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Army to move crashed helicopters to Wheeler
The Army today was to remove from the Kahuku military training area the two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters that crashed and killed six soldiers last week.The move to Wheeler Army Air Field, where the two Black Hawks were stationed, was to be by flatbed trucks.
The convoy was to use Kamehameha Highway, beginning at Sunset Beach and proceeding to Wheeler.
The truck carrying the first Black Hawk was to leave at 11 a.m. and the other one a few hours later.
Army safety investigators are still trying to piece together the events leading to the Feb. 12 accident, in which a helicopter sling loading a Humvee is believed to have hit another Black Hawk.
The six fatalities all occurred in one helicopter.
Eleven soldiers walked away from the second one, which had been carrying a cargo of crates in a cargo net that dangled about 13 feet below the aircraft.
Meanwhile, First Hawaiian Bank donated $5,000 to the Soldiers Relief Fund opened recently to assist families of the six Army men who died in the crash.
Donations to the Soldiers Relief Fund may be made at any First Hawaiian Bank branch statewide or mailed to First Hawaiian Bank, Schofield Branch, P.O. Box 861598, Wahiawa, HI 96786.
Contributions also may be made in the name of individual victims.
2-1/2-foot corn snake found on Maui
A 2-1/2-foot-long corn snake has been discovered on Maui.It was turned in yesterday morning to the Maui Humane Society after it was found during the weekend by a youth in the Haiku area.
Inspectors for the state Department of Agriculture took custody of the snake, which was to be taken to the Plant Quarantine Station on Oahu today.
Corn snakes are common in parts of the U.S. mainland and northern Mexico.
The nonvenomous snakes grow to more than six feet long with a normal diet of mice, rats and birds. All snakes are illegal in Hawaii.
Water customers can pay online
Customers of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply can now retrieve and pay their bills online.Board officials announced the arrangement with California-based CheckFree i-Solutions which they say will save customers time and increase their control over when payments are made.
The board will deliver electronic bills through CheckFree I-Processing, which has an electronic bill distribution and payment network of 250 financial service organizations and portal sites.
Once enrolled at one of these sites, water customers can receive and pay bills from their computers not just to the water board, but any other entity they want to pay by personal check.
The financial service organizations typically charge a nominal fee for using the bill payment service.
The board, meanwhile, pays a small fee for to CheckFree for each transaction processed. At 32 cents a bill statement, its less than the $1.50 it costs to send a bill via air mail, board spokeswoman Denise DeCosta said.
To encourage its 150,000 customers to pay their bills online, the board is giving $5 credit on the first electronic water bill a customer gets. The offer is good through July 30.
Log on to http://www.hbws.org for more information.
Federal funds help disabled return to work
U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink has announced federal funding to help the disabled return to work.DiversAbilities of Honolulu has entered into a cooperative agreement for $54,633 with the Social Security Administration to provide benefit planning, assistance and outreach to persons with disabilities who are attempting to return to work.
Under the project, Supplemental Security Income and Supplemental Security Disability income recipients throughout Hawaii and the Pacific Territories will be helped.
"The agreement will aid persons with disabilities who seek to return to work," Mink said. "This will help them increase their income and become self-sufficient."
The grant is part of the Ticket to Work Incentive Improvement Act enacted in 1999.
Tomorrow
Some events of interest
6:30 p.m., Pearl City Library: Pearl City No. 21 Neighborhood Board meeting, 1138 Waimano Home Road. For information, call 527-5749.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Woman deliberately sets Waipahu apartment fire
A 36-year-old woman admitted to setting her three-bedroom Waipahu apartment on fire this morning, police said.The woman's 16-year-old nephew was also home at the time of the fire at 94-333 Pupuole St., police said. He was sleeping but was able to escape without injury. However, a dog that also lived in the apartment died in the fire, police said. The woman's 15-year-old son and her sister also lived in the apartment, but were not home when the fire started.
Police Sgt. David Hernandez said the woman was recently released from Kahi Mohala Behavioral Healthcare in Ewa Beach. She had problems with substance abuse and had developed some type of psychosis, Hernandez said.
She was taken to Castle Medical Center for evaluation.
The fire was reported at 1:13 a.m. and was under control at 1:34 a.m., the Fire Department said. Damage is estimated at $130,000.
Several families who live on the Ewa side of the building were evacuated.
Teen charged with murder in Japanese man's death
HILO -- Police have charged a juvenile with murder for the death of a Japanese national whose body was found Sunday at Keaau, south of Hilo.The victim was identified as Tetsuya Takahashi, 20, of Fuchu City, Tokyo.
Police said an autopsy showed Takahashi died from blunt force trauma to the head. The 16-year-old suspect was arraigned yesterday in Family Court.
Man, 40, punches daughter's boyfriend
A 40-year-old man was arrested this morning after getting into an argument with his daughter's boyfriend, police said.A 28-year-old man reported to police he was sitting in his car with his girlfriend on Lualualei Homestead Road and Mill Street in Waianae at 1:15 this morning when he got into an argument with his girlfriend's 40-year-old father. The suspect allegedly punched the victim twice.
Woman suffers ruptured eardrum during argument
A 31-year-old woman suffered a ruptured eardrum when she was struck by her estranged husband, police said.The incident occurred at the suspect's home at 94-736 Kalae St. in Waipahu after the couple got into an argument Saturday afternoon over the woman's relationship with another person, police said. The 34-year-old suspect pushed and shoved his wife several times, then began striking her on the head after she fell on the ground, police said.
She returned home after the argument. The victim sought treatment at Kaiser Medical Center yesterday, where medical staff discovered the victim had a ruptured eardrum. Police arrested the suspect at his workplace on suspicion of assault.
Man held in bedroom while 3 rob apartment
A 33-year-old man was robbed by three suspects at his apartment on Pensacola Street yesterday afternoon, police said.The man told police he was confronted by a man with a knife when he entered his apartment at about 12:13 yesterday afternoon. The man told him to stay in his bedroom and keep quiet, police said.
When the suspects left, the victim discovered his apartment had been ransacked and items were taken.
