A Schofield Barracks dining facility has been rated as best in the Army. Schofield dining hall
wins top honorThe dining hall for the 45th Corps Support Group will be bestowed the Army's top award for a facility serving more than 201 meals a day, according to an Army press release.
The award will be given at the International Food Service Executives Association conference in Chicago in April.
The Philip A. Connelly Award was established in 1968 and is named for the former president of the association.
The judges cited the 45th Corps Support Group's dining facility's food quality, sanitation, equipment maintenance and facility management.
A star is worn
Maj. Gen. William E. Ward, left, 25th Infantry Division
commander, congratulates newly promoted division
officer Brig. Gen. David W. Barno after pinning on
Barno's star. Barno's wife, Susan, and two of his
children attended yesterday's ceremony at
Schofield Barracks.
The American Association for State and Local History is seeking nominations for its 55th annual awards program, which recognizes achievement in the preservation and interpretation of local, state and regional history. Nominations sought
for history awardLast year the Kona Historical Society was awarded a certificate of commendation for its book, "A Guide to Old Kona."
For further information about the 2000 awards, contact the state awards chairwoman, Joan Hori, at Hamilton Library, University of Hawaii-Manoa, 946-9296. Or e-mail her at jhori@hawaii.edu
Nomination forms are available from Marie Strazar at the State Foundation on Culture and Arts, 586-0771.
Mental exam holds up trial of bank suspect
Criminal proceedings against a 54-year-old woman accused of robbing the Haleiwa branch of Bank of Hawaii last month will be suspended until she is determined fit to go to trial.As soon as a court order is signed, Kimberly Benn will be sent to the Bureau of Prisons in Springfield, Mo., to be examined, said her attorney, assistant federal public defender William Domingo, who had asked for the examination. The government did not object.
Federal Magistrate Leslie Kobayashi also ordered Benn held without bail yesterday after her attorney agreed with a pretrial report that said there were no conditions present to ensure she would show up for trial, although she doesn't pose a danger to the community.
Benn is charged with robbing a teller Dec. 20 after saying she had a bomb in her bag. Before walking away with the holdup money, she told the teller she would be at a nearby bus stop.
Police found her at a bus stop minutes later with a duffel bag full of cash from the robbery.
Action to begin today in pay-freeze trial
A nonjury trial is to be held this week on whether state and county employees should be subject to a two-year pay freeze imposed by the Legislature last year.Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall issued a temporary restraining order in October preventing Act 100 from going into effect. The law prohibited state and county officials from negotiating pay raises in the period of July1999 to July 2001.
Gov. Ben Cayetano, when he signed the law last summer, said he didn't believe it would stand up to a lawsuit because the state Constitution guarantees collective bargaining for public employees.
The United Public Workers and several other unions filed suit against state negotiator Davis Yogi and others in October, leading to the existing restraining order.
Hawaii County attorney Ted Hong said the trial will start today. UPW attorney Herbert Takahashi said only a preliminary matter would be heard today.The two agreed the case will continue on Thursday and Friday.
Housing aid awarded for isle facilities
Agencies providing Hawaii's homeless with services and transitional housing have been granted more than $1.8 million to acquire, build, renovate and operate their facilities.The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Supportive Housing Program awarded six grants to homeless providers on Maui, Hawaii and Oahu. HUD also awarded $464,000 to Honolulu and $173,000 to the state for emergency shelters. The grants:
Ka Hale A Ke Ola Homeless Resource Center, sponsored by Maui Economic Concerns of the Community in Wailuku: $138,737 and $200,812.
Star-Bulletin reporter wins Solidarity honor
A Filipino Coalition for Solidarity media award went to Star-Bulletin writer Susan Kreifels for her reporting on the Filipino community and related topics of interest to the people of Hawaii.An award also went to director Ferdinand "Danny" Aranza of the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, said Dean Alegado, coalition board member. "He's one of the highest-ranking Filipino-Americans in the Clinton administration."
Kreifels received recognition "because of her reporting on the challenges and issues faced by recent immigrants," he said.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Downtown resident held in New Year's shooting
Police are holding a 23-year-old man in connection with the fatal New Year's Eve shooting of 22-year-old Richard Tambua.The suspect was arrested at 1:30 p.m. yesterday at his Maunakea Street apartment, police said.
Witnesses identified him as being involved in the shooting, according to a police report.
Three men who were arrested hours after the shooting were released pending further investigation.
Police believe the 10:15 p.m. shooting at North King Street and Wolter Lane in Kapalama was related to a fight between rival gangs. A second victim , a 24-year-old man, remains at Queen's Hospital. His condition is not being released.
Moped rider is struck by vehicle and shot at
Police are searching for two men who opened fire on a man in Ewa late last night.The man was riding a moped on Manakuke Street when a truck or sports utility vehicle pulled out and rear-ended him at 11:20 p.m., police said. The 50-year-old man was knocked off onto a grass lawn.
Either the passenger or driver then began shooting at the man, who ran away, police said.
Police recovered four shell casings and found one bullet lodged in the moped.
Aiea woman arrested in knife attack
A 31-year-old woman was arrested last night for allegedly slashing a former boyfriend in the back and arm.The man went to a Mananai Place home in Aiea they used to share at 11 p.m., police said.
The two started to argue, continuing into the parking area, police said. The woman retrieved a knife and slashed the man on the left arm and back.
Tripler Hospital contacted police when the man checked in. The woman was arrested there.
Kapolei bank robbed; serial bandit suspected
A lone bandit -- possibly the same man responsible for seven other bank robberies -- got away with an undisclosed sum yesterday at the Kapolei branch of the Bank of Hawaii at 91-590 Farrington Highway.The robber was described as slim, about 160 pounds, 5 feet 7, fair-complexioned, and in his 20s to early 30. During the holdup, reported at 1:07 p.m, he passed a note to a teller that said he had a weapon. No weapon was scene, and no one was hurt, police said.
The suspect in Hawaii's first bank robbery of the year fits the description of the so-called "backpack bandit," the FBI said. He wore a long-sleeved white T-shirt, jeans, and a baseball cap, and had tattoos on both hands.
