"Hello, everybody." TV came in '52
With those words, Carl Hebenstreit -- also known in Hawaii as Kinipopo -- introduced television programming to Hawaii -- at 5:05 p.m. Dec. 1, 1952, on KGMB-TV. It was a live 25-minute show filled with interviews, followed by a Gene Autry movie and other shows.
Though KONA-TV had telecast the islands' first test pattern as early as Nov. 17 that year, that station didn't have on-air programming until Dec. 16, according to "Firsts and Almost Firsts in Hawaii" by Robert Schmitt.
Color programming came five years later, when KHVH-TV on May 5, 1957, broadcast a program of color slides and movies. Though just 50 Oahu households owned a color TV set then, Schmitt writes, many more viewed the color program at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel.
And it wouldn't be until Nov. 19, 1966, that live broadcasting from the mainland arrived: Using a communication satellite, KHVH-TV brought the Michigan State-Notre Dame football game here.
Gaspro worker burned in propane tank blaze
A 26-year-old worker at the Gaspro store on Kamehameha Highway near the Nimitz viaduct suffered slight burns on his arms and legs when a propane tank caught fire yesterday afternoon.Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Richard Soo said the worker was purging a 20-gallon tank of propane when a spark ignited the gas.
The flames spread to a nearby dumpster and the store was evacuated. Firefighters extinguished the 1 p.m. fire within a half-hour after arriving. Damage is estimated at $9,000.
Taking Notice
Scholarships and academic honors
Drs. Anthony Guerrero, Cathy Bell and David Wolkoff of the Psychiatric Department at the University of Hawaii have been selected for fellowships. Guerrero received an award from the American College of Psychiatrists; the other two, from the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry.
Honors earned
The U.S. Small Business Administration has named the following winners of its yearly awards for the state: Jon Martin, Wesley Jones of Honolulu, Small Business Person of the Year; Tai Sheng Wang of Honolulu, Exporter; Jonathan Lee of Honolulu, Entrepreneur; Kent and Lor i Untermann of Kapolei, Entrepreneural Success; William Wong, C.P.A. of Kailua-Kona, Accountant; David Lawrence of Kahului, Financial Services Advocate; Christabelle Yoshie Puanani of Waianae, Minority Small Business; Lloyd Sodetani of Wailuku, Veteran Small Business; Carol Van Camp of Hilo, Women in Business; Steve Lopez of Honolulu, Welfare to Work, owner; Laura Crites of Honolulu, Welfare to Work, SBA Associate.For Kauai, winners include Charles King, Ronald Hansen, Robert and Valerie Rekward, Valerie Jean Ventura, Lewis shortridge, Carolyn A. Nii.
For Honolulu, Anthony Guerrero Jr., Kent Kajiwara; for Maui, Barbara Louise de Wit, Marilyn Niwao Roberts; for Hawaii , Brian Crawford.
Grants and donations
The Hearst Foundation Inc. has donated $50,000 to Chaminade University of Honolulu to establish the William ciation's Na Kilohana O Wahine Chapter 1999-2000. She is currently chapter president.
New officers
These groups have new officers:Malama O Manoa: Karen Kaneshiro, president; Barbara Lowe, vice president; Vi Hiranaka, corresponding secretary; Mike Durant, treasurer; Lowell Angell, George Arizumi, Beryl Blaich, Nancie Caraway, Eric De Carlo, Thayla DeMott, Duncan Dempster, Cappy Fasi, Tom Heinrich, Karl Kim, Helen Nakano, Bertha Ueoka, board members.
American Lung Association of Hawaii: Jan Meadowcroft, president; Linda Gee, vice president; Pugh Clark, secretary; Malcolm Koga, treasurer; Annette Manaday, assistant treasurer; Sharon Takiguchi, past president; Joan Kawakone, Jon-Pierre Michaud, Charles Djou, new members.
Corrections
A photo caption Saturday incorrectly identified former Bishop Estate trustee Oswald Stender as having been "ousted." Stender resigned from his position before Judge Kevin Chang temporarily removed the other trustees.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
OCCC inmate booked for 2nd-degree murder
An Oahu Community Correctional Center inmate was arrested yesterday by police in a homicide investigation involving an alleged North Shore drug ring and the disappearance of four men in the Wahiawa-Waialua area.The man, 39, was booked for second-degree murder at 3:50 p.m. in connection with the suspected March 1999 killing of John Wailehua-Hansen. The suspect was in custody on a parole violation.
Wailehua-Hansen's car was found abandoned in Pearl City earlier this year. He has not been seen since he left to do repair work at the Waialua residence of former prison guard Styran Rivera, who is facing federal prosecution for drug-related offenses.
Police last week charged Benjamin Tandal, 20, and Edward Vidal, 33, with murdering Steven Tozon and Tranquilino "Junior" Bati in what may be related crimes. Tozon and Bati have been missing since June 1997.
The October 1997 disappearance of Paris France is also connected to the case, police said.
The bodies have not been recovered.
Wahiawa woman, 18, allegedly rammed vehicle
An 18-year-old Wahiawa woman has been charged with first-degree criminal property damage for allegedly ramming her vehicle into another vehicle, causing injury to two men last Thursday.Amber Nasario of a Waikalani Place address is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail.
Caged suspects, 19, may be tied to Waikiki cases
Police yesterday arrested two 19-year-old Wahiawa men who may be connected to three street robberies since Friday along Kuhio Avenue.The two men, who were booked for armed robbery, were arrested at 2:15 a.m. in an alley on the 2200 block of Kuhio Avenue, where they and one other man allegedly confronted two military men.
One of the three suspects was armed with a handgun, police said. The soldiers were allegedly robbed of money and jewelry. The third suspect is still at large, police said.
At 3:50 a.m. yesterday, a 30-year-old military man was robbed of his wallet at gunpoint by two men at an unknown location in Waikiki. The man told police he had been bar-hopping and was confronted outside one nightclub by the two men, who fled on foot in opposite directions.
The descriptions of suspects in the two robberies are similar to the men who robbed a juvenile tourist Friday in an alley on the 2200 block of Kuhio Avenue.
A 17-year-old boy was allegedly robbed of $177 by two men, one armed with a handgun, after being lured into the alley by another man who promised to sell him a fake identification card.
Police arrested a man, 20, for second-degree robbery in that case.
Kaimuki bank robbery is state's 25th this year
Hawaii National Bank in Kaimuki was robbed today by a man who handed a demand note to a teller. The suspect indicated he had a weapon, but none was seen.The bank at 3450 Waialae Ave. was robbed at 9:17 a.m.
It was Hawaii's 25th robbery of the year.
