Navy sonar plan concerns will be heard Saturday
A public hearing regarding proposed Navy use of a new low-frequency active sonar system will be held 1 p.m. Saturday in the Kona Room of the Waikiki Beach Marriott, 2552 Kalakaua Ave.The National Marine Fisheries Service will conduct the hearing.
The Navy has applied for a federal permit for four boats to employ low-frequency sounds underwater to detect foreign submarines.
The Honolulu hearing is the second of three such hearings. The first was to be held in Los Angeles today, and a final hearing will be in Silver Springs, Md., next Thursday.
The Hawaii County Green Party filed suit in 1998 to stop testing of the sonar system near the Big Island because of concerns about the low-frequency sonar's impact on whales, other marine life and humans.
Federal Judge Alan Kay dismissed the case as moot when the Navy stopped testing and told the court it would conduct no further tests.
Nuuanu school gets gift of Queen's palm trees
Four 25-foot royal palm trees recently removed from Queen's Medical Center along Punchbowl Street have been relocated to Hawaii Baptist Academy's Nuuanu elementary campus.The medical center estimated the value of the trees at $1,200 each and paid the cost of relocating them to the school.
The trees were among 10 removed as part of a landscaping project at the hospital.
Three were relocated to the Mabel Smyth Auditorium grounds, and another three were recycled into organic compost after being deemed unhealthy by arborist Steve Nimz.
The hospital plans to replace the palms with monkeypod trees.
Maui meeting to give tips on handling lupus
The Hawaii Lupus Foundation will present information about the chronic autoimmune disease during a free public event from 6:30 to 8 p.m. May 17 at Cameron Center on Maui.A speaker will share his experiences with lupus and offer tips on how to cope with the disease and make life easier. There is no cure for lupus, but there is treatment.
For more information or to sign up for the meeting, call the foundation at 1-800-201-1522.
>> The state Department of Agriculture captured a live monocle cobra found in the cargo hold of an airplane at Honolulu Airport and is caring for it. A report in early editions yesterday erroneously identified a different state department. Corrections and clarifications
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.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Man dies when pipe falls on his head
WAILUKU >> State labor officials are reviewing information about a worker who died while helping to drill a monitoring well at the county's Mahinahina Water Treatment Plant in West Maui.Jay Dotson of Mililani died Monday morning when a 30-foot pipe slipped from a steel cable and fell on his head at about 10:20 a.m.
Woman dies trying to save her puppies
NANAWALE ESTATES, Hawaii >> A Big Island woman died while trying to rescue two puppies from a lava tube Tuesday, authorities said.Family members reported the 47-year-old woman missing from her Nanawale Estates home south of Hilo yesterday morning, the Fire Department said. She was last seen at 8 a.m. the day before.
Fire Department rescue personnel located her head-down in a 2-foot-wide, 15-foot-deep lava tube on a vacant lot.
There were no signs of foul play, police said. After removing her body, fire rescue personnel were able to bring the puppies out alive.
2 arrested for credit card fraud
A cashier at J.C. Penney Ala Moana and another woman were arrested yesterday after allegedly trying to use a stolen credit card to purchase gift certificates from the store.Store security officers arrested the 17-year-old cashier when she handed the gift certificates to a 23-year-old woman who was also arrested. Both were booked on attempted theft and credit card fraud charges.
One of the credit cards used was reported stolen from a hotel room April 5, police said.
Man arrested in knife threat of partner
Police arrested a 31-year-old Honolulu man Tuesday after his business partner reported the man had threatened him three months ago.The partner told police the man held a knife to his throat in January and told him it would cost $4,000 to get his equipment back. The victim told police there had been numerous other incidents of assaults and threats but he did not report them until now because he is finally fed up.
