Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Wednesday, January 30, 2002

Denver ruling questions whole photo-ticket setup

DENVER >> A county judge dismissed four photo-radar tickets, prompting the people who won the case to consider challenging the entire program. Judge Mary Celeste ruled that the city broke its law by allowing a private contractor to prepare and send the summons and complaints to those accused of speeding. Attorney Gary Pirosko, whose two tickets were dismissed, says the ruling calls the entire photo-radar system into question. The company that runs the cameras in Denver, ACS State and Local Solutions, is the same company that runs them in Hawaii.

UNION PICKET PROTESTS
GOP OFFICIAL'S COMMENTS

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Union supporters gathered signs yesterday after a Hawaii AFL-CIO picket outside Republican Party headquarters to protest remarks attributed to GOP Executive Director Micah Kane. Union officials say Kane accused newly elected Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi of being supported by unions and "crooks" in a KGMB interview. Kane said his quotes were taken out of context.

Kauai traffic systems set to get major upgrade

LIHUE >> All 29 traffic signals on Kauai will soon be outfitted with a traffic priority system that lets ambulance and fire personnel speed up traffic-signal cycles when responding to an emergency, officials said.

Although the system has been tested on Maui and Oahu, Kauai will be the first county to operate it islandwide, said Steve Kyono of the state Department of Transportation.

The department briefed Kauai's emergency personnel Monday on the 3M Opticon Priority Control system, which forces traffic signals to speed up at the driver's option, and give a green light to the responding vehicle.

After the vehicle crosses the intersection, the light cycle returns to its previous mode.

"This is expensive. About $1,000 per vehicle," said Jay Peters, an assistant battalion chief for the Kauai County Fire Department. "We spend a lot of time stuck in traffic and this will keep the traffic in front of us running, too. It will also save us a minute or two on calls."

Zack Octavio, island manager for AMR ambulance service, said his operators will still use caution when approaching intersection traffic. The units were acquired for Kauai ambulance and fire vehicles under a federal program to upgrade traffic signals, Kyono said.

FIRE CREWS RESCUE A WOMAN
TRAPPED BY SMOKE

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Honolulu firefighters cleaned up last night after rescuing a 52-year-old woman trapped by dense smoke from a fire below her apartment. When firefighters arrived at 919 Keeaumoku St. just after 7:40 p.m., they found electric meters beneath the woman's second-floor apartment on fire. They used a ladder truck to bring the woman down. She was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. Police closed Keeaumoku Street from South King Street to Rycroft Street as fire crews helped the woman and fought the fire, which was quickly extinguished.

Kalaheo High to host boating safety course

A Coast Guard safe boating course begins at Kalaheo High School next week.

Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 1-14 of Kaneohe offers the class Monday and Thursday evenings, 6:30-8:30 p.m. beginning Monday through March 21. The course meets U.S. Coast Guard, state and national state boating law requirements.

The course covers federal equipment requirements, boat handling, navigation aids, federal navigation rules, coastal navigation, radio communications and more. Classes are free; student study guide and exams are $40 preregistered and $45 at the door. For more information, contact Bob Airhart at 247-3793.

Town meeting will discuss health care

A town meeting will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. tomorrow at Kaahumanu Elementary School cafeteria to discuss health care issues before the Legislature this session.

The event is sponsored by Sen. Carol Fukunaga (D, Makiki, Tantalus, Ala Moana, Pawaa) and Rep. Ken Hiraki (D, Kakaako, Downtown).

Guest speakers will include state Insurance Commissioner Wayne Metcalf and Executive Office on Aging Director Marilyn Seely.

Corrections and clarifications >> All insurers and payers, including the state, spent a total of $140 million in 2000 just on the hospital costs of delivering babies. The amount was attributed only to the state government in a story Monday on Page A1. 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

Man, 70, critically injured when hit in crosswalk

A 70-year-old man is in critical condition at Queen's Medical Center after he was struck by a car yesterday in Kakaako.

Police said the man was in a marked crosswalk fronting Ward Warehouse when a car traveling east on Auahi Street struck him at about 5:49 p.m. The man suffered a broken left arm and head injuries.

The driver of the car, a 23-year-old Kahala woman, was not injured. Police said speed and alcohol were not factors in the collision but are asking anyone who might have witnessed the accident to call the Honolulu Police Department's Traffic Investigation Division at 529-3499.

Police seek suspect in downtown stabbing

Police are looking for the suspect in a stabbing at a downtown hotel about 6:30 last night.

Police said the victim, a 32-year-old man, and a woman he met at the beach, rented a room at the hotel. The man told police that after the woman left the room to pick up some drinks, a man knocked on the door, entered and asked, "You owe my girl money?" The two men then got into a scuffle in which the victim was stabbed with a pair of scissors. Police said the suspect fled with the victim chasing after him.

Burglars hit 2 Kapahulu businesses within hours

Honolulu police said burglars hit two Kapahulu businesses within two and a half hours yesterday morning. Gold Design Hawaii and Turbo Surf Hawaii are both located at 870 Kapahulu Ave. and were burglarized between 2 and 4:30 a.m.

Police said the thieves first hit Gold Design Hawaii by cutting open a hole in the wall of the jewelry store's second floor office. Store owner Glenn Onoue estimates thieves stole about $1,700 in merchandise from store display cases.

Police said thieves then hit Turbo Surf Hawaii downstairs by reversing a pickup truck through the store's glass double doors, causing $5,000 to $7,000 in property damage. Police said two male suspects were seen leaving the truck and throwing items into the truck bed.

Turbo Surf workers said while the thieves took about $9,000 in clothing and other items, they left behind $800 surfboards and $1,300 water jet-ski sleds. The suspect vehicle, described as a blue and tan Dodge 4-door Dakota truck, was last seen going east on Mokihana Street. Police said the truck's bumper fell off and was left at the scene.

Anyone with information about this case may call Detective Kenny Toriki at 529-3319 or CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.

Electrical fire destroys home in Kaimuki

A fire that destroyed a home in Kaimuki yesterday was caused by an electrical short circuit, said Capt. Kenison Tejada, Honolulu Fire Department spokesman. The 5:42 a.m. fire at 625A 12th Ave. caused an estimated $180,000 damage. Six people were left homeless by the fire and were referred to the American Red Cross.

Man, 42, held by police in Keehi beating dispute

A 42-year-old man remains in police custody under suspicion of attempted murder in connection with the beating of another man at the Keehi Boat Harbor Monday. Police said the suspect and victim were drinking together from about 10 a.m. till about 5 p.m. when they got into an argument. The two men have large boats moored near each other in Keehi Lagoon, police said.

Witnesses told police the suspect pushed the victim to the ground near one of the slips, sat on his chest and pounded the victim's head into the pavement. After witnesses convinced him to stop, they said he dragged the victim to the parking lot and began punching him in the face and head.

The witnesses told police a third man arrived on a bicycle and tried to get the suspect to stop. The two then got into a scuffle, ending with the suspect fleeing on a dinghy to his boat, where police and Harbor Patrol officers arrested him. The victim was taken to Queen's Medical Center in critical condition. Police have not located the third man.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Maui police seek robber who issued bomb threat

WAILUKU >> Maui police detectives are looking for a man who claimed he had a bomb and robbed the Wailuku branch of Bank of Hawaii Monday morning.

The robber fled with an undisclosed amount of cash at about 10:24 a.m. and left a box he claimed contained the bomb, forcing the evacuation of the bank and diverting traffic near Main and Church streets for 4 hours until the arrival of a bomb squad from Oahu. The bomb squad disposed of the box.

The robber is described as in his 30s to 40s, 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 150 to 170 pounds, with dreadlocks down his back.

He was wearing blue mechanic's overalls, sunglasses, a blue baseball cap and a bandage over his face.

Hanalei woman dies after falling out of vehicle

LIHUE >> A Hanalei woman who apparently fell out of a moving automobile early Sunday morning died at Queen's Medical Center Monday afternoon, Kauai police said yesterday. An autopsy showed the woman died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Leiliwin Mahuiki-Denson was a passenger in the back seat of a vehicle being driven by her husband David Denson at 4:30 a.m. Sunday. David Denson realized she was no longer in the vehicle, found her and drove her to Wilcox Memorial Hospital, police said.