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Work on H-3 Freeway slated this weekend
H-3 Freeway will be closed for part of Saturday and Sunday and Jan. 27-28 for maintenance work.The Halawa-bound lanes will be closed from 7 p.m. Saturday until 7 a.m. Sunday. The Kaneohe-bound lanes will close Saturday, Jan. 27, from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. the next day
Motorists are advised to allow for extra travel time and to take an alternate route.
Maui mayor orders campgrounds closed
WAILUKU -- Citing unsanitary conditions and a rise in crime, Maui Mayor James Apana has ordered the county to shut down county beach campgrounds on the eastern outskirts of Kahului starting Feb. 9 and stop the homeless from using the facilities.Apana's administration said homeless people using Kanaha Beach Park facilities are being notified this week about the decision.
"Unfortunately, the park has become unsafe for both campers and visitors to the beach," Apana said yesterday.
"While we are requiring that all campers leave the grounds by Feb. 9, all agencies are making extra efforts to assist them in their search for housing."
The decision follows recommendations from the state Department of Health to close the campgrounds for at least two months because of public health conditions, including an accumulation of refuse and animal waste and unsanitary restrooms, the county said.
County officials noted that dogs and ducks are living with homeless families near the park.
Officials said reports of crime have risen at the park, including thefts, disorderly conduct and sexual assaults.
Bail reduction denied in Maui homicide case
WAILUKU -- The woman charged with killing a retired 82-year-old Navy physician had been to his home previously and had been accused by the doctor of theft early last year, Deputy Prosecutor Melinda Mendes said today during a bail reduction hearing for Lisa H. Avilla and Michael Pavich.Mendes said Avilla returned with Pavich in early December and killed Edward W. Bird in his Pacific Shores condominium in south Maui.
Maui Circuit Judge Shackley Raffetto decided to continue Pavich and Avilla's bail at $230,000 each.
Mendes said Avilla, before her arrest on Jan. 10, tried to bail out Pavich, who was being held on separate theft and forgery charges at Maui Community Correctional Center and also was making plans to leave Maui.
Raffetto noted that Avilla has four prior convictions for theft and many convictions for "dishonesty."
Avilla and Pavich, both 30, are scheduled to stand trial on April 9 in Maui Circuit Court on several charges.
The charges include second-degree murder and first-degree robbery.
Reception to mark center's 80th year
The public is invited to attend a reception tomorrow celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Center for Japanese Studies at the University of Hawaii. The reception begins at 3 p.m. at the Imin Center at East-West Center.The university was one of the first institutions in the nation to offer Japanese studies when it began offering classes in 1921. Stanford and Yale had begun their programs, and Hawaii's program may have been the third, said Sharon Minichiello, center director.
Hawaii's large Japanese population and Pacific location helped begin the program, Minichiello said. A group of federal education officials urging the university to become the higher institution of learning in the Pacific region also contributed to the establishment of the Japanese program, she said.
A well-known Japanese scholar, Tasuku Harada, was appointed professor of the program, which grew into the Center for Japanese Studies with 44 full-time faculty, 22 instructors and more than 200 graduate students today.
Tomorrow
Some events of interest8:30 a.m., Kahului Community Center, 275 Uhu St.: Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission workshop followed by a meeting.
Corrections
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Man shot by police in Mililani had no weapon
A 34-year-old man, shot by a police officer early Sunday morning in Mililani Mauka after allegedly reaching into a fanny pack, was not carrying a weapon, police said.The confrontation occurred at 3:33 a.m. on a construction site. The officer had pursued the man to the location after identifying that he was operating a stolen motorcycle.
The man was standing behind a dirt mound, between 5 to 10 feet high, in a dark area when the officer asked him to come out.
When he allegedly reached into the fanny pack, the officer fired one shot.
The man was shot on the left side of his neck. He is in guarded but stable condition at the Queen's Medical Center.
Police said they executed a search warrant on the fanny pack yesterday and discovered a substantial amount of drugs and more than $1,000 in cash.
Prison escapee still at large, called dangerous
Escapee Kerbert Silva, who fled yesterday from the Oahu Community Correctional Center, was still at large late this morning.
Silva, who celebrated his 37th birthday yesterday, was returning with other inmates from the recreation yard at 3:55 p.m. when he suddenly bolted from the group toward the makai-side perimeter fence.
Silva scaled the 20-foot high fence, which is topped with barbed wire. He tore his T-shirt in the process and was last seen fleeing on foot wearing only tan-colored shorts.
OCCC officials said today a tower guard spotted Silva but elected not to fire because he did not have a clear shot from about 60 yards.
There are business warehouses in the area, the official said.
Silva was arrested Jan. 8 for auto theft. He was found sleeping inside a car in a Waipahu parking lot.
His prior convictions include burglary, theft, auto theft and a 1988 escape. Silva should be considered armed and dangerous, police said.
Silva has numerous aliases including Flash, Honeyboy, Scurm and Skarm.
He is described as 5 feet 5 inches tall, 160 pounds with a medium build, black close-cropped hair, brown eyes, a mustache and a tan complexion.
He also has numerous tattoos, including a cat and cat head on his upper right arm.
Woman beats small fire but lamp sets bigger one
HILO -- A Big Island woman woke up at 5 a.m. yesterday to find her mattress smoldering. She used a pillow to beat out the fire, then went back to sleep. It was a mistake.When she woke up again at 9:30 a.m., her mattress was on fire again and her bedroom was full of smoke, the Fire Department said.
The fire spread, causing $110,000 in damage and destroying the two-story house in Leilani Estates, south of Hilo.
Fire officials identified the occupant of the house as Megan K. Gutcher and the owner as Steve B. Sparks.
The fire was caused by a bed lamp burning a lamp shade, which spread the fire to the mattress, officials said.
Big Isle man arrested for growing marijuana
KAILUA-KONA -- Police arrested a 52-year-old man for five drug offenses after 142 marijuana plants were found growing at a house in the Kula Kai subdivision in Kau, south of Kailua-Kona, they said.Police also found about four ounces of dried, packaged marijuana and seized $323.
The man was released without charges pending further investigation following the Tuesday arrest.
The Courts
Owner of McCully massage parlor indicted
A woman accused of operating a McCully massage parlor as a front for prostitution has been indicted by an Oahu grand jury.Kim Johnston, formerly the owner of Hula Hands, which operated from the Century Center on Kalakaua Avenue, was charged yesterday with second-degree promotion of prostitution, money laundering and two counts of unlawful ownership of a business.
She was arrested back in August 1999, but fled during negotiations with the state. She is believed to be in Korea.
Police, who raided the parlor in February 1999, had said the business took in between $70,000 and $90,000 a month, not including the amount customers paid masseuses for sex.
Accused killer of ranger to be arraigned tomorrow
A man accused of killing a Kona national park ranger during a confrontation over the man's dogs is scheduled to be arrraigned tomorrow in federal court.This week, U.S. Magistrate Barry Kurren ruled Eugene Patrick Boyce III is competent to stand trial for the December 12, 1999 shooting of park ranger Steve Makuakane-Jarrell, 47, at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park in Kona.
The 15-year national park veteran was investigating a vicious-dog complaint at the park when he was shot.
Boyce told the FBI that he struggled with Makuakane-Jarrell over the ranger's gun, resulting in the ranger shooting himself.
Last April U.S. Magistrate Francis Yamashita found Boyce, 30, not competent and sent him to the mainland for psychiatric treatment.
Boyce's attorney Peter Wolff said Kurren's ruling means only that Boyce is competent now, and is not a ruling on his mental state at the time of the shooting.
Boyce faces a potential death penalty if convicted. Government prosecutors have not yet asked the U.S. Attorney General to review the case as a possible death penalty case, and will not do so until Boyce is arraigned on the charges.
Four on Oahu indicted on welfare fraud charges
A Wahiawa man accused of fraudulently obtaining welfare benefits totaling more than $120,000 over an 11-year period has been indicted by an Oahu grand jury.Suani Faafia, 55, yesterday was among four people indicted for welfare fraud.
He was charged with first and second-degree theft. He allegedly concealed his wife's presence in the household and her income from 1989 to last year.
Also indicted were:
She allegedly failed to report her boyfriend was living with her, and his income.
She allegedly hid from the Department of Human Services that her dependent children were no longer living with her.
