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Goodwill Industries warns of phone scam
Goodwill Industries International is warning people to beware of scam artists pretending to be employees of Goodwill and soliciting money by telephone.Goodwill became aware of the scam this week when an elderly woman in Hawaii asked her attorney to investigate the tax implications of the fake Goodwill gift, according to a press release. In the scam, someone will call targeted individuals to say they have won a car. Victims are then told they can receive the car or its cash value by sending a check for several thousand dollars to an address in Montreal.
"Neither Goodwill Industries International nor any of its 181 member organizations in the United States and Canada is involved in any car contest," said Fred Grandy, president and CEO of the umbrella organization. He urged people to contact their local Goodwill organization before sending money or providing any financial information to solicitors calling on behalf of Goodwill.
Maui woman indicted in daughters' kidnap
Mary Lou French, 55, has been indicted on kidnapping charges by a federal grand jury, accused of fleeing Hawaii with her two adopted daughters.The Maui woman, arrested in Panama and now in custody in Miami, stands indicted on four counts of international parental kidnapping.
The indictments say French took her daughters from Hawaii to Costa Rica and Panama and kept them, in violation of her former husband's parental rights.
The girls' father, James French, was able to take back Emily, 5, and Sarah, 4, in Miami earlier this month.
Realignment OK'd for Waimea detour
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers yesterday approved a permit that allows a new alignment of the temporary detour road around the Kamehameha Highway realignment construction at Waimea Bay.The change will bring the Sunset Beach end of the Menehune Connector Road about 200 feet makai from where it now connects with Kamehameha Highway. It will be built of boulders which will be removed when the new stretch of highway is completed, according to a state Department of Transportation release. The construction of a new stretch of road past the site of a March rockfall is expected to be completed by the end of June.
Clinton taps Apoliona for advisory panel
Haunani Apoliona, an Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee, has been selected by President Clinton to serve on an federal advisory commission on Asian and Pacific Islanders.The 15-member Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders will advise the president on the development, monitoring and coordination of federal efforts to improve the quality of life of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Six more arrested in joint drug operation
HILO -- Police have arrested six more people for drug offenses, bringing to 38 the total arrested in a joint operation started in February with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, they said.One of the six, Thomas Wusher, 37, of Paradise Park, was charged by federal officials, bringing the total facing federal charges to 10, they said. The remaining arrestees will be tried in state courts. Police also recovered about seven ounces of cocaine and three-fourths of an ounce of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice."
Correction
Trading volume in Hawaiian Airlines' stock on Wednesday was 271,000 shares, more than six times its average daily volume for the past year. A front-page story Wednesday had incorrect information.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Four armed, masked men rob Kalawai man at home
Police were looking today for four armed and masked men who held up a Windward resident last night at his home.At about 9 p.m., three men wearing ski masks and one man with a blue bandanna went inside a 22-year-old man's Kalawai home, aimed their handguns at his head and demanded money, police said.
The resident gave the four men, each armed with a handgun, about $1,000, police said.
Police said the suspects then fled in a white two-door Toyota.
Two males face charges in robbery, sex assault
Two men are charged with multiple felony crimes for allegedly kidnapping, sexually assaulting and robbing two women in Waikiki.Christopher Lee Linville, 24, and Joshua Fields, 20, were charged yesterday with 12 counts of sexual assault, four counts of second-degree robbery, four counts of kidnapping and burglary, police said.
They are being held in lieu of $250,000 bail each.
The suspects were identified and arrested Wednesday by undercover officers for the alleged attack on two women, ages 24 and 30.
Cab driver robbed after fending off knife attack
Police are searching for a man who robbed a taxicab driver this morning at Kalama Beach Park.The suspect brandished a knife at the cabbie and demanded money at 3:30 a.m., police said. They fought, and the driver was able to disarm the suspect.
The suspect then grabbed the cabbie's bag and ran away.
Fire destroys one-story house south of Hilo
HILO -- Fire destroyed a one-story house valued at $30,000 in Opihikao south of Hilo yesterday, police said.The fire was reported at 8:53 a.m. and was under control by 9:15 a.m. The occupant was not at home at the time. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The courts
Lawyer fined for failure to file excise tax returns
An attorney who failed to file general-excise tax returns for three years will now be paying at least $500 a month for 2 years.Dennis Nishimura entered a no-contest plea last month before District Judge Jeffrey Choi.
Choi imposed a fine of $5,000 for each year Nishimura did not file and granted him a two-year deferral of his no-contest plea. A proof of compliance hearing was set for Aug. 16.
Waipio swimming-hole victim's parents file suit
The parents of a 10-year-old boy who died after being pulled unconscious from a Waipio swimming hole have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against seven condominium associations and nearby property owners.The suit, filed yesterday in circuit court by the parents of Richard Landingin alleges the condominium associations and property owners were negligent in failing to warn residents of dangerous conditions at Waikakalaua Stream, better known as "Devil's Swamp," failing to eliminate the dangers or restrict access to the swimming hole.
Richard was among a group of youths who were playing in the water Aug. 27 when he failed to surface. A friend, Makaio Rich, 12, went in to save him but also failed to surface.
Both died Sept. 4.
Makaio's parents filed a wrongful death suit in October.
