Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Saturday, November 24, 2001

Mirikitani sets Dec. 1 as date he will resign

City Councilman Andy Mirikitani, who faces up to 65 years in prison for receiving kickbacks from two aides in return for bonuses, announced he will resign Dec. 1.

Mirikitani will be sentenced Dec. 4. State law requires that elected officials convicted of a felony offense be removed from office after sentencing.

Mirikitani said he will cut his staff to two employees, leaving two part-time positions vacant. He said the cutback was necessary because the city faces a $5 million shortfall following the Sept. 11 attack.

Mirikitani said he has worked diligently to have all pending projects completed before he retires. Such projects include the Makiki Swimming Pool, the Ala Moana Anti-Crime Security Lighting, the Honolulu Bikeway Masterplan and the Graffiti Removal and Intervention Project.

Mirikitani represents the 5th Council District, which includes Manoa, Moiliili, McCully, Tantalus, Makiki, Pawaa, Ala Moana and Kewalo.

Christmas trees arriving today from West Coast

Matson Navigation Co.'s "official" Christmas tree ship arrives this afternoon in Honolulu.

The shipping company said its vessel R.J. Pfeiffer is carrying trees targeted primarily for retail store displays and limited neighbor island retail sales.

Matson said most of Hawaii's Christmas trees will arrive later in the weekend and next Saturday.

Matson said it brings more than 115,000 Christmas trees to Hawaii every year from Oregon and Washington state.

Anderson will say Monday if he is running for gov

Businessman and former Republican state lawmaker D.G. "Andy" Anderson will announce Monday his decision on whether he will enter the governor's race as a Democrat, his backers announced yesterday.

A group supporting Anderson has been running television commercials for the past three weeks seeking public support urging his candidacy.

He would face Honolulu's Mayor Jeremy Harris and state Rep. Ed Case in the Democratic primary.

When the group announced its formation in late October, Anderson said he would like to be governor but wanted to see what kind of support he would have and did not expect to announce a decision until early January.

Young button-maker to light Bishop Square

Ten-year-old Rochan Pinho, who helped raise more than $5,000 for the Sept. 11 Relief Fund by selling patriotic buttons, was given the honors to switch on the lights Thursday at the 19th Annual Christmas Lighting at Bishop Square.

The Marine Forces Pacific Band, Jimmy Borges and the Pacific Ballet Academy will entertain the public at Tamarind Park starting at 5:30 p.m.

Seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Parking at Bishop Square will be free after 4:30 p.m.

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 Managing Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers

HONOLULU

2 more suspects charged in slaying after cockfight

Two more suspects have been charged in the beating death of a man over an alleged fixed cockfight in Kalihi last Friday.

Branden Kakugawa, 30, of Kaimuki and Don Cabinian, 29, of Whitmore Village were each charged with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. They remain in custody in lieu of $500,000 bail each.

Leon Fernandez, 39, of Kaneohe died after he was beaten by a group of men at a cockfight at a Bannister Street home in Kalihi.

Police said the men beat Fernandez after he asked them why they were beating another man, 41-year-old Eufracio Esmerelda. Esmerelda was taken to an area hospital where he was in guarded condition. Fernandez was also taken to the hospital, where he died.

Police earlier this week charged Kakugawa's cousin, Evan Kakugawa, 33, of Kaimuki, with second-degree murder and Jason Yoshimura, 34, of Kapalama, with attempted second-degree murder.

NORTH SHORE

19-year-old injures pelvis while surfing Log Cabins

A 19-year-old man was transported by medical evacuation helicopter to Queen's Medical Center in serious condition yesterday following a surfing accident on the North Shore.

City lifeguards say the man injured his pelvis at the surfing spot known as Log Cabins. They said surf was in the 4- to 6-foot range with occasionally larger sets.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Crews watch Kailua-Kona fire closely for flare-ups

KAILUA-KONA >> Firefighters monitoring the remnants of a 1,000-acre brush fire north of Kailua-Kona were hoping that daybreak today would bring no new flare-ups.

Firefighters declared the blaze contained and reduced to hot spots yesterday afternoon. But they did the same thing a day earlier, and the fire jumped their firebreaks and spread.

To prevent another fire jump, bulldozers planned to continue widening firebreaks through the night, Hawaii County Civil Defense said yesterday.

No buildings were damaged by the blaze of unknown origin, which began Thursday afternoon near Costco. About 40 homes in Kona Acres, two miles to the north of Costco, were evacuated for a few hours.

Besides bulldozer work, helicopter water drops continued yesterday until halted by dark.

Bulldozers also worked to create trails across the rocky ground so that tanker trucks could drive to hot spots, said Civil Defense official Bruce Butts.