Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service seeks to designate critical habitat for 50 Hawaiian plant species on Maui and Kahoolawe. Comments sought
on critical habitatA proposal published in the Federal Register yesterday is an effort to protect threatened or endangered plants in Hawaii. The rule would create critical habitat on about 7 percent of Maui and 2 percent of Kahoolawe.
The wildlife service seeks public comments on its proposed rule concerning:
Public comments will be accepted for 60 days. Comments should be sent to: Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands Office, 300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 3-122, Box 50088, Honolulu, HI 96850.Reasons why any habitat should or should not be designated as critical habitat.
Comments may be emailed to fwlpie_mandk_crithab@fws.gov.
Amemiya will take post at City Bank
Roy Amemiya will become vice president of business and consumer lending at City Bank on Jan. 16.Amemiya resigned as director of Budget and Fiscal Services for the City and County of Honolulu last week. Before that, he worked for Bank of Hawaii.
Amemiya has a master's degree in business administration from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with an emphasis on finance.
He obtained a bachelor's degree in industrial management from Purdue University and is an honors graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington.
U.S. sued over woman killed by DUI soldier
The parents of 24-year-old Alexa Hanakahi, who was killed by a drunken driver, are suing the U.S. government.The complaint filed yesterday -- nearly four years after Army soldier Jason Hilliard struck Hanakahi's car just outside Whitmore Village, shearing her car in half and killing her -- seeks an unspecified amount of damages.
The complaint contends the Army was aware of Hilliard's alcohol addiction after he sought help, but rejected recommendations by medical and alcohol professionals that he receive treatment.
The Army also allowed Hilliard to park his car on base knowing the car was unregistered and had no insurance, in violation of Army policy, the suit said.
According to the lawsuit, Hilliard began drinking in his quarters on Feb. 19, 1997, and later that night agreed to drive an acquaintance to Wahiawa.
He was speeding away from Wahiawa and had just eluded a police officer who tried to stop him for traffic offenses when he struck Hanakahi's Honda.
Hilliard, 20 at the time of the crash, was convicted of first-degree negligent homicide and was sentenced as a juvenile offender to five years in prison.
Dementia victim reunited with family
A Waipahu woman with dementia, who was found doing yardwork Sunday at someone else's home, was reunited with her family yesterday.The family reported the woman missing yesterday. Police said the public does not have to wait 24 hours to report a person missing.
After the woman was picked up about a block and a half from her home Sunday, she was taken to Castle Medical Center, where officials learned her first name.
WWii Marine's remains going home for burial
The Marine Corps will send Pfc. Ashley W. Hicks, a Makin Marine, home some 58 years after he died.Hicks was one of the 19 Marine Raiders killed in action in August 1942 on Makin Island, now known as Butaritari. His remains, along with 18 other Marines killed there, were recovered in December 1999 and identified last month.
Hicks, of Waterford, Calif., will be buried in his hometown later this month. A brief departure ceremony was to take place today at 2:30 p.m. at Borthwick Mortuary on 1330 Maunakea St.
Tomorrow
Some events of interest
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Two arrested in death of man from Maili
Police arrested a 19-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy yesterday in connection with the death of a 47-year-old man in Maili this summer.The victim was found July 17 lying in the roadway across Maili Beach Park. He died at Queen's Medical Center.
Police said the man's injuries indicated he was beaten and run over by a vehicle.
Police officer charged with drunken driving
A 36-year-old police officer has been charged with drunken driving after a Dec. 11 accident while he was off-duty.Celso Bautista, assigned to narcotics/vice, was not given special treatment when arrested, police said.
The police department was criticized for extending what Police Chief Lee Donohue called "special courtesies" to officer Clyde Arakawa, who was involved in a fatal crash earlier this year.
Bautista's pickup truck hit another vehicle on Kupuna Loop in Village Park, police said. There were no injuries.
Wahiawa teens arrested in paintball shootings
Six Wahiawa teens were arrested near Nimitz Highway and Alakea Street about 3 a.m. today,. accused of shooting paintball guns at people and buildings downtown.Police say that five 18-year-olds and a 17-year-old shot two people while driving on Merchant Street.
A 47-year-old security guard was hit on the leg; another man was hit on the hand. Several buildings were also splattered with paint.
The teens face three counts of second-degree assault.
Driver avoided hitting woman, test confirms
A 47-year-old man arrested Friday afternoon on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend passed a polygraph test before he was released, police said.Crispin Apilando told police he reversed his vehicle so he could go around his girlfriend, 66-year-old Linda K. Asuncion, who was standing in front of his sport utility vehicle at Ala Moana Regional Park on Dec. 11.
But he said she lunged at the passenger side of the vehicle. When he turned around, she was down, but he wasn't aware of her condition.
"He came out very truthful," said police homicide Lt. William Kato. "The tire tracks on the grass indicate he backed up."
Witnesses on one side of the vehicle said that Apilando ran her over. Those on the opposite side saw him try to go around her.
Asuncion's head struck the pavement. She died in the hospital the next day, police said.
Kato said the autopsy report did not show Asuncion was run over.
Prosecutors may still charge Apilando with traffic offenses, including failure to render aid, which is a felony, Kato said.
Police hunt two men who accosted woman at hotel
Police are looking for two men who allegedly robbed and kidnapped a 21-year-old woman at a Waikiki hotel.The woman told police the men confronted her in the driveway of the Four Paddles Hotel at 2140 Kuhio Avenue. She said one of them grabbed her by the arm and demanded her purse.
He prevented her from leaving as she tried to walk away several times, police said.
A second man demanded her wallet. Police say both suspects fled when hotel security arrived.
The men were described as having brown complexions, black wavy hair and being of medium build.
One is in his 20s, 5-foot 2, 140 pounds, medium build and wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt with a checkered design on the sleeve.
The second is in his 30s, 5-foot 4, 140 pounds, wearing a white, short-sleeved T-shirt and blue shorts.
