Chef Chai Chaowasaree has been granted at least three more months in the United States, but he will continue to spend them in prison. Court grants chef Chai
3 more months in U.S.But he must remain in OCCC
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco yesterday granted Chaowasaree's motion for a stay of deportation pending an appeal.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service began deportation proceedings in 1991, claiming that Chaowasaree's marriage to a U.S. citizen was fraudulent.
The case has been on appeal since, with Chaowasaree allowed to remain in Hawaii. He opened Chai's Island Bistro in Aloha Tower Marketplace while the case was pending. But the INS recently renewed efforts to send the chef back to his native Thailand, saying he abandoned his appeal when he left the country to visit his ailing father last year.
Yesterday's order also denies both an immigration request to dismiss the appeal and Chaowasaree's request for release from Oahu Community Correctional Center, where he has been held since Feb. 13.
"I met with Mr. Chaowasaree this morning," said his attorney Robert Ichikawa.
"While Mr. Chaowasaree is very encouraged by this ruling and his spirits remain up, he asked that I continue to seek relief for him to be released from OCCC while his appeal is pending."
The order calls for legal briefs on the matter by May 16 and states the case will be placed on the court calendar in June.
Fund set up for boy who tried to help mom
A trust fund has been set up for the 8-year-old son of Isabelle Yim-Mortier, who was stabbed to death in her Waialae townhouse Monday morning.Yim tried to get help for his 38-year-old mother after she was stabbed in her bedroom. Her ex-boyfriend, Henry Lagmay, 32, was indicted Thursday by a grand jury.
A press release announcing the fund notes that Yim's father died of cancer just a month ago. Yim is now living with relatives.
Checks to the "Friends of Etienne Yim Trust Fund" can be sent to Merrill Lynch or any First Hawaiian Bank branch. Pledges are also being taken on a Web site, http://www.kumo.net/etienne.
For more information, contact Simon Wilford at 525-8300.
Date for Army's beret standard may change
WASHINGTON (AP) >> The Army may postpone the June target date for making black berets standard headgear.The timing concerns a fuss over buying berets from China. When he announced last October that all soldiers except paratroopers and Special Forces soldiers would wear black berets -- traditionally the exclusive headgear of the elite Rangers -- Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki said the change would take effect on the Army's birthday, June 14.
The Defense Logistics Agency said it could meet that deadline by contracting with foreign manufacturers.
At a joint news conference yesterday, Shinseki and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz left open the possibility that the date could be moved.
Weinberg fund helps build Fil-Com Center
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Inc. pledged $3 million to the Filipino Community Center to assist with construction costs."It shows their support of our efforts of revitalizing Waipahu," said Rose Churma, interim executive director of the Fil-Com Center.
In honor of the pledge, officials of the Fil-Com Center will place "Balay Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation" beneath the building's name. Balay means "home" in Filipino, she said. "It's beyond a building ... it's a place of community gathering."
With the pledge, the Fil-Com Center is up to $11.6 million. Projected development costs are $13.8 million. "We have a long ways to go, but we're getting there," Churma said.
Construction is expected to be completed by midyear 2002.
Tomorrow
Some events of interest:>> "Got Hope?": Contemporary dance concert featuring the UH Rainbow Dancers, Word of Life Performance Team, the Halau of New Hope, Hearts in Motion and the Honolulu Dance Company, 4 and 7:30 p.m. at Mamiya Theatre. Cost: $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Call 524-8455.
>> Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii: "Organizational Management and Responsibilities" workshop for community-based nonprofits, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday at the Prince Kuhio Federal Building. Cost: $5. Call 528-7050.
>> "Drum Circle Games": Drumming, percussion, singing and movement, 3-5 p.m. Monday. Cost: $10, loaner drums available. Call the Atherton YMCA, 946-0253.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Publisher and Editor in Chief John Flanagan at 529-4748 or email him at jflanagan@starbulletin.com. Corrections and clarifications
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Liquid spill shuts traffic in Maui industrial area
WAILUKU >> About five to 10 gallons of an antifreeze compound spilled onto a street in the light industrial area of Kahului yesterday, forcing the shutdown of traffic for a couple of blocks.Police notified the county that the area near Ala Maha Street between Kamehameha and Wakea avenues was closed about 11:30 a.m.
No one was injured. But workers from an Oahu-based company, Unitek Solvent Services, were flown in to clean up the spill and were completing the cleanup last night, county spokeswoman Karlynn Kawahara said.
She said hazardous-material workers also blocked the street culverts to make sure there was no runoff into the ocean or Kanaha Pond, which serves as a bird sanctuary.
Kawahara said the chemical compound is known as Direct 4L and that Island Movers, the company responsible for the spill, retained Unitek to clean the compound off the road.
Shooting victim refuses to tell cause of injury
A 31-year-old man who suffered a gunshot wound to his chest is refusing to tell police how he sustained the injury.He was found in front of the Sugar Bar in Waialua Thursday night and sent by medical evacuation helicopter to Queen's Medical Center.
Police found a sawed-off .22-caliber rifle in a bus parking lot next to the Sugar Bar.
Man breaks into hotel, takes beer and food
Honolulu police arrested a 34-year-old Haleiwa man for burglary after hotel workers at the Mandarin Oriental Hawaii in Kahala found him locked in a vacant room drinking beer and eating food from the room's minibar.The man had locked the room from the inside and refused to leave. He was arrested after officers subdued him with pepper spray.
