Millennium Moments
THE task of counting Hawaii's people has taken many turns over the centuries. How many people?
One of the earliest census surveys is said to have been around 1500, ordered by the Big Island king, Umi. According to lore, Umi gathered his people on a plain near Hualalai and had each person leave a stone on the pile representing his or her district.
Near the start of the 19th century, the first population census in historical times was taken in Kauai's Wainiha Valley, says Robert C. Schmitt in "Firsts and Almost Firsts in Hawaii."
That count showed more than 2,000 people in the valley, 65 of them described as menehune, the legendary race of night-working, prolific-building small people.
The missionaries' arrival in the 1820s led to the first census covering all the islands, Schmitt says: one in 1831-32 showed 130,313 people; another in 1835-36 showed a drop to 108,579.
The population declined to 84,165 by January 1850.
When this century started, the U.S. Census Bureau began taking counts every 10 years. From a 154,001 population in 1900, to 422,770 in 1940, the population had topped 1.1 million by 1990.
Two Australians last crash victims named
HILO -- The final two names of the victims of the Sept. 25 crash of an air tour plane on Mauna Loa have been released by the medical examiner in the case.Dr. Anthony Manoukian of Maui identified the two as Janet Ann Hultgren, 40, and Deborah Gill, 44, both of Victoria, Australia.
The names of seven other passengers and the pilot were released previously by Big Island Air, the company that owned the twin-engine Piper Navajo Chieftain that crashed at the 10,200-foot elevation of Mauna Loa as the pilot attempted to fly around the east face of the mountain.
No cause for the crash has been officially determined, but numerous accounts indicated thick clouds in the area at the time.
National Transportation Safety Board officials from Washington, D.C., indicated the earliest a cause may be determined is about six months, with 12 months being more typical of the time such investigations take.
State offers funding for affordable rentals
Developers and renovators of affordable rentals may apply for low-interest loans and grants for this work to the state Rental Housing Trust Fund."The Trust Fund was created to provide funding assistance to affordable rental housing developments that may not be able to secure 100 percent financing," said Donald Lau, executive director of the Housing and Community Development Corp.
"The Trust Fund is a source for developers to fill that equity gap and leverage funding sources."
Applications will be available by Nov. 24 at that agency's office at 677 Queen St., Suite 300. Call Chris Sylva at 587-0567.
Spouse-abuse opponents march for latest victim
A dozen spouse-abuse opponents remembered murder victim Bridget Kawamoto in a silent march around City Hall yesterday.Participants in the 5:30 p.m. march carried signs that said, among other messages, "Home Should Be a Safe Haven," "Hold Abusers Accountable" and "Another Woman is Dead."
"I would say that the march is always an opportunity to make our community more aware of the problem," said Julian Leigh, manager of education for the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse & Legal Hotline.
Kawamoto, 37, of Wailuku, a substitute teacher for special education at Baldwin High School on Maui, was found stabbed to death at her home last month.
Her estranged husband, Brian Kawamoto, 42, has been charged with second-degree murder and terroristic threatening.
Kawamoto is being held without bail while awaiting trial on Maui.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Hawaii County building gets scare
HILO -- When the Planning Department at the Hawaii County building received a crudely wrapped shoebox in the mail with no return address yesterday, some employees got nervous fast.There was no threatening note attached, but the sloppy handwriting didn't look businesslike.
Planning Director Virginia Goldstein decided not to take chances. She called police, and the county building was evacuated at 11:25 a.m.
An Army explosives team was contacted, but ended up not being needed.
Police and fire officials managed to trace the package back to the sender. The box held special photographic film ordered by the Planning Department.
As county workers returned to their jobs at 12:55 p.m., officials learned two things:
No one knew how many people work in the building. One guess was 200.
Fingerprints on truck may lead to stolen guns
Fingerprints from a suspect who allegedly stole four guns from a federal truck in Pearl City are being analyzed today at police laboratories.A U.S. Department of Agriculture truck was stolen from Hoohoihoi Street sometime before 5 a.m. Monday, police said.
The truck belonged to a wildlife specialist who lives in the area.
The specialist located the truck shortly afterward on Kamahao Place, near the Waiau Gardens townhomes.
Four firearms -- a Colt AR-15 assault rifle, two shotguns and a .45-caliber steel pistol -- were missing from the truck in addition to some tools, police said.
The firearms were used to kill birds on Oahu airfields.
Workman, 42, injured in fall from scaffold
Fire crews yesterday airlifted a man from the roof of the Diamond Head Ambassador apartments after he fell 10 feet from a scaffold.The 42-year-old man was doing maintenance work when he fell onto the roof of the building at about 11 a.m., fire officials said. He injured his left hip and shoulder.
He was picked up in a helicopter basket because it was considered too dangerous for him to climb down from the roof on a ladder or have firefighters carry him down.
The man was airlifted to Kapiolani Park, where he was taken by ambulance to Queen's Hospital.
Kailua restaurant fire under investigation
Fire investigators were trying to determine how a blaze started at a Kailua restaurant this morning.A fire at Four Star Chop Suey at 30 Maluniu Ave. was reported at 3:33 a.m., police said.
It was under control in about 20 minutes. Damage estimates were not available this morning.
Man, 30, faces charge of first-degree forgery
A 30-year-old man was arrested yesterday after he was accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at the Satellite City Hall at Pearlridge mall.The man paid for his vehicle registration with the counterfeit money, police said.
He was booked for first-degree forgery and released.
Big Isle fires ruin pump station, most of house
HILO -- Fire destroyed most of a house and a ranch water pumping station in separate incidents in East Hawaii yesterday, police and fire officials said.At 12:14 p.m. firefighters responded to to the Mauna Kea Ranch on the Hamakua Coast where a worker using an oxyacetylene torch set diesel fuel on fire.
The fuel spilled from a ruptured tank.
Besides the pumping station, a truck and the welding equipment were destroyed. Damage was put at $117,500.
At 5:30 p.m. firefighters in the Puna district responded to a fire in a five-bedroom, two-story house in Glenwood.
Much of the house, owned by Carol Tolar, was destroyed, with damage put at $180,250.
A portion valued at $30,000 was saved.
No one was home at the time. The cause is under investigation.
Pedestrian fatality, 44, ID'd in Kauai accident
LIHUE -- Kauai police today identified the pedestrian killed on Kuhio Highway north of Kapaa yesterday morning as Dana Delery, 44, of Hanamaulu.Delery's death was the ninth traffic fatality on Kauai, compared to three at the same time last year.
Help sought to ID bones from Puna cinder cone
HILO -- Police are asking for the public's help in identifying the bones of a man found Aug. 31 at an old cinder cone in Puna.The skeleton, apparently of a Caucasian man, was found during excavation of cinders at the end of Ala Ili Road near Kalapana, police said.
The skull had a full upper dental plate. The man was probably 35 to 45 years old and stood 5 feet 6 inches tall, a forensic anthropologist determined.
There was no evidence of foul play.
The bones were estimated to be at the site for at least five years.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 961-2386 or 935-3311.
Driver faces charges in Aussie woman's death
The 24-year-old woman who died Sunday from a car crash involving a drunken driver has been identified as Melissa Ynfante of Sydney.On Oct. 2 a drunken driver slammed into a Honda Civic that Ynfante was in on Ala Moana Boulevard. Ynfante was taken to Queen's Hospital in critical condition. She died eight days later.
The driver was arrested for hit-and-run and drunken driving and faces charges of negligent homicide.
The death was the 35th traffic fatality on Oahu this year.
