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Police, Fire, Courts

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Saturday, February 5, 2000

Mediation Center offers 3-day course

The Mediation Center of the Pacific Inc. will offer a three-day training course on conflict resolution beginning Feb. 22.

The course, offered two or three times a year, costs $500 and will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Classes will be limited to about 25 people.

The Mediation Center, which teaches courses on mediating disputes in the workplace, home and community, is a nonprofit organization funded by the state Judiciary, Aloha United Way, private foundations and contributions.

For information, call 521-6767 or visit www.mediatehawaii.org.

Bradley campaign now has isle support group

Buoyed by the support Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley received in this week's New Hampshire primary, a group of more than 100 Hawaii residents has formed a Hawaii campaign to support him.

Warren Iwasa, co-chairman of Hawaii Volunteers for Bill Bradley, said the group is authorized and in contact with the national Bradley campaign.

Iwasa, a classmate of Bradley's at Worcester College at Oxford University in England, said that as the Bradley campaign builds support nationwide, the group will increasingly serve as a conduit between his national organization and the people of Hawaii.

"Knowing what I know of Bill -- of his intelligence, genuine caring and his integrity -- I know that he will make an outstanding president, both for the nation and for Hawaii," Iwasa said.

Tom Hagen, a childhood friend of Bradley in Crystal City, Mo., will serve as the authorized Hawaii representative for the local Bradley campaign. Iwasa will serve as community and media contact.

Designated spokespersons for the local campaign are state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa and Honolulu City Councilman Duke Bainum. Other key members of the local campaign are John "Doc" Buyers, Joe DeMattos Jr., Murray Towill, Fred Trotter and Jack Tsui.

UH sex researcher's case to be featured

"John/Joan" -- one of University of Hawaii professor Milton Diamond's sex-reassignment research cases -- will be featured on "Dateline NBC" Tuesday.

The show will include a segment exploring the life of John/Joan, whose gender was surgically changed at birth.

On Wednesday, John/Joan and his family will be featured on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" and be a guest on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Diamond is in the UH Anatomy and Reproductive Behavior Department and directs the Pacific Center for Sex and Society in the John A. Burns School of Medicine.

Known for his research on the origins of sexual identity, Diamond has challenged the standard practice of reassigning sex at birth if genitals are severely damaged or ambiguous.

"You can't tell sex by looking at genitals. You have to look at the brain," he has said. "Each case must be evaluated on its own and treated accordingly."

In an interview in 1997, Diamond said John/Joan's sexual identity crisis began when his penis was destroyed accidentally during a medical procedure at 8 months of age. Surgery was done to change his sex at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

His life as a woman was a disaster, however, so he decided at age 14 to have male hormone shots, a mastectomy and penis construction to live as a male.

"As Nature Made Him," a book by John Colapinto, examines the case.

Briefing to be held on H-1 reconstruction

A briefing on H-1 roadwork will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Monday at Kaahumanu School, 1141 Kinau St.

State Transportation Department representatives will discuss impacts of the "H-1 Reconstruction Project" scheduled to begin next month. It will include on- and offramp construction at Piikoi and Punahou streets and Wilder and Ward avenues.

The session is sponsored by state Sen. Carol Fukunaga and Rep. Brian Schatz. For information, call 586-6890.

Runway work to divert Kauai air traffic

Some Kauai residents will have to put up with added aircraft noise this weekend when a Lihue Airport runway is closed.

With the makai runway closed from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today and tomorrow for restriping, aircraft will land and take off on the mauka runway, the state Transportation Department said.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers

Drug figure believed killed to keep silent

Paris France, a man whose body was recovered on Thursday buried in a cane field, is believed to have been killed to prevent him from disclosing information about the deaths of two other men who were involved with him in a North Shore drug ring, according to a homicide detective's report.

Police said Styran Rivera, a former prison guard and the alleged head of the drug ring, led them to France's body in a cane field near Haleiwa.

Investigators said the discovery was a "direct result" of Rivera's cooperation arising from a plea agreement.

France, who was 19 when he disappeared, had been missing since 1997. He was a known figure in the drug ring, police said.

Three suspects -- Rivera, 36, Benjamin Tandal, 20, and Edward Vidal, 34 -- have been charged with murder in connection with his death.

According to the detective's report, he was killed to prevent him from disclosing information about the deaths of Steve Tozon, 35, and Tranquilino Bati Jr., 27.

Police started digging up the cane field, just off of Opaeula Road, on Jan. 20, and discovered France's remains on Wednesday evening. The body was excavated on Thursday.

On Jan. 12, Rivera pleaded guilty to being an accomplice to the murders of France and Tozon and agreed to reveal what he knows of their deaths, as well as the deaths of Bati and a fourth man, John Wailehua-Hansen, 41.

Man charged in kidnap of woman in December

Police arrested and charged a 36-year-old man yesterday in connection with the kidnapping and beating of a woman in December.

Dean T. Haraguchi allegedly held a woman against her will and beat her for two days in December, police said.

He was charged with several felony offenses, including two counts of kidnapping, first-degree assault, first-degree terroristic threatening, carrying a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

He is being held on $100,000 bail.

His girlfriend, Zan Cambra, 32, was charged earlier in connection with the kidnapping.

She is being held on $50,000 bail.

Kaneohe man allegedly beats, stabs his wife

Police arrested a 32-year-old Kaneohe man for allegedly stabbing his wife with a kitchen knife yesterday.

The suspect got into an argument with his wife, 27, at their Kanai Place home at 1:30 p.m., police said.

He reportedly beat her with a cane and then stabbed her in the hip with a kitchen knife.

She managed to escape and report the incident to police.

He was arrested several hours later and booked for felony assault.

Police seek Hilo girl, 15, missing since Nov. 24

HILO -- Police are looking for Tomilyn Dasalla, 15, a Hilo girl missing from her home since Nov. 24, they said.

Dasalla is described as Chinese-Hawaiian, 5 feet 3 inches tall, about 95 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 961-2276 or CrimeStoppers at 961-8300.

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Editor’s note: On Feb. 23, 2016, the middle initial of kidnap suspect Dean T. Haraguchi was added to clarify his identity.