Millennium Moments
Queen Emma Street and Square, in the heart of Honolulu near St. Andrew's Cathedral, are named after one of Hawaii's storied figures. Isle places bear the regal
Emma nameQueen Emma, who lived from 1836-1885, was the wife of Kamehameha IV and the adopted daughter of Dr. T.C. Rooke. She also was the granddaughter of John Young, the English sailor who went ashore at Kealakekua in 1790 and became one of Kamehameha the Great's most trusted friends and advisers.
More than a decade after her husband died in 1863, Emma became an election candidate for queen in 1874. She lost to David Kalakaua, who became king.
Emma gave the St. Andrew's Cathedral site to the Episcopal Church, and her namesake street was named at the Privy Council meeting on Nov. 10, 1856, says "Place Names of Hawaii" by Mary Pukui, Samuel Elbert and Esther Mookini.
Also named for Queen Emma is the summer palace in Nuuanu, which she inherited and has since been restored and preserved into a museum.
Bono: Isles should have GOP vote in Congress
Some 600 people were expected to attend a Hawaii Republican Party luncheon today to hear a keynote address by U.S. Rep. Mary Bono of California.Bono, who has won special and general elections to the seat held by her late husband, Sonny Bono, represents one of the largest districts in California.
The Republican wants Hawaii to have a Republican vote in Congress.
"It's very simple logic," she said. "With Republicans holding a majority in both the House and Senate, and with a good chance of a Republican president being elected in 2000, it would be in Hawaii's best interest to have a bipartisan congressional delegation."
Pesticide questionnaire tied to Village Park suit
More than 50,000 households in Central Oahu have been mailed health questionnaires in connection with a lawsuit over possible pesticide contamination filed on behalf of Village Park residents.Attorney Glenn Sanford of the law firm Tam and Sanford said a broader area is being surveyed in response to concerns about pesticides by residents who live outside of Village Park.
The questionnaires were sent to residents in Mililani, Waipahu, West Loch, Kunia, Royal Kunia, Waipio and Wahiawa.
An expert hired by the law firm said tap water may be unsafe, a charge disputed by state and city officials.
The lawsuit names agricultural plantations and pesticide manufacturers as defendants and does not name government entities.
In recent months, the state Health Department has been conducting a soil study in Village Park, while the city Board of Water Supply has expanded its study of different contaminants that may be in ground water.
The water board also has sued chemical companies and plantations, seeking $150 million for purification costs.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Explosive device injures car passenger in Kaneohe
A 29-year-old man was injured when an explosive device went off in his hands while he was a passenger in the front seat of a car at Kahuhipa Street and Kamehameha Highway in Kaneohe, according to police.The device, believed to be a military grenade simulator or something similar, left the victim with lacerations on his right hand, stomach, face and right eye, police said.
He later was listed in guarded condition in Castle Hospital. Two other occupants in the vehicle were unhurt, police said.
Police were investigating where the device came from.
Explosives at Farrington were made of fireworks
Police are investigating explosive devices discovered at Farrington High School.School officials heard a loud explosion from the Ewa side of the campus at 9:40 a.m. yesterday, police said. They found two explosive devices already detonated and two which were "live." Police said the devices were altered fireworks.
On Monday, firecracker bombs were found at Campbell High School.
Escaped child molester believed to be on Oahu
CrimeStoppers is seeking help in apprehending a man described by officials as a military deserter and child molester.Harold Russell Finberg is sought by the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service. He was last seen at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 5, 1997, when he was awaiting court-martial on an accusation of molesting his 13-year-old stepdaughter.
Finberg was court-martialed in absentia for child molestation on Dec. 15, 1997, and sentenced to seven years in prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He is believed to still be on Oahu.
Finberg is 35 years old, 5 feet 6, 170 pounds, with medium build, brown receding hair, hazel eyes and fair complexion.
He has tattoos on his left shoulder of a kangaroo and anchor, and tattoos on his right shoulder of Chinese characters encircled by a snake. He also has a two-inch scar on his right cheek and a two-inch scar above his left eyebrow, and a surgical scar on his right knee.
Police hunt suspect in Halloween car-jacking
Police are asking for the public's assistance in locating a man who car-jacked another man and his car in Kalihi on Halloween.The victim was parked at a shopping center at Waiakamilo Road and Dillingham Boulevard on Oct. 31 when the suspect entered his car through an unlocked passenger door at 11:45 p.m., police said.
The suspect held the victim by the belt, ordered him to drive and took his money. Police said the suspect got out of the car at Halona and Kokea streets and fled.
He is described as a husky man in his 20s, 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes and facial hair. He was wearing a black T-shirt with gold lettering and baggy black pants at the time of the incident.
Anyone with information about the suspect can call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.
