Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Thursday, April 29, 1999

Crime survivors hold tribute

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Rachelle Figueroa comforted her friend, crime survivor
Niki Meyers Rogerson, during the "Tribute to Victims and
Survivors of Crime" program at Honolulu Hale yesterday.
This week is National Crime Victims Rights Week.

4 isle teachers win honors

A public school mathematics teacher and three private school teachers were named winners of the annual Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

They are Laurie Taguchi, Mililani Mauka Elementary School math teacher; Grace Koehler, Kamehameha Schools elementary science teacher; Cathleen Sanders, Punahou School secondary mathematics teacher, and Nancy Rocheleau, Sacred Hearts Academy secondary science teacher. They will be among teachers from all states to be honored at a June awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. Each winner brings home a $7,500 award to be spent at the teacher's discretion to advance math and science education.

Warrant issued for ex-guard

An arrest warrant has been issued for a former Halawa Correctional Facility guard charged with the death of an inmate last year.

An Oahu grand jury recently indicted Brian Freitas, 33, in the death of inmate Antonio Revera, 26.

Revera, a convicted rapist, was serving a 10-year sentence at Halawa.

Freitas was indicted on a manslaughter charge.

Revera was found dead in his Halawa cell April 24, 1998, where he had been taken after being given Benadryl and Haldol. According to the book "Worst Pills, Best Pills," Benadryl is used to treat conditions including allergic reactions, coughing, insomnia and motion sickness. Haldol is effective in the treatment of psychoses, including schizophrenia, according to the consumer drug guide.

An autopsy revealed that Revera had swelling of the brian,

Revera had been in the facility's medical unit before he was transferred. While being transferred he allegedly bit the hand of a guard.

Vessel with illegals
aboard stopped

The Coast Guard cutter Sassafras yesterday intercepted a vessel four miles southwest of Guam with 90 illegal Asian migrants aboard.

The vessel, whose registry is not yet known, was spotted by a U.S. Navy P-3 patrol aircraft from Kedena, Japan.

Five interns to write
for Star-Bulletin

Five interns will gain newspaper experience this summer as reporters at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

They are Leila Fujimori, Alisa Lavelle, Dawn Sagario, Treena Shapiro and Heather Tang.

Each will spend 12 weeks in the newsroom, working with editors while reporting a variety of stories.

Fujimori, a junior at the University of Hawaii, is a reporter for the student newspaper, Ka Leo O Hawai'i.

Lavelle, also a UH junior, is managing editor of Ka Leo O Hawai'i.

Sagario graduates next month from UH, where she has been a reporter for the campus paper. Her internship is a joint one between the Star-Bulletin and the Asian American Journalists Association.

Shapiro, who also will graduate in May from UH, is news editor at Ka Leo O Hawai'i and serves on the editorial board.

Tang graduates in May from Occidental College in Los Angeles, where she has been news editor and a staff writer on the college newspaper, The Occidental. Her internship is a joint one between the Star-Bulletin and Society of Professional Journalists.

Abercrombie: Moscow is key to Kosovo peace

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who 10 days ago visited the Balkans with a congressional delegation assessing the situation in Kosovo, is returning to Europe today as part of a delegation meeting with Russian lawmakers to help resolve the crisis.

Abercrombie is one of 10 members of the House of Representatives who will meet in Vienna with their counterparts from Russia's parliament.

Abercrombie returned from the Balkans last week skeptical about U.S. policy there and convinced that Russia, with its close ties to Serbia, is the key to bringing peace to the region.

"The answer to the crisis is not in Belgrade, but in Moscow," said Abercrombie today in a television interview.

The delegation was to leave this evening and return Sunday.

New bill would restrict labor use in Marianas

WASHINGTON -- Persistent congressional critics of the Northern Mariana Islands launched a fresh assault on labor practices there today, introducing legislation that would limit use of the "Made in USA" label and impose tariffs on products made on the Pacific islands.

The Marianas "have been transformed into an appendage of the Chinese garment industry," contended Rep. Bob Franks, R-N.J., a lead sponsor of the bill, who charged that the Marianas rely on cheap, imported labor.

The bill has attracted a variety of co-sponsors, including Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii and Rep. Patsy Mink, D-rural Oahu/neighbor islands.

Power failure darkens 1,700 East Oahu homes

An underground cable fault in the Queen's Beach area was the apparent cause of a power outage that affected 1,700 customers in East Honolulu last night.

Homes in Kalama Valley and Portlock were darkened in the outage, which began at 8:20.

Power was restored to 500 homes in Portlock an hour later, said Fred Kobashikawa, Hawaiian Electric spokesman.

The outage also affected the Hawaii Kai Golf Course.

Company troubleshooters were working late last night to repair the damage.

Caution urged while lane closed along Pali

A Pali Highway closure of the left Kailua-bound lane went into effect today and will be in effect again from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow to allow repairs to the damaged catch basin.

The temporary closure runs from Waokanaka Street to Nuuanu Pali Drive, the state Department of Transportation said. Motorists are urged to use caution and allow for extra travel time.

Time to have some fun at parish's carnival

Star of the Sea Parish will stage its annual carnival from 5:30 to 11:30 p.m. May 7 and 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. May 8.

Rides,arts and crafts, baked goods, a silent auction, Koala Moa Chicken, live entertainment, food booths and other attractions are on the program.

Corrections The sponsor of ceremonies commemorating the 204th anniversary of the Battle of Nuuanu Pali was Na Papa Kanaka O Puukohola Heiau Kawaihae. The name was misspelled in Saturday's Star-Bulletin. Attorney George A. Verdin has been suspended from the practice of law. A story in Friday's Star-Bulletin incorrectly said he had been disbarred. An editorial Tuesday incorrectly stated that Hawaii lacks a law requiring gun owners to store their firearms so they are inaccessible to children. A 1992 law requires gun owners to keep their firearms in a securely locked box or other secure container. Violation of the law, resulting in a person under 16 years old obtaining the firearm, is a misdemeanor.

See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
See our [Search] [Info] section for subscription information.

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Police, Fire



By Star-Bulletin staff

Man arrested in Makiki in sexual assault case

A 30-year-old man was arrested last night in connection with the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl.

The man approached the girl on a Makiki sidewalk at 9:15 p.m., police said. He led her to a deserted area on Kinau Street and reportedly sexually assaulted her.

The man was apprehended at the scene and booked for first-degree sexual assault.

In other news...

Thirty-six firefighters yesterday battled a brush fire in Mokuleia for nearly two hours before bringing it under control.

KAILUA-KONA -- Police are looking for a 48-year-old Kona man accused of attacking two women with a hammer about 5:30 a.m. yesterday at their apartment at Kahaluu, officers said.

See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
See our [Search] [Info] section for subscription information.