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Hawaii's new driving under the influence repeat-offender law, which goes into effect Sept. 30, requires the confiscation of license plates and registration documents of all vehicles owned or registered to an individual. New DUI law takes offenders'
registration, platesThere are more than 1,000 repeat DUI offenders arrested each year in Hawaii, said state Transportation Director Kazu Hayashida.
"The new law should make it more difficult for people who insist on drinking and driving by confiscating the license plates on their cars," Hayashida said.
The repeat offender will be issued a temporary 30-day driver's license and paper license plates and registration at the time of arrest. The offender is prohibited from selling or reregistering the vehicle until the case is resolved.
Round Top reopens after repairs finished
A section of Round Top Drive closed for repairs since Aug. 28 has been reopened by the city.The road section collapsed when excavation work done on on the site of 2845 Round Top Drive caused the wall holding up the shoulder of the street to crumble, forcing the city to shut down one lane.
Managing Director Ben Lee said Royal Contracting Co. was able to complete the project 15 days early by working evenings and weekends.
The project cost $347,800. Lee said the city will seek reimbursement from the homeowner for the construction and the cost of setting up roadblocks and hiring off-duty police officers to help direct traffic because of the hazard.
The closure meant a long detour for some Round Top/Tantalus residents who were forced to take the long way up the scenic drive to their homes.
City cites three parties for hazardous waste
The U.S. Coast Guard, Pacific Fence Inc. and Gay & Robinson Inc. have been cited by the state Health Department for hazardous waste violations.The state alleges the Coast Guard offered hazardous waste in the form of wood containing lead from its small-arms range to a transporter -- Pacific Fence Inc.-- which does not have an Environmental Protection Agency identification number.
The Health Department says the Coast Guard also failed to prepare a hazardous waste manifest.
The Coast Guard and Pacific Fence are looking at fines of $9,500 and $7,500, respectively.
Kauai-based Gay & Robinson was cited for storing Mirex, a hazardous insecticide banned in the U.S. since 1978. The Mirex was stored in paper bags which eventually ripped open, causing the insecticide to spill onto the ground through cracks in the wooden floor of a shed.
Gay & Robinson faces a $21,607 fine.
Benefit golf tourney will be held Oct. 6
Links to Literacy Golf Tournament will tee off on illiteracy as its proceeds will benefit reading programs of the Hawaii State Public Library System.The Oct. 6 tournament at Honolulu Country Club is sponsored by the Hawaii Library Foundation. For more information, call 837-8069.
Coming Up
Some events of interest
TOMORROW
1 p.m., St. Andrew's Cathedral: Academic convocation with the faculty of Hawaii Pacific University. Part of HPU's 35th anniversary celebration.
MONDAY
Corrections
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
LIHUE -- Twenty telephone tips were received in the first 48 hours after a $10,000 reward was posted for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who murdered Lisa Bissell and Daren Singer, Kauai police said yesterday. Reward offer generates
20 phone tips on KauaiAll are being checked out.
"Any piece of information, no matter how insignificant you think it is, could be very important in our effort to solve these crimes," said Inspector Mel Morris, who heads the Investigations Bureau. The Kauai Crimestoppers phone number is 241-6787.
Bissell's body was found in a ditch near Polihale State Park on April 7. Singer's body was discovered Aug. 30 near Pakala Point Beach. Both had been raped, beaten and stabbed.
On May 22, a woman in Kekaha was stabbed and beaten in a foiled rape attempt.
'Black beard bandit' hits Pearl City bank
American Savings Bank's Pearl City branch was robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash yesterday by a man the FBI is calling the "black beard bandit."The suspect, who wears a fake black beard, matches the description of a man who robbed First Hawaiian Bank's Waipahu branch in January and June and Bank of Hawaii's Waipahu branch in July, says FBI supervisory agent John Gillies.
Yesterday's robbery, reported at 11:30 a.m, was Hawaii's 23rd of the year.
The suspect has neck-length hair and thick, gold-rimmed glasses. He is heavyset, about 5 feet 8, and weighs 180 to 200 pounds. Yesterday, he was wearing a plaid flannel shirt and khaki plants.
Police seeking leads in gas station holdup
Honolulu police are asking for help in identifying male suspects believed responsible for an armed robbery of the Ewa Beach Service Station, 91-914 Fort Weaver Rd., before noon yesterday.A suspect pointed a handgun at the clerk, demanded money from the register, then fled in a new, small-sized black truck operated by another person, police said.
The suspect is in his early 20s, 5 feet 9, 180 pounds, medium build, with a black mustache, tan complexion and dark glasses. He was wearing a black woolen cap over his head, a long-sleeved white shirt and blue jeans. He had a Filipino accent.
No description is available for the second suspect. The vehicle was a new model, black pickup truck with metallic tint windows.
CrimeStoppers will pay up to $1,000 for information leading to tan arrest. You can call the CrimeStoppers hot line at 955-8300 if you have information.
