Waianae man charged in assault on infant son
A 26-year-old Waianae man was charged with first-degree assault today for allegedly physically abusing his two-month old son.Police arrested George Kalua Tuesday for an incident that happened Dec. 11. The boy was taken to the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Center with severe head injuries. He was later transferred to Kapiolani Medical Center where doctors discovered the boy had brain injuries as well.
Kalua's bail is $50,000.
Teacher pleads not guilty to fondling student
A Wahiawa Middle School teacher pleaded not guilty today to charges he fondled and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old student in May.Gabriel Kealoha, 28, declined comment as he left the courthouse with a woman companion.
He is charged with three counts of second-degree sexual assault and three counts of fourth-degree sexual assault.
Trial is set for Feb. 19, 2002 before Circuit Judge Karen Ahn.
Kealoha posted $15,000 bail after his arrest Dec. 12 and will remain free until then.
The alleged incident occurred at the school on May 27, a Sunday, but was not reported until a few weeks ago, according to Department of Education officials.
The girl was an eighth-grader at the time of the incident.
Former art gallery execs get a break in court
A federal appeals court has tossed out one count each for two former executives of the Center Art Galleries who were convicted of embezzling from the now-defunct Hawaii company's employee pension fund.William Mett and Marvin Wiseman were sentenced to more than five years in prison on a dozen counts each in the case. The appeals court set aside one count each yesterday, ruling that the convictions there were based on testimony that violated attorney-client privilege. The two men initially received 70-month terms in 1997, but got a new trial in March 2000 after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco overturned their convictions.
Mett and Wiseman were convicted of selling bogus "original lithographs" attributed to the late Salvador Dali and others.
Chaminade sends 226 new grads into the world
Chaminade University awarded 266 degrees at its Fall Commencement.The university handed out 122 bachelor's, 74 master's and 70 associate degrees on Monday, with 11 percent awarded to education majors and 10 percent to those who completed business programs.
Almost half the graduates were from Hawaii.
Medicare information resources are expanded
New and expanded Medicare information resources will allow Hawaii residents to learn more about the program's options, health plans and coverage.The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has launched a national education campaign to help its 40 million beneficiaries get answers to health care questions.
A Medicare & You 2002 handbook has been mailed to 34 million Medicare beneficiaries' homes. A toll-free phone line also has been expanded to operate around the clock, seven days a week: 800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227).
A Medicare Personal Plan Finder on Medicare's consumer Web site, wwww.medicare.gov, allows beneficiaries to identify and compare health plan options available to them.
Medicare's first national television ads are appearing in a $30 million advertising campaign aimed at people covered by Medicare and their caregivers. The campaign includes English and Spanish language television, print, radio and Internet advertising.
The education campaign is intended to help people on Medicare understand the coverage so they can make the right health care decisions, said Tom Scully, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services director.
"We want you to ask questions, and we are ready with more and better answers," he said.
2 Hawaii researchers get national lung grants
Two Hawaii researchers have received funding under the American Lung Association's $13 million research program this year.They are James Douglas, University of Hawaii professor of microbiology, and Claude Jourdan-Le Saux, postdoctoral researcher at the Pacific Biomedical Research Center.
Peter Flachsbart, American Lung Association president, said, "Our ongoing investment in research fosters work by both promising investigators and those who have been devoting a lifetime of work to understanding the lung."
Lung disease is the third most frequent cause of death in the United States, causing more than 359,000 deaths annually.
The Lung Association's research programs cover a wide range of lung diseases, from influenza and pneumonia to asthma, cancer, emphysema and tuberculosis.
The association also addresses issues such as air pollution, the environment and smoking prevention.
Group seeks to improve heart attack survival rate
The American Heart Association of Hawaii has received $26,000 from the Hawaii Community Foundation's Robert E. Black Fund to improve the survival rate from sudden cardiac arrest.The grant will be used for Operation Heartbeat, a national, community-based program to improve the chain of survival from cardiac arrest.
In communities with a strong "chain of survival," the survival rate is 15 percent or more, according to the heart association.
If every city achieved a 20 percent survival rate, an estimated 50,000 lives or more could be saved each year, the AHA said.
The Hawaii organization is conducting activities to encourage the public to recognize signs of sudden cardiac arrest, call 911 immediately and be prepared to give CPR.
AHA volunteers and staff members also are working with emergency medical services personnel, county and state governments, health care providers and others to improve the chain of survival throughout Hawaii.
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. Corrections and clarifications
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffWINDWARD OAHU Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Man arrested for alleged sex with 15-year-old girl
Police arrested a 22-year-old Kailua man for first-degree sexual assault yesterday for allegedly having a consensual sexual relationship with a 15-year-old Aiea girl.The girl's father reported to police that his daughter had been having a sexual relationship from August to December with a family acquaintance.
The man was released yesterday afternoon pending investigation.
A new state law prohibits sex between someone under 16 and someone at least five years older.
Leeward Oahu
Police arrest woman in alleged hammer assault
A woman was arrested for second-degree assault after she allegedly hit a man with a hammer in Waianae early yesterday morning.Police said the man and woman were drinking and got into an argument at about 3:10 a.m., when the woman grabbed a hammer and hit the man on the head, causing lacerations.
'Scream' mask worn in Nanakuli armed robbery
Police are looking for the suspects in two apparently unrelated armed robberies early this morning in which the robbers wore masks.Police said the 7-Eleven Store in Nanakuli was robbed about 12:45 a.m. by two masked men. One man wore a green mask from the movie "Scream" and was carrying a rifle. The other robber wore a beanie cap, police said. The store employee told police the robbers entered the store, demanded money from the register and fled.
The other armed robbery occurred at the Hawaiiana Hotel at 260 Beach Walk in Waikiki just before 3:30 a.m. Police said two men wearing ski masks and brandishing handguns jumped over the hotel's front desk counter and demanded money from the desk clerk or they would kill him. Police said the robbers took $350 from the hotel register and $4 from clerk then fled in a dark color vehicle.
Man charged with theft and assault of his wife
A 23-year-old man was charged with auto theft and abuse of a household member yesterday after allegedly punching and kicking his 24-year-old wife in the parking lot of their apartment building.Cecelio Folau was also wanted on three warrants when he was arrested Tuesday at the Makaha Surfside on Farrington Highway.
Folau allegedly punched his wife in the back as she was putting her child in the back seat of their vehicle. He then kicked her in the buttocks and held the door to prevent her from leaving, police said. The woman was not seriously hurt, police said.
Folau is being held in lieu of $11,000 bail.
West Oahu
Molotov cocktails blamed in fires outside house
Police said three fires in front of a Waipahu house Monday were caused by someone throwing Molotov cocktails onto the property.Yesterday, police arrested a 42-year-old man, who is suspected of starting the fires. The man was arrested for outstanding warrants, but not for the fires. No one was injured and damages were minimal, police said.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Raid at Big Isle house nets ammo, explosives
OCEAN VIEW, Hawaii >> Police seized an automatic assault pistol, ammunition, and 12 explosive devices during a drug raid Tuesday at a vacant Ocean View house, 40 miles south of Kailua-Kona, they said.They also seized three marijuana plants, about an ounce of dried marijuana, methamphetamine residue, and drug paraphernalia.
The raid was conducting based on a tip, they said. Because of the weapons, the case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, and Tobacco and the Army, they said.
Man dies after van flips on road in Makawao
WAILUKU >> A man died this morning at Maui Memorial Medical Center after the van he was in overturned on Brewer Road in Makawao, Police Sgt. Anthony Poplardo said.Poplardo said the incident occurred at about 4 a.m. Police were investigating the cause of the crash.
WINDWARD OAHU
Kaneohe man surrenders after roadway incident
A 19-year-old Kaneohe man turned himself in to police Tuesday night after he allegedly struck the car his girlfriend was riding with his vehicle.Police say the man was angry with his girlfriend and followed the car she was in. When the car stopped at a red light on Kamehameha Highway in Kaneohe, the man allegedly struck her car from the rear.
The driver, a 16-year-old girl, got out of the car and confronted the suspect, police said. After she got back into the car, the suspect pursued the car and tried to force her off the road, police said.
The girl called police and in the meantime, the suspect turned himself in at the Kaneohe Police Station at 11 p.m.
