Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Sunday, November 11, 2001

Verizon pays fired worker $700,000 too much

HOUSTON >> Verizon Wireless wants a fired employee to return about $700,000 in mistaken severance and bonus payments.

When Tonya Young, a $30,000-a-year marketing and sales clerk, was laid off Sept. 30, an accoun-ting error changed her pay-ments from $10,014.49 to $1,001,449, according to a company lawsuit filed Thursday.

After tax withholdings, she received $701,860.13 too much, said Verizon attorneys B.D. Daniel and Fields Alexander.

Young already has spent more than $100,000, the suit said.

"I was informed by Ms. Young that she had bills to pay, had taken some of the funds out and would not pay back the amount paid to her in error," Verizon representative Jerome C. Feinthel said in an affidavit.

On Friday, a judge granted a temporary restraining order and a garnishment of her bank accounts. A hearing was set for tomorrow.

Astronaut Hall of Fame inducts shuttle fliers

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. >> The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame accepted its first class of space shuttle fliers yesterday in a patriotic ceremony just a few miles from where they rocketed into orbit.

Former space shuttle com-manders Robert Crippen, Joe Engle, Richard Truly and Fred-erick Hauck were honored by their fellow astronauts and space program workers, as well as hundreds of others who gath-ered at Kennedy Space Center.

The four inductees shared the outdoor stage with 14 veterans of Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz missions who already are members of the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Native American woman first to become bishop

MIDDLETOWN, Del. >> The Rev. Carol J. Gallagher of St. Anne's Episcopal Church has earned a notable distinction: In October, she was elected suffragan, or auxiliary, bishop in the church's Diocese of Southern Virginia. She will be the first Native American woman to become a bishop in a major Christian church.

What's more, the decision, expected to be ratified by the church's bishops, carries a glo-bal resonance. Never has a woman from an indigenous pop-ulation been elected a bishop among the 25 churches of the Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church.

Gallagher, 45 and married with three daughters, is a member of the Cherokee nation, through her mother. Her father, a Presbyterian minister who long served a church in Harrison, N.Y., traced his ancestry to northern Europe.

Proposal moves up date of presidential primaries

WASHINGTON >> Democrats in many states could hold their presidential primaries as early as Feb. 3, 2004, under a recommended change of rules that could dramatically squeeze the nomination process into just a few weeks.

The proposed change could give an advantage to established candidates with more money, political analysts say. It would wipe out last election's monthlong window between nominating events in Iowa and New Hampshire and the other states' Democratic primaries.

Democrats now could have roughly the same nominating schedule as Republicans if the new rules are adopted.

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.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Hilo police report victim of shooting shot himself

HILO >> A man who reported that he had been shot by an unknown assailant actually had accidentally shot himself in the leg while loading a sawed-off shotgun, according to police.

Ruby Javar, 61, is under investigation for filing a false report and for various firearms charges, police said.

Javar was taken by a friend to Kau Hospital and then transferred to the Hilo Medical Center. He later was flown to the Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, where he remains in stable condition.

Javar told police he and a friend were checking his farm above Pahala Wednesday evening when he was shot by an unknown assailant. He told police he had been having problems with unknown persons damaging property and stealing vegetables.

LEEWARD OAHU

Multiple-robbery suspect arrested in Pearl City

Police arrested a 36-year-old Pearl City man Friday afternoon who is believed to have been involved in about a dozen thefts and car break-ins from Hawaii Kai to Waipahu and possibly Kaneohe, according to Detective Stacey Kapeliela.

Police said the Pearl City Crime Reduction Unit had been watching his house and arrested the suspect after he was seen working on a stolen motorcycle within a stolen van at his home on Kalauipo Street.

Detectives began staking out his home after the suspect fled from a patrol officer in a stolen car, police said.

NORTH SHORE

Search continues for woman swept out to sea

Fire rescue workers were to resume a search today for a 20-year-old Dartmouth, Mass., woman who was swept out to sea while walking along the beach off Sunset Beach Thursday afternoon, said fire Capt. Richard Soo.

The Honolulu Fire Department employed its scuba divers, underwater scooters, rescue boat and helicopter to search for Rachel Cardoza, Soo said.

Divers scoured underwater reefs where people often get trapped, Soo said.

Cardoza and her 21-year-old boyfriend moved from Massachusetts and planned to attend Leeward Community College.

Waialua man dies at Kahuku Motocross Track

A 38-year-old Waialua man was fatally injured in a motocross accident yesterday in Kahuku, fire Capt. Richard Soo said.

The man was riding on the Kahuku Motocross Track at 58-300 Kamehameha Highway shortly before 11 a.m. yesterday when he fell off his bike.

The man suffered a severely broken neck and died at the scene, Soo said.

HONOLULU

2 men allegedly involved in stabbing are arrested

Police arrested two men with no local address who were allegedly involved in the stabbing of two Kalihi men during a fight early yesterday morning.

Police responded to a 4:45 a.m. disturbance at Kahanu Street and Puuhale Road.

They arrested one man at the scene and a second man was arrested later at Kuhio Park Terrace.

The victims' wounds were not life threatening and they were taken to Queen's Medical Center, police said.

The hospital nursing supervisor could not release information about their condition.