Brush fire in Waiawa one of summer's largest
A brush fire that started near the Waiawa Correctional Facility burned 50 acres by 5:30 p.m. yesterday."It's one of the largest if not the largest brush fire this summer," said Capt. Richard Soo, Honolulu Fire Department spokesman.
Waiawa prisoners were not threatened, but management beefed up the number of guards and removed civilian staff, Soo said.
Also, police closed Mililani Memorial Park Road and escorted 20 visitor and staff cars from the grounds. Two funerals were canceled.
Soo said 50 firefighters, four 1,500-gallon tankers, the Air 1 helicopter and other units responded to the 1:15 p.m. alarm. HFD also asked military helicopters to help in water drops, he said.
The fire approached the intersection of Ka Uka Boulevard and Mililani Memorial Park Road, but firefighters contained it before it jumped the roadway, Soo said.
HAUULA HOT SPOT
Prisons chief attributes error to fear of Judge Ezra
State Public Safety Director Ted Sakai said he does not condone the actions of two prison guards who handcuffed a patient to a gate at the Hawaii State Hospital on Wednesday and then left. But he said he can understand why they might have done it.A state judge ordered the department last Friday to transfer the patient from the Oahu Community Correctional Center to the State Hospital.
Under a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra, the department had 48 hours to comply with such orders.
"We didn't want to mess with Judge Ezra," Sakai said.
Sakai said the guards should have made more telephone calls to their supervisors to clear up who should have custody over the patient rather than leave him at the hospital before staff there could find space for him.
READY FOR READING
A school-supplies campaign gets some high-level support
State child advocacy center has new name
The name of the Hawaii State Judiciary's Children's Advocacy Centers has been changed to Children's Justice Centers and its services have been expanded to benefit more abused children, said Judith Lind, director of the statewide program."The original name did not adequately describe the centers' mission... a name change to Children's Justice Centers would better reflect the mission of the program," she said.
The program has been expanded to include cases of serious physical abuse and child witnesses to crimes such as domestic violence and homicide.
"More children can now benefit from our program that handles more than 1,500 cases statewide each year," Lind said.
Since the first center opened on Oahu, more than 7,500 children on Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island have been helped. The centers were originally created to prevent child victims of abuse from being re-victimized through repeated interviews and by an uncoordinated legal system.
Through the centers, children will usually have just one interview with a team of trained professionals from child protective services, the police department and specialized mental health professionals. The interview is videotaped to eliminate the need for more interviews.
"Our objectives are to provide a very child-friendly and neutral process," Lind said.
Hawaii woman allegedly pimped her daughter, 13
CAPE CORAL, Fla. >> A Hawaii woman allegedly prostituted herself and her 13-year-old daughter for money to buy crack cocaine, which they would smoke together, police said.The 30-year-old woman was arrested Tuesday night on two charges of child abuse and neglect, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office.
The teenage daughter told investigators her mother paid for drugs by having sex in men's homes or in cars. The daughter would join in, according to the arrest report.
Deputies discovered the abuse when the woman and her daughter were caught burglarizing the home of a man who had refused to pay them for sex.
"Turning tricks was their sole support," Sgt. Sheila Brooks said. Brooks said the girl did not willingly participate in the sex.
Their drug habit, which could cost up to $1,000 per week, began last January after the mother moved from Hawaii to Cape Coral with her three children, the daughter told investigators. The woman also has a 3-year-old son and a 1-year-old daughter.
She was being held in lieu of $10,000 bail. The daughter is staying with a relative, and the state took custody of the woman's younger children, authorities said.
Corrections and clarifications
>> Teen pregnancies on the Big Island fell to 418 last year from 479 in 1999, even with an increase in females 10 to 19 years old to 11,009 from 10,273. Both sets of numbers were incorrectly reversed in a Page 1 article Wednesday. Also, deaths listed in a graph represented fetal deaths.>> The sailor who died in a Tuesday maintenance accident at Marine Corps Base Hawaii-Kaneohe was male. A "Police/Fire" item and headline Wednesday incorrectly reported the sailor was a female.
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
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Fire of unknown cause destroys Big Island home
KAU, Hawaii >> Fire of unknown origin destroyed a 2,500-square-foot house Wednesday night in Wood Valley, 40 miles south of Hilo, the Fire Department said. The house was owned by Theodora A. Mallick and occupied by Marcelo Flores, who was unhurt.
WINDWARD OAHU
Sailor killed in Kaneohe base accident identified
The sailor who was killed while conducting maintenance at the Marine Corps Base fuel pier in Kaneohe Bay has been identified as Petty Officer Michael B. Hudson of Oakland, Calif.Hudson, 26, was conducting routine maintenance and inspection on a floating containment boom at the pier at 11:05 a.m. Tuesday when he was killed. He was cleaning a flotation boom intended to contain ship fuel spills. The accident is being investigated by the Navy Criminal Investigative Service.
CENTRAL OAHU
Army opens assault probe after baby found injured
Army officials have opened an assault investigation after a 3-month-old boy taken to Tripler Army Medical Center was found to have an old injury.Police said the parents took the infant to Tripler Tuesday afternoon because he was spitting up blood. The parents reside in Army housing at Schofield Barracks. Doctors who examined the boy found a healing rib fracture. The infant was treated and released back to his parents.
HONOLULU
Privacy violation case now considered as felony
Honolulu police detectives have reclassified a violation of privacy case as a felony. The case was first filed May 23 and involves a 21-year-old man who found hidden cameras in his Kapiolani Boulevard apartment.The victim found a video camera in a clock in his apartment's living room May 23. Then on May 25 the victim reported finding another camera in the clock of his bedroom. The victim lives with a 37-year-old man.
[THE COURTS]
Family of slain tourist sues hotel for lax security
The family of an 81-year-old Canadian visitor who was robbed and fatally beaten in Waikiki Jan. 23 is suing Outrigger Hotels Hawaii and Outrigger Enterprises Inc.Norman Chaplan's estate, widow and children filed the lawsuit yesterday in Circuit Court against the Ohana Waikiki West, formerly known as the Outrigger Waikiki West, for failing to provide adequate security, alleging no security personnel were on the premises and no one was monitoring the video surveillance system at the time of the incident.
"In Hawaii, hotels are certainly under a recognized duty to provide reasonable security," said Mark S. Davis, lawyer for the Chaplan family.
Outrigger executives had not received a copy of the complaint and were unable to comment on the suit.
Chaplan was struck on the head and robbed of his wallet at the Ohana Waikiki West. He had gone to a restroom while the group checked in at about 1:30 a.m. He died Jan. 25 of severe head injuries.
No one has been charged with Chaplan's murder to date, said Jim Fulton, a spokesman for the city prosecutor's office.
Judge delays Arakawa trial until next year
Over the state's objections, Circuit Judge Karen Ahn is giving retired police officer Clyde Arakawa's defense more time to prepare.Saying she wanted to ensure Arakawa has a fair trial but also avoid having a retrial, Ahn continued Arakawa's manslaughter trial to next year, with jury selection to commence Jan. 14.
Arakawa is charged with recklessly causing the death of 19-year-old Dana Ambrose in a car crash last October while intoxicated.
Michael Ostendorp, Arakawa's attorney, renewed his arguments yesterday that experts hired by the defense will not be available until late January.
City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle said the state was ready to go to trial Sept. 17 as initially scheduled and that any delay would impose on the Ambrose family.
Jury selection is expected to take two weeks. Evidence will begin on Jan. 28.
Preparer pleads guilty to filing false tax returns
A tax preparer for RB Income Tax Service pleaded guilty yesterday to six counts of aiding and abetting in the filing of false tax returns in 1998 and 1999.Rosalinda DeGuzman, 50, now of Illinois, faces no more than six months in jail and fines of no more than $30,000 under a plea agreement when sentenced Nov. 20.
She is the fourth defendant associated with RB Income Tax Service -- at one time one of the state's fastest-growing tax return preparation services -- to plead guilty to preparing fraudulent returns by overstating contributions and miscellaneous deductions.
Maximum penalties for filing false tax returns are up to three years in jail and a fine of up to $100,000 on each count.
An investigation that initially targeted the owner of RB Tax Service, Richard Basuel Sr., led to charges filed against him and three employees, including his son Richard Basuel II.
Alleged accomplice in sweatshop charged
Federal prosecutors have charged a man for conspiring with the owner of a factory in American Samoa to run a sweatshop that allegedly abused its Vietnamese workers.Elekana Nu'uuli Ioane was charged by complaint in U.S. District Court yesterday for conspiring with owner Kil Soo Lee, Sialava'a Fagaima and others to intimidate and threaten Vietnamese workers into involuntary servitude between March 1999 and January 2001.
Lee was indicted by a federal grand jury in April. He faces trial Sept. 25 in U.S. District Court.
The factory, Daewoosa Samoa Inc. in Tafuna, has since closed. The factory manufactured clothing for J.C. Penney Co. and other major retailers.
