Newswatch

Police, Fire, Courts

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Saturday, January 8, 2000

Shark hunts lack sense, researcher says

A state task force says hunting for sharks after they attack people is the wrong approach.

Guidelines produced by the shark task force earlier include rules for such efforts, which were carried out in the 1992-93 era but later discontinued.

Task force member Kim Holland of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology has studied the movement of tiger sharks in Oahu's southern coastal waters since 1993.

His research convinced him sharks continually swim over long distances seeking prey. They don't stake out a territory and stay there, Holland said.

Mounting a shark hunt takes so much time that a shark that has attacked someone would no doubt be far away by then, he said.

Timothy Johns, director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, reconvened the task force on Tuesday. It had been inactive for the most part since 1993.

Tourism boosted hotels on major islands

Hotel revenue per available room grew by 9.7 percent in November, according to the latest Hawaii Hotel Flash Report by Price Waterhouse Coopers. It was the largest growth since April 1997.

The tourism growth expanded hotel occupancy on all the major islands by 4.5 percent to 71.9 percent in November. Average daily room rates also increased by 2.8 percent to about $125 per night.

MIA recovery team heading to Asia

A team of 75 military and civilian specialists left the islands this week to continue recovering the remains of service personnel killed or missing in Cambodia and Laos, primarily during the Vietnam War.

This is the 46th recovery mission conducted in Laos, the 18th in Cambodia.

Maui Councilman Kane to remain No. 2

WAILUKU -- Maui Councilman Dain Kane withdrew his decision to step down as council vice chairman, following public testimony yesterday encouraging him to remain as second in power on the council.

Kane was asked to resign and had consented to it initially because of differences he had with majority Democrats about the number of beach lots that should be purchased by the county for a park.

Auditor: Social work monitoring can stop

State government should stop regulating and licensing social workers because there is no need to do so, state Auditor Marion Higa said in a report released yesterday.

The state's four-year-old regulatory program should be allowed to sunset as scheduled at the end of this year, she said.

Clarification In a story yesterday about David McClain, new dean of the College of Business Administration, University of Hawaii-Manoa, it was McClain who proposed the college choose its own graduate students and determine its own tuition fees. Also, McClain said he wants the college to "think differently" about how to finance such expenses as computer-related upgrades. Corrections Volunteers from East Oahu Realty in Hawaii Kai have been helping Cindy Delgado trim Christmas cards for picture books she makes for hospitalized children. The wrong company name was given in Thursday's Kokua Line. In a story Wednesday on the Hawaii Women's Coalition, statements about bills on women's issues in last year's Legislature should have been attributed to Allicyn Hikida Tasaka, not Annelle Amaral.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers

Teen suspect in custody after stolen car crashes

A teenager who is a suspect in an attempted murder of a police officer is in custody after a chase that ended when a stolen car crashed into a fence at the Hawaii Kai Golf Course, police said.

Undercover officers spotted the 16-year-old suspect in Waimanalo but police lost sight of him when he drove off, they said. A police helicopter then located the car in Hawaii Kai.

When police converged on the scene, the teenager attempted to flee but lost control of the car and crashed, police said. Another teenager in the car was also arrested. Neither boy was seriously injured.

Police believe the 16-year-old is the driver of another stolen car that backed into Officer Mason Kuaiwa on Dec. 16 during a traffic stop on the H-3 freeway.

He is also an escapee from the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility.

Girl reports abduction by man in Waipio Gentry

Police are investigating the apparent abduction of a 13-year-old girl near Kaneoelani Elementary School in the Waipio Gentry area at about 5 p.m. yesterday.

The girl told police the man drove her to various parts of the island and then stopped at a North Shore beach where he attempted to kiss and fondle her. She struggled with the man, and he punched her several times, police said.

The man then dropped her off at a Mililani gas station at 6:45 p.m., police said.

The suspect is described as having a dark complexion and a mustache with short dark hair. He was driving a blue Honda with blue and white floral seat covers.

In other news ...

Honolulu police arrested a 28-year-old Ewa Beach man after he allegedly robbed his fourth bank. He was arrested at his home after the robbery of the Pearlridge branch of the Bank of Honolulu yesterday morning

A Nissan Frontier driven by a 72-year-old man hit and killed a 64-year-old man crossing the street in a marked crosswalk in Wahiawa on California Avenue near Uluwehi Street last night, police said.