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Children attending Punana Leo o Honolulu, a Hawaiian immersion preschool, may be entitled to free or reduced-price lunches, according to Kehaulani Pu'u, director of the Kalihi program. Punana Leo school offers
free meals for keikiShe said the school will review applications and determine eligibility. The criteria are set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Child & Adult Care Food Program.
Families with foster children also may apply for the free or lower-priced meals, Pu'u said.
If a family member becomes unemployed or family size changes, the family should contact the school to file a new application.
Punana Leo o Honolulu has 17 students, three to five years old.
Decisions may be appealed orally or in writing to: 'Ekekela Aiona, 1744 Kinoole St., Hilo, Hawaii, 96720. Families may call (808) 966-5451 for a hearing.
2 hurt by hit-run driver near Kualoa Ranch
A Ford sedan fleeing the scene of a crash struck and injured two men who had gotten out of the other car involved in the collision on Kamehameha Highway near Kualoa Ranch, police said.The men are in guarded condition at Queen's Medical Center.
The 6:20 a.m. accident caused traffic delays on Kamehameha Highway until both lanes were reopened at 9:35 a.m.
Police said the two men were in a car that was rear-ended by a white 1994 Ford sedan, license number FWB 390.
After the crash, the men exited their car and were hit by the Ford, which fled the scene.
Gov's analyst to fill 2nd spot at tax agency
A former planning and policy analyst in the Governor's Research Office has been named deputy director of the state Department of Taxation.Gov. Ben Cayetano appointed Dean H. Seki deputy tax director yesterday.
Seki, whose appointment was effective Nov. 16, had worked as a budget analyst for both houses of the Legislature. He filled the vacancy left when the former deputy director, Marie Y. Okamura, was named state tax director in October.
Okamura replaced Ray Kamikawa, who joined the law firm of Chun Kerr Dodd Beaman & Wong.
West Oahu grad rites have limited seating
Dr. Jonathan Osorio, assistant professor of Hawaiian studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, will be the keynote speaker for the UH-West Oahu commencement ceremony Dec. 18. The ceremony begins at 7 p.m. in the Leeward Community College theater.Grace Cobb, who will receive a bachelor of arts degree earned while working full-time, will give the student address.
More than 100 UH West Oahu students are eligible to receive their baccalaureate degrees this semester, including several who have completed their programs through the UH Outreach Centers on the neighbor islands.
Because seating is limited, admission to the ceremony will be allowed only to friends and family of graduating students. For more information on the university commencement, call 454-4750 or check the UH West Oahu Web site at www.uhwo.hawaii.edu.
Judiciary plans tribute to King Kamehameha V
The state Judiciary will honor the 170th anniversary of the birth of King Kamehameha V in a ceremony Monday at the Hawaii Supreme Court.The public is invited to attend the noon ceremony, which will include an oli, or chant, hula and a serenade.
Kamehameha V was the grandson of Kamehameha the Great. He was born in Honolulu on Dec. 11, 1830.
The ceremony is sponsored by several chapters of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I and the Hawaii State Judiciary.
Tomorrow
Some events of interest6:30 p.m., Haleiwa Alii Beach Park: Vision meeting. For information, call 523-4385.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Wahiawa man arrested in Nov. 7 home invasion
Police arrested a Wahiawa man last night and charged him with multiple felonies related to a home invasion Nov. 7 in Halawa Heights.The suspect was allegedly confronted by a woman in her Aliipoe Drive home.
Police said she was ordered into another room while the suspect continued to burglarize her home. She was not injured.
The man was booked for kidnapping, second-degree robbery and first-degree burglary then released pending further investigation.
He was also booked for allegedly breaking into a car in Mapunapuna in October.
Waipahu market robbed by armed, masked man
Road Runners Mini Market on Leoku Street in Waipahu was robbed last night by a gunman wearing a Halloween mask, police said.The mask was of a devil or "ugly face," police said.
The robbery was reported at 10:30 p.m.
The suspect, who is still at large, fled on a bicycle with an undisclosed amount of cash.
It was the second armed robbery in five days involving a man wearing a Halloween mask.
Last Thursday, Chubby's Pantry in Pearl City was held up by a man armed with a rifle and wearing a Halloween animal mask.
Police arrest 2nd woman in Sea Life Park theft
A 34-year-old woman was arrested for first-degree theft Monday in connection with a police investigation into money stolen from Sea Life Park gate receipts.The woman, a resident of the Keapuka neighborhood of Kaneohe, was booked at 9:45 a.m. and later released pending further investigation. She is the second person arrested in the case.
A 46-year-old woman was recently arrested for the same offense.
Police said $170,000 or more in receipts was stolen from July 1998 to December 1999 by former employees of the park's financial office.
The Courts
Parole out of reach for claw-hammer killer
The Hawaii Paroling Authority has ordered Monte Louis Young to spend 100 years behind bars before he can seek parole in the unprovoked hammer-killing of a man at Manoa Burger King.Although he has a chance at parole, the sentence amounts to Young, 36, remaining in prison until he dies.
Young was convicted in 1998 for bludgeoning Paul Ulbrich, 44, from behind repeatedly in the head with a claw hammer in May 1997.
A panel of court-appointed experts had concluded Young suffered from a mental illness that rendered him legally insane at the time of the attack.
Circuit Judge Victoria Marks rejected the insanity defense and later handed down an "enhanced" sentence for "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel" offenses, eliminating the possibility of parole.
While the Hawaii Supreme Court affirmed Young's conviction, the justices in May sent his case back to the trial court for resentencing after ruling that there wasn't enough evidence that the murder was "unnecessarily torturous" to the victim.
Suspect in chef's slaying charged with murder
An Oahu grand jury has indicted a 39-year-old cook for the stabbing death of Sheraton Waikiki Hotels' senior sous chef, Thomas Matsuda.Tam Van Huynh was charged yesterday with second-degree murder, punishable by life with the possibility of parole. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Matsuda, 49, was stabbed in the abdomen Friday after informing Huynh of a schedule change. A Sheraton employee said she was in an office with Matsuda and witnessed Huynh enter with a kitchen knife and stab Matsuda.
Matsuda died at Queen's Medical Center.
Probation for pair who burned vacation house
WAILUKU -- Two men were sentenced to serve probation for the burning of a vacation beach house on Molokai Ranch land on Sept. 10, 1995.Neither Molokai defendant made a statement during the sentencing before Maui Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza yesterday.
But one of the defendants' attorneys said plea agreements were entered to resolve the case, although both men continued to maintain their innocence.
"Neither one of them, in making the plea agreement, acknowledged they burned the house, but they didn't want to put their families through the trial," said Susan Arnett, the supervising attorney for the state public defender's office on Maui.
Arnett, who represented Clarence H. Kaopuiki, said she thought the defense and prosecution each "gave something to try to resolve this."
Kaopuiki, 54, who pleaded no contest to second-degree property damage, was placed on five years probation.
During probation, Kaopuiki is prohibited from entering ranch premises without written consent and from contacting any ranch employees during their work hours.
Walter Ritte Jr., 55, who pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of third-degree criminal property damage, was placed on one year of probation and ordered to serve 500 hours of community service.
Ritte also was ordered to be confined to his home for 8 months, except when working, and prohibited from entering ranch property without prior written permission, except for areas open to the public.
Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Jenkins said given the shortcomings of the evidence, he felt a settlement was wise.
Ritte and Kaopuiki were acquitted in 1998 of damaging a ranch pipeline in 1996. But the jury was unable to arrive at a verdict on the burning of the ranch vacation cottage and a new trial was scheduled.
