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Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Wednesday, July 7, 1999


Hawaii 2000

Water barriers

HOT dam! Hawaii's got more than a handful of big dams throughout the state, the longest of which is on Molokai, according to the "Hawaii Fact and Reference Book." That's the Kualapuu Dam, measuring 7,100 feet long and 58 feet high.

Other big dams include:

Bullet Hoomaluhia Dam in Luluku on Oahu: 2,200 feet long, 132 feet high.

Bullet Nuuanu No. 4 on Oahu: 1,730 feet long, 73 feet high.

Bullet Wahiawa Dam on Oahu: 460 feet long, 98 feet high.

Bullet Waita Dam in Koloa, Kauai: 3,250 feet long, 28 feet high.

Bullet Alexander Dam in Kalaheo, Kauai: 600 feet long, 119 feet high.

Tapa

New home for Gay, Lesbian center

By Susan Kreifels, Star-Bulletin

Honolulu's gay and lesbian community is going more public with the opening of a new information center on Beretania Street.

Jacinda Elias, co-chairwoman of the board of directors for the new Gay and Lesbian Community Center, said moving to a street frontage office was partly due to availability of space, but also to past concern about being in a public place and the negative attention it could draw."We decided it was time to go open," she said.

The center, also the new home for Our Family Christian Church, the Marriage Project -- Hawaii, and a number of other gay and lesbian community groups, will open Aug. 1 at 2424 Beretania St. At first volunteers will run the center, which organizers hope to keep open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. The center will include office spaces, a community library, a reading and coffee area, meeting spaces, and a community information center.


UPDATE

Quarantine costs

Pet owners will have to put up more money for quarantine stays starting Monday.

Last week Gov. Ben Cayetano signed the new fees into effect, more than doubling the cost of a 30-day stay at the Halawa facility over the next four years.

Funding changed from general to special funding, which means the quarantine facility must generate enough revenue to cover its expenses. Quarantine is necessary to keep the state rabies-free, government officials say.

For 30-day stays, the fees will increase in four steps over the next four years, said Ann Takiguchi, spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture. Here are the fees:

Bullet Cats now cost $275 and dogs $290.

Bullet Starting July 12, both fees will jump to $555.

Bullet From late August to July 2000, the cost will be $655.

Bullet Then the fee will rise to $675 for two years. At that time fees will be reviewed. The current plan, however, calls for the last jump to $695 to take place three years from now.

Bullet For 120-day stays, all animals will cost $1,080 starting July 12. Current fees: dogs cost $875, and cats $815.

Agriculture officials said the total number of animals coming to the station has increased. But only half of the number of animals are there at any given time compared to earlier years before the state shortened the quarantine stay from 120 days to 30 days for animals that meet quarantine requirements.

Income is not meeting costs, despite cutting 10 full-time caretakers.

By Susan Kreifels, Star-Bulletin


Law sets up trust fund with tobacco money

Gov. Ben Cayetano today signed into law a bill that establishes a trust fund for the $1.38 billion the state will be receiving from the tobacco industry over the next 25 years.

The payments will settle the state's health-related claims against the tobacco industry.

The measure provides that 40 percent will be appropriated to a "rainy-day fund," 35 percent for health-related programs including the children's health insurance fund, and 25 percent to a newly established fund that will be used to support efforts to curb or prevent the use of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Queen's facility wins prized accreditation

The Queen's Medical Center's Nae'a Radiation Oncology Department recently received three-year accreditation by the American College of Radiology.

It is the only radiation facility in Hawaii and one of 125 in the nation to receive such accreditation.

Radiation oncologists and medical physicists who are members of the college conduct surveys of radiation oncology practices and report findings to the organization's accreditation committee.

Cerebral palsy camp open for youngsters

Three more children with cerebral palsy can be accepted for a therapy camp if it gets more volunteers, says Larry Ward, Conductive Education Center of Hawaii director.

The center began the camp yesterday for children between the ages of six and 10 who are capable of responding to verbal requests.

Sessions are held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday at Jefferson Elementary School, and they'll continue through July 30.

Volunteers, parents and friends of kids with cerebral palsy may obtain more information by calling Ward at 732-7717 or 734-0397.

Tapa


Correction

Dole Co., not Castle & Cooke as reported in Monday's Star-Bulletin, bought most of Lanai in the 1920s.






Police, Fire

Police/Fire

By Star-Bulletin staff

Killer gets community service hours

A man convicted of third-degree assault in the fatal 1997 beating of hotel executive Kenneth Brewer will perform community service in lieu of a court-ordered $2,000 fine.

Circuit Judge Marie Milks yesterday ordered Stephen Bright to serve 400 community service hours.

Bright, sentenced to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine, has been unable to get a job since his conviction last October, is on public assistance and can't afford the fine, said deputy public defender Jack Tonaki.

Bright served his one year in jail while awaiting trial and was released the same day he was convicted.

The state did not object to the defendant's request and considered it the best alternative "instead of letting him slide," said Deputy Prosecutor Keith Seto.



Japanese visitor charged with stealing from shop

Police have charged a visitor from Japan with second-degree theft for allegedly stealing $2,000 in merchandise Thursday from the Duty Free Shop in Waikiki.

Hirotoshi Wakabayashi, 26, of Tokyo is being held in lieu of $15,000 bail. Police said he was carrying enough cash to pay for the Gucci watches and Ray-Ban sunglasses he was caught with.

Woman turns self in after theft, assault incident

A 32-year-old woman, who used her food-stamp card as collateral for a loan, was arrested yesterday following a confrontation with another woman over the card at an Alta Street residence in Waianae.

The suspect had gone to the residence at 12:20 p.m., demanding the card. The complainant, 24, refused to return the card until the debt was paid.

During a confrontation, the suspect allegedly pushed the complainant and threw a glass mug in her direction. The mug missed the woman but struck her 6-year-old daughter in the head. The suspect fled with the complainant's purse but later turned herself in. She was booked for first-degree burglary and third-degree assault.

In other news...

Bullet A 59-year-old man died yesterday in Straub Hospital where he was admitted in critical condition Sunday after he was discovered floating face down off Ala Moana Beach Park.

Bullet The medical examiner's office today identified the man killed Sunday while changing a tire on the H-1 Freeway as Mung Pham, 47, of Kalihi.



Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers


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