleged Windward campus dormitory attack last Wednesday.Christian Carrillo is charged with three counts each of first- and third-degree sex assault, and kidnapping. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
A 19-year-old dorm resident told police she was assaulted by Carrillo after he followed her into a room last Wednesday at 7:15 p.m.
Two arrested in Big Isle cockfight
HILO -- Police arrested two men, 29 and 40, for gambling and cruelty to animals during a cockfight at Iwasaki Camp in Kurtistown south of Hilo Friday night, they announced over the weekend. The suspects were released pending investigation.
Aliens accused of drug offense
KAILUA-KONA -- Three illegal aliens arrested at the Kona airport for allegedly attempting to bring cocaine and heroin into the state will be federally prosecuted, police announced this weekend.A 21-year-old woman from El Monte, Calif., was arrested at the airport Friday with more than a pound of cocaine and about a quarter-pound of heroin, police said.
Arrested with the woman by police, the FBI and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service were a man and another woman, both 20, from Paauilo on the Big Island. The three were taken to Honolulu for processing.
See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
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