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Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Thursday, June 22, 2000

$9.45 million in U.S. grants
coming for island projects

Ocean-related initiatives will receive $3.89 million of the $9.45 million in federal grants recently awarded to the state, U. S. Sen. Daniel Inouye says.

The state's Coastal Zone Management Program will receive $225,000 to assess, monitor and protect coral reefs. Part of the annual grant will also be used to fund an ocean summit for experts and those with a stake in ocean resources.

The University of Hawaii's Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory will receive $2,510,040. The laboratory is part of a national network of undersea research centers.

Grants also will go to the state Health Department, Kuakini Medical Center, the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, the city of Wailuku, Waianae Coast Coalition, the state Attorney General's Department, the University of Hawaii, Network Enterprises Inc., Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, the state Department of Agriculture, the Consortium for Pacific Arts and Cultures, the state Department of Human Services, Cyanotech Corp., Hawaii Electric Light Co., Hawaii Alliance for Arts Education, Moanalua Gardens Foundation Inc., Hawaii Craftsman, and Kalihi-Palama Culture and Arts.

Loans for sugar
producers killed

Gov. Ben Cayetano used his line-item veto power to kill a provision in a bill that would have given sugar producers on Kauai $5 million in state loans. The vetoed section also called for intensive control of the papaya ringspot virus on the Big Island.

Today is the deadline for Cayetano to veto bills passed by this year's legislature.

Yesterday the governor also announced he was killing nine bills because most weren't necessary or would cost too much. So far Cayetano has vetoed 41 measures.

The governor stopped a bill that would give tax credits to agricultural producers.

"In view of the existing preferential tax treatment for agriculture-related producers and in view of the unknown tax revenue impact, I believe that this bill's tax credits are inappropriate at this time," Cayetano said.

A bill that would have required lease rent negotiations be based on fair market value was also vetoed because the governor felt it would be unconstitutional.

Cayetano halted a bill to require the director of Transportation to design guidelines governing new construction for a scenic highway system by 2003.

"Although such design guidelines are desirable, the director of Transportation already had the statutory authority to develop such design guidelines and does not need the enactment of this bill," Cayetano said.

The governor noted a bill to establish a Hawaii State Student Council responsible for the annual conference of secondary school students wasn't needed because a student council already exists under the Department of Education.

Some other measures vetoed would have allowed more autonomy for the University of Hawaii to settle lawsuits against the university and created a school-to-work opportunities board.

Council may sharpen bite of loud dog law

Owners of barking dogs whose canines are found in violation of a noise ordinance could be hit with a $1,000 fine and might have to surrender their animals if a bill introduced yesterday passes the City Council.

The ordinance, proposed by Councilwoman Rene Mansho, would stiffen current penalties -- a first time offense will increase to $50 from $25; a second offense within two years of the first will come with a $100 fine.

Subsequent offenses will run between $500 and $1,000, up from the previous $100 limit.

The bill also proposes that a court can require as part of the sentence for any offense, to "train an animal ... to stop the nuisance which caused the offense."

Anahola Bay reopens; Lydgate beach closes

Kauai's Anahola Bay, closed since Tuesday because of tar balls washing ashore, was reopened yesterday.

But tar balls also came ashore at Lydgate Beach Park on Kauai, prompting the Department of Health to close the beach. The park will reopen when cleanup of the tar balls is complete.

The Department of Health and the Coast Guard are investigating where the tar balls originated.

Schofield soldiers off to aid East Timor

Twenty-seven Schofield Barracks soldiers recently arrived in East Timor for 90 days of humanitarian and civic service.

The troops, from an engineer company, will rebuild schoolhouses burned by Indonesian militia in August 1999.

Task force to search for MIAs in Vietnam

A group of mostly Hawaii-based U.S. military specialists was to leave for Vietnam today to search for remains of American servicemen who died during the Vietnam War.

Members of the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting at Camp Smith and the U.S. Army's Central Identification Lab at Hickam Air Force Base will meet with representatives of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for joint investigations and remains recovery in 16 provinces and cities.

Since 1973, the remains of 566 former MIAs have been found and identified. Currently, 2,107 Americans still remain unaccounted for from the war.

Speakers to address Hawaiian recognition

Two leaders in the Native American community will speak against proposed federal recognition of Hawaiians at a gathering Sunday at Iolani Palace.

Russell Means, Oglala Lakota patriot, and Glenn Morris, Shawnee director of the Fourth World Center for the Study of Indigenous Law and Politics at the University of Colorado, will speak from noon to 5 p.m. at the palace grounds.

Means is expected to discuss how federal recognition for Hawaiians is a form of American apartheid, and that the creation of a federal Office of Native Hawaiian Affairs will result in the loss of native lands. Morris will speak on U.S. trust doctrine and the questions raised by the term "recognition."

Corrections Deputy prosecutor Keith Seto's name was misspelled in Tuesday's final edition.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers

Arson investigators win national award

The Hawaii chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators was named the organization's 1999 chapter of the year.

Barbara Maxwell, the Hawaii chapter president, and past president Robert Cravalho accepted the award at a banquet last month in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The Hawaii chapter was cited for hosting seminars on vehicle fires and using InterFIRE-VR, which helps to determine origin and cause at a structure fire.

Moped rider, 61, dies of injuries

A 61-year-old man died Tuesday at Kaiser Hospital from injuries suffered when he fell from a moped June 4 on Kamehameha Highway near Meheula Parkway in Mililani.

Police said the man fell after the moped blew a rear tire.

He was initially taken to Queen's Hospital in serious condition and was transferred June 6 to Kaiser Hospital, where he died.

Counting yesterday's fatality of a 21-year-old motorist in a head-on crash on Kamehameha Highway near Kipapa Gulch, 31 people have been killed this year on Oahu roadways.

Woman assaulted, robbed

Police are searching for a suspect who sexually assaulted and robbed an 18-year-old woman yesterday.

The woman was asleep at her home when she was awakened by an unknown male on top of her at 8 a.m., according to a police report. After sexually assaulting her, he demanded money, police said.

Boy injured in fight at school

A fight between two 12-year-old boys at Ilima Intermediate School resulted in one boy's being stabbed in the back with a pencil, police said.

The incident happened Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. The victim was treated for a small puncture wound.

Fire harms ex-deputy chief's home

HILO -- A fire that started in a trash can caused $5,000 damage at the home of retired Hawaii County Deputy Police Chief Francis DeMorales yesterday, the Fire Department said.

The fire was still small when firefighters arrived at the home, and they used a garden hose to put it out, they said. Most of the house, valued at $250,000, was untouched.