Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Wednesday, August 18, 1999

Smyth's legacy MORE than a half-century old, the Mabel Smyth Memorial Auditorium at Punchbowl and Beretania streets gets passed every day by masses of motorists heading to and from downtown, on and off the H-1 freeway. The low-rise structure next to the expanding Queen's Medical Center was owned by the state Land Department until last year, when it was sold at auction to the Queen Emma Foundation for $5 million. Queen's will use the 338-seat auditorium, meeting rooms and grounds for offices and educational programs. But who was Smyth, for whom the building was named in 1941? A part-Hawaiian who completed nursing studies in Massachusetts, Smyth returned here to help direct Palama Settlement's public health nursing service, according to "History Makers of Hawaii" by A. Grove Day. In 1927, the Territorial Board of Health joined with this service, which Smyth -- a nationally known expert in the field -- directed until her death in 1936.

Hawaiians will march in D.C. again

By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

Native Hawaiian organizers have begun plans for another march on Washington, D.C., next summer.

Building on the success of the August 1998 Aloha March on the nation's capital, organizer Butch Kekahu of Kauai envisions 20,000 native Hawaiians and their supporters in Aloha March 2000 to bring attention to the plight of native Hawaiians with hopes of reconciliation between Hawaiians and the United States.

He said Hawaiians have struggled for decades to retain land and political rights. He said the sovereignty movement gained momentum and national attention in 1993 when President Clinton signed U.S. Public Law 103-150. That resolution acknowledged the role of Americans in the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and urged reconciliation among the parties.

The four goals of the march, planned for Aug. 11-12 in Washington, D.C., are to:

Educate Americans on the plight of Hawaiians;

Demonstrate a solidarity among native Hawaiians for self-determination;

Showcase the many nonnative Hawaiians who support this process;

Persuade the U.S. government that reconciliation must begin.

"I would like this nation of Hawaii to come back to the people," Kekahu said.

Preceding the march on July 4, organizers also plan to stage a native Hawaiian version of the Boston Tea Party. Supporters will cast Hawaiian ti leaf leis into the waters of Boston Harbor.

For more information on Aloha March 2000, call Kekahu at (808) 822-7643 or e-mail him at: koanifound@hotmail.com.

Na Pali tour boats get 30-day extension

HANALEI, Kauai -- Gov. Ben Cayetano has granted a 30-day extension to the three remaining tour boats operating along the Na Pali Coast from Hanalei Bay, extending their permits until Sept. 24.

Last Aug. 24, Cayetano ordered all but the remaining county-permitted tour operators using sailboats and motorboats out of Hanalei. They were allowed to operate for one more year. The additional month granted yesterday will take them up to the time they normally shut down for the winter because of the north swell.

All three will be eligible to apply for permits to operate non-motorized tour boats out of Hanalei. Currently, only one of the three operators, Captain Sundown, uses a sailboat.

Threats lead to mainland arrest

LIHUE -- A police detective and a prosecutor's investigator flew to Fort Wayne, Ind., last week to pick up a man who allegedly made telephone threats to District Court Judge Clifford Nakea and five state employees on Kauai.

Nakea had ruled against the man in a custody dispute involving his daughter. The state employees all had been involved in investigating the custody dispute.

Thomas Mentzer is being held at the Kauai Community Correctional Center on $1 million bail set at his arraignment Monday by Circuit Judge George Masuoka on 13 counts of terroristic threatening.

Chaminade University awarded $207,599

Chaminade University was recently awarded $207,599 to help disadvantaged undergraduate students pursue graduate-level programs.

The money, awarded under the Robert F. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, will fund a variety of university activities that encourage first-generation Americans to pursue doctorate degrees.

Grants will be awarded to about 20 disadvantaged students who show strong academic potential.

Correction Ah Quon McElrath's name was misspelled in yesterday's photo caption about a rally against welfare restrictions.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers

Mission accomplished

By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Honolulu firefighters watch their step as they work to control a
small fire on the roof of the Soto Mission of Hawaii yesterday.
The blaze was quickly contained, minimizing damage.
There were no injuries.

Driver dies in collision yesterday in Kahaluu

A 53-year-old man was killed yesterday when the van he was driving veered into the path of a pickup truck on Kamehameha Highway, 456 feet north of Waihee Road in Kahaluu.

The collision was reported at 3:30 p.m. and forced the closure of Kamehameha Highway between Waihee Road and Wailehua Road to traffic in both directions for several hours.

The van driver was transported by helicopter to Queen's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead two hours later, police said. The pickup truck driver is in guarded condition at Queen's.

Speed and alcohol do not appear to be contributing factors, police said.

Authorities on Kauai scour area for fisherman

LIHUE -- Coast Guardsmen, Kauai police officers and Kauai Fire Department Rescue workers were searching the southeast coast of Kauai this morning for Serafin Duterte, a Kauai fisherman who did not return from a fishing trip on Monday.

Duterte's truck and boat trailer were found parked at Ninini Point at the entrance to Nawiliwili Harbor last night after the Coast Guard received a report that a boat was adrift off Ninini Point at about 7 p.m. The empty 18-foot boat, which was confirmed to be Duterte's, later was driven against the rocks by the surf.

Searchers worked until 1 a.m. before deciding to resume searching again at daybreak today. This morning, a Coast Guard helicopter and search boats worked offshore while police officers and firefighters, including off-duty volunteers, walked the beaches.

Coast Guard searching for missing sailboat

The U.S. Coast Guard this morning began a search for a missing sailboat bound for Lahaina.

Spokeswoman Kimberly Flink said the 55- to 58-foot sailing vessel September Morn left Honokohau Harbor on the Big Island at 10 p.m. Monday and was expected to arrive at Lahaina Harbor at noon yesterday. Three people are on board.

There has been no contact with the sailboat.

"We heard from the reporting source they had a radio, CB and an (emergency positioning beacon) on board," Flink said. A C-130 began searching for the boat at first light, she said.

Wiring problem blamed for house fire on Maui

WAILUKU -- Wiring is believed to be the cause of a fire that destroyed a Wailuku home last night, said Alan Cordeiro, assistant chief of the Maui Fire Department.

The blaze at 122 Lunalilo Place was reported at 9:57 p.m., and firefighters had it under control at 10:38 p.m.

There were no injuries.

"Two people were home at the time, the owner and his wife," said Cordeiro.

He did not know if the house was insured.

Damage to the home was estimated at $187,000 and $75,000 to its contents.

Engine 1 out of Wailuku, Engine 2 from Paia and Rescue 10 from Kahului responded.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources will close the Kula and Kahikinui State Forest Reserves on the western slopes of East Maui because of fire hazard due to the drought.

Hiking, mountain biking, pig and bird hunting, and camping at Polipoli Spring State Park will be banned until there is sufficient rainfall to enable the vegetation in the area to recover, the DNLR said in a news release.

Maui Forestry and Wildlife Branch Manager Wesley Wong said the closure is necessary to protect the watershed and native forests in the reserve.