Surgery slows ex-mayor but does not stop him
WAILUKU >> Former Maui Mayor Elmer Cravalho, citing the need to recuperate from recent surgery, has resigned from the Maui Board of Water Supply.Cravalho, 75, said he is doing better since the surgery earlier this year but needs a reduced workload to recover.
Cravalho, also a former state House speaker, is continuing to work as treasurer and chief executive officer of the Kula Community Federal Credit Union.
The surgery was to clear a partial blockage in an artery feeding blood to his brain, he said.
Crime, trash close Papalua campground
LAHAINA >> Maui Mayor James "Kimo" Apana says the Parks Department is shutting down camping at Papalua Wayside Park in West Maui effective July 20.The area, a popular campground for surfers and fishermen, also is known as "Thousand Peaks."
Apana said police have received calls about assaults and robbery at the park during the past few months, as well as complaints about trash and unsanitary conditions.
Apana said his administration is looking at developing a campground through a permit system at the park.
The park, a strip of sandy coastline covered with kiawe trees just north of the Lahaina pali, has become a campground for the homeless who have been evicted from a number of beaches in Central and South Maui.
The county has provided portable restrooms along the beach.
The state gave Papalua Wayside Park to the county about eight years ago.
Source of nerve gas found at Johnston stumps Army
The Army is working with the Environmental Protection Agency to determine the cause of the release of a small amount of the nerve agent VX at Johnston Atoll in December.The EPA cited the Army after traces of the nerve agent were found in a waste bin following the shutdown of the chemical weapons incinerator in November. However, tests found no signs of that workers had been exposed to the agent.
The Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System, located 825 miles southwest of Hawaii, ended its 10-year operation in November and has begun closing the facility, leaving the remote atoll as a wildlife preserve.
The waste bin was at the end of a heated discharge conveyor that collects furnace residue that is normally uncontaminated. Investigators said the trace of agent apparently was contained in special liquid absorption pads used during the facility's final project to destroy 13,000 land mines containing VX.
The EPA has told the Army it faces potential violations including keeping the agent in an improper container and monitoring it in an area ill equipped to house contaminated material.
Since 1990, 4 million pounds of sarin nerve gas, mustard gas and blister agent dating back to World War II have been incinerated at the facility along with more than 400,000 rockets, projectiles, bombs and mortars containing chemical agents.
>> The East-West Center is not part of the University of Hawaii. A headline yesterday was incorrect. Corrections and clarifications
>> Nohea Tano, a University of Hawaii volleyball hopeful, finished her first semester at Washington State University, earning 13 credits. Tano has been given a qualified release from WSU and awaits a decision from the National Letter of Intent program regarding the number of years of eligibility she has left. A story yesterday said incorrectly that she had left WSU without completing a semester.
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 Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Kinau Street burglar flees with cash, jewelry
Honolulu police are looking for a burglar who broke into a Kinau Street home in broad daylight Sunday.Police said the suspect searched at least two floors of the house before being confronted by the 45-year-old female homeowner.
The suspect fled on foot in the Koko Head direction on Kinau Street toward Times Super Market. Police said the suspect got away with more than $2,000 in cash and jewelry.
The suspect is described as 5-foot-10, between 150 and 180 pounds, with short wavy brown hair, light brown eyes and a fair to medium complexion. He was last seen wearing a short-sleeved cream-color T-shirt, according to police.
Anyone with any information about the case is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellular phone.
Third suspect arrested in Kapahulu robbery
Honolulu police have arrested a third suspect in a Kapahulu home invasion robbery last month. The incident involved several men breaking into a residence on Herbert Street and pushing the male resident off his lanai.Police said the victim was struggling with one of the suspects who was trying to take his surfboard when he was knocked off the lanai, breaking bones in both of his heels. Police earlier this month arrested two suspects and this week arrested a 29-year-old male in the case.
CENTRAL OAHU
Man, 19, allegedly tries to assault 4-year-old girl
A Whitmore Village man was arrested for attempted sex assault of a 4-year-old girl Thursday.Police said both the victim and the 19-year-old suspect live in the same household but are not related.
Police said the mother of the victim saw her daughter and the suspect outside playing, then saw both enter the laundry room. The mother later checked in the laundry room and found her daughter naked on the floor with the suspect kneeling in front of her without any pants, according to police.
Police arrested the suspect without incident.
