Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
C. Brewer to remain under current owner
C. Brewer will continue under its present ownership.The kamaaina firm announced it has ended acquisition negotiations with principals of Strother Timberlands Ltd., potential purchaser of C. Brewer.
Yesterday's announcement noted that, as disclosed last month, C. Brewer had received an unsolicited offer to purchase company stock and that preliminary negotiations had begun. Since then, both companies worked toward a definitive contract but were unable to arrive at an agreement within a time frame agreed upon earlier, C. Brewer said.
C. Brewer and Co. Ltd. is the oldest continuous business in Hawaii. It goes back to 1826.
Trace chemicals found in isles' drinking water
Trace amounts of chemical contaminants were found in drinking water on three islands during routine state Department of Health sampling.None of the findings of the herbicide atrazine and 1,2,3-trichloropropane, a soil fumigant formerly used in pineapple fields, are a health threat, according to a press release.
TCP at 0.08 parts per billion was detected in the Honolulu Board of Water Supply's Waipio Heights Well 1 Pump 1, well below the state maximum limit of 0.8 parts per billion. TCP was also found in the Kauai Water Department's Puhi Well 4.
Atrazine was found in the Hawaii Department of Water Supply's Hakalau-Wailea system.
A couple of small puffs
and they're gone
Murderer Chong to have new counsel appointed
Richard "China" Chong, who escaped the death penalty by pleading guilty to using a firearm in a drug-trafficking murder, will be appointed a new attorney to represent him on his motion to withdraw his plea.U.S. District Judge Alan C. Kay set a hearing for Monday to appoint new counsel for Chong, who claimed medication had clouded his judgment and who now wants to go to trial. He was to be sentenced Monday.
Chong's defense attorneys told the court yesterday they could not represent him in his motion because the plea agreement was in his best interests and that he had agreed to it voluntarily.
Federal prosectors opposed Chong's attempts to back out of the plea agreement, saying his request just days before he was to be sentenced is merely a ploy to stay in Hawaii longer in hopes the death penalty no longer applies.
It could take at least a month for an attorney with experience in death penalty cases to be located, be given an opportunity to review the case and to represent Chong when the motion is set for hearing.
Suspect in Army pilot's death denied separate trial
Keala Leong, one of three men charged in the 1998 shooting death of Army pilot John Latchum, will go to trial with his co-defendants, rather than be tried separately.U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor yesterday denied Leong's request for a separate trial from Roberto Miguel, the alleged shooter.
Trial is set for Sept. 12.
Kauai festival to move for monk seals' sake
POIPU, Kauai -- The Koloa Days Ocean Festival scheduled for July 29 and 30 has been moved from its scheduled location at Poipu Beach to Lawai, about two miles west, to avoid disturbing a female Hawaiian monk seal and her pup, which was born July 6 at Poipu Beach Park, organizers announced yesterday.The event draws about 300 contestants for canoe races, an open-water swim, surfing and bodyboarding, and 1,000 or more spectators. It is sponsored by the Kauai Surfing Association.
Hawaiian monk seals usually avoid areas where any humans are found when having their pups, which take about six weeks to wean. This one chose the most popular tourist beach on Kauai.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
The gunman who robbed a
St. Louis Heights woman, as
described by different witnesses.Drawings released of robbery suspect
Police released composite drawings yesterday of a suspect who allegedly robbed a St. Louis Drive home this week.The man reportedly held a gun on a 69-year-old woman Tuesday at her home. He ransacked her house before running away with valuables.
Police have beefed up patrols in St. Louis Heights and Manoa in the wake of several robberies and burglaries. Dispatchers also report an increase in the number of calls about suspicious vehicles and people in the neighborhood.
On Thursday, several 911 calls were made about a suspicious vehicle that turned out to be a plainclothes officer's car assigned to patrol the area, said CrimeStoppers Coordinator Letha DeCaires.
The suspect in the St. Louis Drive robbery is described as in his early 20s, 5 feet 4, 140 pounds with a medium build. He has a fair complexion and black wavy hair. He was wearing a blue and gray aloha shirt and jeans.
To identify the suspect, call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.
Police seek man who ran over moped
Police are searching for a man who attempted to drive over a 24-year-old man in Waikiki last night.The victim was riding a moped and got involved in an argument with a man driving a yellow Nissan pickup truck on Kuhio Avenue, police said.
As the victim attempted to drive away, the suspect drove into the moped and the victim jumped off. The suspect then ran over the moped at about 8 p.m., police said.
Big Isle police seize 5,077 pot plants
KAILUA-KONA -- Police seized 5,077 marijuana plants yesterday and Thursday during West Hawaii eradication operations in Hualalai and Ocean View, they said. There were no arrests or incidents.
Man, 41, arrested in extortion case
A 41-year-old man was arrested Thursday for allegedly extorting thousands of dollars from a woman from Japan.From May 25 to June 14, the man hosted the woman at his N. Nimitz Highway home, police said.
Through intimidation, he was allegedly able to force her to make numerous withdrawals from her credit cards. He also forced her to purchase Rolex watches for him, police said.
He was arrested for first-degree extortion and released pending investigation.
Man, 43, charged in threat of co-worker
Police arrested and charged a 43-year-old man for allegedly threatening a co-worker with a handgun last week.Mitchell Huihui was charged with first-degree terroristic threatening, police said. He is being held on $20,000 bail.
Huihui reportedly threatened a fellow construction worker during an argument July 14 on Sand Island.
Missing windsurfer rescued off Maui
WAILUKU -- Maui fire rescue workers yesterday morning rescued a missing windsurfer from large concrete pilings along the breakwater at the entrance to Kahului Harbor.Ed Williams, 53, had been reported missing 7 p.m. Thursday by his wife after he failed to return from windsurfing off Kanaha Beach Park.
Assistant Fire Chief Greg Chong Kee said fishermen laying nets saw the man clinging to the pilings. Williams was not injured, the fire department said.
