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DOE to get $4.6 million for books, database
Schools will have more money for textbooks and other items, thanks to an unexpected increase in state tax revenues.Gov. Ben Cayetano released $4.6 million that had been under a budget restriction earlier in the fiscal year.
The governor is releasing $1.2 million for textbooks and instructional materials, $1.5 million for a computer database designed to help reduce paperwork and make forms more consistent for teachers with special-education students, $100,000 for a summer literacy program and $1.8 million for the Department of Education to computerize and update its system for personnel procedures and employee information.
Cayetano is also releasing nearly $1.8 million to supplement the Department of Human Services budget for two programs -- Children's Health Insurance Program and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.
Hanauma Bay project critics gain time
A decision on whether there will be a contested case proceeding involving the city's $10 million Hanauma Bay improvement project has been postponed until June 8.The Board of Land and Natural Resources yesterday voted to allow time for petitioners Roy Benham, Beverly Palenapa and the East Honolulu Community Coalition to prepare their case. The city is seeking a conservation district use permit to put up an education center, concession and restroom facilities on the upper portion of the facility.
Members of the Waimanalo Neighborhood Board and the nonprofit group EnviroWatch said yesterday that they also want to be party to a contested case hearing if Benham, Palenapa and the coalition gain standing.
Attorney suspended for incompetent work
Honolulu attorney Walter R. Schoettle has been suspended from practice of law for 60 days by the Hawaii Supreme Court.The court accused him of providing incompetent representation to his client, failure to act with reasonable diligence and promptness, failure to make reasonable efforts to expedite litigation, knowingly disobeying an obligation under rules of a tribunal and violating rules of professional conduct.
Schoettle was informally admonished for similar conduct in 1985, 1988 and 1993. He was admitted to the Hawaii bar on May 1, 1975.
Search for UH chief may start next month
Donald C.W. Kim, chairman of the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, yesterday asked the board's personnel committee to develop a plan for selecting a successor to UH President Kenneth Mortimer.Mortimer announced last week that he would leave his job in July 2001. Kim asked the committee to have the plan ready by next month.
The board also accepted $10 million in research and training grants. The total value of grants received this year is $140 million, about 7 percent ahead of this time last year.
UH graduation to be broadcast live on Web
The University of Hawaii-Manoa will show live "streaming video" of graduation ceremonies tomorrow on the Internet.A full house is expected at the Stan Sheriff Center at 9 a.m.; about 1,100 of 1,290 undergraduates will attend. The commencement speaker is Michael Bird, president-elect of the American Public Health Association.
Go to http://www.hawaii.edu/dl/commencement/
Clarification
The Internet movie "The New Arrival" can be found at http://www.atomfilms.com. A story on the 360-degree movie in yesterday's Hawaii Inc. did not include the Web address.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
One-car crash in Kalihi kills two young males
Two men were killed in a one-car crash in Kalihi this morning.They were headed east on Dillingham Boulevard in a white 2000 Buick Regal sedan when the driver failed to follow the bend in the roadway and sideswiped a telephone pole, then crashed into a tree near Kaaahi Place at 3:45 a.m., police said.
The driver, 32, and the lone passenger, 22, were pronounced dead at the scene, traffic investigators said. The men, who have been tentatively identified as being from the mainland, were not wearing seat belts. Alcohol and speed are believed to have been factors in the crash, police said.
Pacific Palisades man surrenders peacefully
A 34-year-old man who barricaded himself inside his Pacific Palisades house yesterday afternoon surrendered peacefully to police this morning.The incident at 2394 Akepa St. began at about 4:30 p.m. when officers attempted to serve an arrest warrant, police said.
Police evacuated about two dozen nearby homes until the incident ended at 12:25 a.m. The arrest warrant stemmed from an assault last Saturday, police said.
Woman arrested in man's stabbing at Makapuu park
Police arrested a 30-year-old woman for allegedly stabbing a man at Makapuu Beach Park yesterday.A couple were having an argument at the beach when the suspect approached them and reportedly stabbed the man, 38, with a knife at 5 p.m., police said.
The man drove to a gas station where he collapsed. He had a stab wound to his lower back, and is in good condition. The suspect was arrested for attempted murder shortly afterward in Waimanalo.
Cell phone saves group of six stranded hikers
Six hikers who got lost off the Maunawili Trail were rescued by the Fire Department last night.A 49-year-old woman, four 14-year-old girls and a 10-year-old boy from St. John Vianney's School in Kailua set out at around 4 p.m. on the Maunawili Trail to release some Jackson chameleons. They began following a dry riverbed hoping to find water and Hawaiian shrimp, when they got lost.
The woman used her cellular phone and called the Fire Department at 7:24 p.m., said Capt. Richard Soo.
After rescuers failed to find them on foot, Chief Charles Wassman told the woman to call him every time she heard the Air One rescue chopper overhead to narrow the search area. The tactic worked, and they found the group at 9:15 p.m.
They were lifted two at a time by basket to the chopper. One girl, a diabetic, had not had an insulin shot since noon. EMS paramedics checked her sugar levels, which were stable, Soo said.
They were all treated and released.
"It's really good the adult had a cell phone," Soo said. "They were not prepared to stay overnight."
Man charged, $457 missing in bank robbery
A man who tossed stolen cash in the air outside a downtown bank he had just allegedly robbed was charged yesterday with bank robbery.Jeffrey Patrick Quinlan is accused of robbing $583 from Bank of Honolulu's Bishop Street branch. The complaint says passers-by returned $126 of the tossed cash.
