Orson Swindle, the former Hawaii politician now serving on the Federal Trade Commission, will speak at a Waikiki Rotary Club luncheon Wednesday. Swindle to speak
on ’Net issuesFeatured topics at the noon luncheon will be privacy on the Internet and taxing Internet commerce.
Swindle is one of four commissioners exploring regulation of the Internet and will address the commission's policy related to commerce.
Swindle, a Republican, made two unsuccessful runs for Congress in Hawaii before being confirmed to a seven-year term on the commission in March 1998.
The luncheon is not open to the public.
House finance panel to visit neighbor isles
House Finance Committee members will be on Maui and Molokai early next week to get a firsthand look at the fiscal needs of those islands, said Finance Chairman Dwight Takamine (D, Hilo).Takamine said committee members have scheduled a working visit on Maui for Monday and on Molokai the next day.
He said the trips will give members a chance to meet directly with people who ordinarily do not travel to Honolulu to testify at hearings.
Visits to other neighbor islands are being planned, he said.
On Monday, the committee will visit Baldwin High School and Maui Community College to study education issues, and also tour the Maui Community Correctional Center. Part of the day will be spent discussing fiscal impacts of the Felix consent decree.
On Tuesday, lawmakers will tour the Ocean Center at Maalaea Harbor on Maui before traveling to Molokai, where they will focus on the island's economic development. Site visits will include the Molokai Education Center.
The trips are part of a broad work plan to address and anticipate issues in the upcoming legislative session, Takamine said.
Local church accepting donations for Turkey
Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Honolulu has joined in a worldwide relief campaign for victims of the devastating earthquake in Turkey.The church is under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul, Turkey, which will oversee distribution of funds to earthquake victims.
Donations may be made to Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church, 930 Lunalilo St., Honolulu 96822. Call the church office at 521-7220 for more information.
Nature Conservancy buys Big Isle acreage
A 4,021-acre forest parcel at Honomalino in South Kona on the Big Island has became the property of the Nature Conservancy of Hawaii.The purchase, announced this week, was made with private donations and a portion of a $1 million grant from the Paul G. Allen Forest Protection Foundation.
The parcel is part of a long-standing koa-ohia forest on more than 100,000 acres along the Kona Coast.
It provides habitat for native Hawaiian birds including the Hawaiian hawk, the Hawaiian owl, and honeycreepers such as the 'i'iwi, 'apapane, amakihi and 'elepaio.
"Our immediate aim at Honomalino is to restore the forest by managing the land," said conservancy Executive Director Rex Johnson.
"Beyond that, we want to work with neighboring landowners to develop new methods of forest protection that balance the environmental needs of the land with the economic needs of private landowners."
Honomalino is at the southern end of the Kona forest region at 3,400 to 5,600 feet elevation. It has young koa growth and large growths of ohia forest, with a rich undergrowth of native plants.
This is the first time the Paul G. Allen Forest Protection Foundation has given funds to a Hawaii organization. Allen is a co-founder of the Microsoft Corp.
Corrections
First Hawaiian Bank's six-month certificates of deposits are yielding 3.45 percent. A chart in Hawaii Inc. Thursday had an incorrect figure.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Car veers off highway and kills woman jogger
A woman was killed when she was hit by a car while jogging near Haleiwa yesterday.The woman was jogging along Kamehameha Highway, south of Kaalaea Loop, when she was struck by a 1991 Chevrolet Lumina at 9 a.m., police said. The car was being driven by a 19-year-old North Shore man.
The woman was taken to Wahiawa General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Traffic investigators said the man veered off the road and struck the woman. Speed and alcohol were not factors, police said. No arrests were made.
Video store clerk found unconscious, injured
Police are investigating a possible robbery in Waikiki yesterday which left a man critically injured.A customer found a 49-year-old man working at Waikiki Video Sales & Rentals on Kuhio Avenue unconscious with head injuries at about 5:20 p.m., police said.
The clerk was taken to Queen's Hospital in critical condition, police said. No arrests had been made as of this morning.
Burglary suspect accused of intimidating witness
A 36-year-old burglary suspect was arrested yesterday after he allegedly threatened a witness.A Hawaii Kai woman, 38, received a call at 5:20 a.m. from the suspect -- her former boyfriend -- threatening her, police said.
The woman, who has a restraining order against the man, called police. He was arrested and booked for intimidating a witness and violating a restraining order.
Police arrest suspect in Aug. 13 bank robbery
Police yesterday arrested a man who reportedly stole more than $300 from an American Savings Bank branch last week.The man on Aug. 13 took the money from an unattended counter at the bank branch on Seaside Avenue, police said. He was identified with the help of witnesses and surveillance videotape.
Two female tourists fall to their deaths in Waikiki
Police are investigating the deaths of two female tourists this morning in Waikiki.Both women's bodies were found on the sidewalk at 270 Lewers St. at 7:45 a.m., police said. It appears they fell from a lanai at the Outrigger Islander Waikiki hotel.
Police were investigating whether they jumped or were forced out. But preliminary reports indicate a double suicide, they said.
The women were described as in their late teens to early 20s.
