Millennium Moments
PARENTS, next time you take your little ones for swimming lessons at the YWCA at Richards Street, take time to enjoy -- the building you're in was designed by one of America's most distinguished architects. Historical YWCA
The building was created in 1927 by San Francisco architect Julia Morgan, who also restored the 144-room San Simeon castle in California, the decadent former home of publisher William Randolph Hearst.
Morgan's signature concrete arches grace the YWCA's spacious rooms, notes "Architecture in Hawaii" by Rob Sandler, Julie Mehta and Frank S. Haines. The authors also rave that the building is one of Hawaii's top examples of European-Mediterranean design and of successfully using imported materials adapted for regional architecture.
The building, with its distinctive facade of loggias, balconies and metal grilles, is on both the National and State Registers of Historic Places.
Navy Secretary Richard Danzig was expected to officiate today over Ford Island ceremonies to pipe aboard Adm. Thomas Fargo as the 29th commander of the Pacific Fleet. Adm. Fargo taking command
By Gregg K. Kakesako, Star-BulletinAlso scheduled to attend today's ceremonies on the pier fronting the battleship USS Missouri was Adm. Jay Johnson, chief of naval operations.
Fargo comes to Pearl Harbor after an assignment as deputy chief of naval operations for plans, policy and operations in the Pentagon. He will replace Adm. Archie Clemins, who will retire Dec. 1 after 33 years of service.
Fargo will preside over a force of 200,000 people, 190 ships and 1,400 aircraft.
LIHUE -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency has decided Kauai County does not have to pay back $15 million it borrowed after Hurricane Iniki. Kauai's $15 million debt closed
The county borrowed the money from the federal government to keep local government operating in fiscal 1994 and 1996, when tax revenues fell short of expenditures. The county was in the black in fiscal 1995.
FEMA has advised the county that an audit showed the tax shortfall and the extra expenses were directly related to the hurricane. Under federal law, there is no need to repay the loan when the losses are due to a disaster, the county was told.
County officials had been considering issuing a bond to repay the debt.
Flu and pneumonia shots will be offered at branches of Longs Drug Stores, Safeway and Times supermarkets through the state Department of Health's Hawaii immunization program. Shot clinics scheduled
Influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations are free to senior citizens with Medicare Part B coverage. There is a small fee for others.
Castle Home Care teams will staff the public clinics.
The dates and times of the clinics are available by calling ASK-2000 during normal business hours.
Car fire in tunnel stops traffic on H-3 freeway
Traffic heading Kaneohe-bound on the H-3 Freeway was paralyzed today when a car in the tunnel caught fire.All Kaneohe-bound traffic was being turned around, police said. The fire was reported to police at 10:50 a.m.
Planes will pick up ill doctor at South Pole
Two New York Air National Guard C-130 cargo planes were to leave Hickam Air Force Base this morning en route to the South Pole to pick up a 47-year-old doctor who has discovered a lump in her breast.Dr. Jerri Nielsen, the only physician at the South Pole research station, is believed to have been treating herself with chemotherapy since mid-July when drugs and medical gear were air dropped.
The New York Air National Guard planes will be stopping at Pago Pago on their way to New Zealand, where they will wait until the weather and temperature are favorable for a safe medical airlift.
The planes are equipped with ski-shaped landing gear suitable for a South Pole landing.
Gas smell in plane delays flight 9 hours
Scores of Los Angeles-bound passengers waited nine hours beyond scheduled take-off time to get away at 11 last night on an American Trans Air Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays flight.Although an airline employee declined to say how many passengers were booked, there appeared to be more than 200 at the gate as boarding began.
Passenger Greg Joe, 32, an electronics communication project manager from Irvine, Calif., said, "There was a strong gasoline smell inside the cabin. We were on the runway and getting ready to leave. ... People were complaining."
The aircraft returned to the gate area, and passengers got off. Employees said only that a mechanical problem caused the delay.
Corrections
St. Louis School quarterback Timmy Chang has passed for 24 touchdowns this season, and the rest of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu quarterbacks have passed for 20 touchdowns. Different figures were given in a story published Wednesday. Also, St. Louis receiver Gerald Welch holds the state record for touchdowns by a sophomore with 16.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Police investigating beating of woman
Police are investigating an attack on an 18-year-old woman who was found seriously injured inside her Nanakuli home last night.The woman's mother returned to her Helelua Street home about 8:30 p.m. to find her daughter in a bedroom unconscious, nude and bleeding from the face and head, police said.
She had apparently been beaten.
The injured woman was taken to Queen's Hospital, where she was in guarded condition but unresponsive.
Detectives have so far been unable to interview the woman.
Woman, man in hospital following domestic fight
A homeless couple were hospitalized yesterday after an argument at Oneula Beach Park in Ewa Beach.The couple, who are married and living at the park, were arguing when the man allegedly assaulted his wife at 6:50 p.m., police said. The woman reportedly stabbed her husband in self defense.
Both were intoxicated, police said.
They were taken to St. Francis-West Hospital and are in good condition.
Each filed a complaint against the other.
Alzheimer's patient missing; police search
Police are asking for the public's help in locating a 78-year-old Waimanalo man last seen on Monday.
David Kapule has Alzheimer's disease and requires heart medication, police said.
He is Hawaiian, 5 feet 4 inches tall, 150 pounds with a dark complexion, brown eyes and short white hair.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call missing persons detectives at 529-3115 or CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.
