Honolulu attorney gets appointed for judge's slot
Honolulu attorney Hilary Benson Gangnes was appointed a District Court judge yesterday by Chief Justice Ronald Moon.The appointment is subject to confirmation by the state Senate.
Gangnes would fill a vacancy created by the retirement this month of Judge Tenney Tongg.
Gangnes is currently a partner with Bronster Crabtree and Hoshibata and has been a per-diem District Court judge since May 1997.
She received her law degree from the Seattle University School of Law.
Gangnes was nominated for the vacancy by the Judicial Selection Commission.
Big Island District Court keeps 2 per-diem judges
Karen Napua Brown and Matthew S.K. Pyun were reappointed as per-diem judges for Big Island District Court.Brown was first appointed as a per-diem judge in 1987. She got her law degree from the William S. Richardson School of Law. Her two-year term runs Feb. 17, 2002 to Feb. 16, 2004.
Pyun, a Honolulu sole practitioner, has handled a wide range of cases, including business law, family law, civil litigation, labor and estate planning. He received his law degree from Drake University.
He served as per-diem judge from 1979 to 1984 in Oahu District Court.
Pyun's four-year term is effective Feb. 18, 2002 to Feb. 17, 2006.
Local parks bouncing into Easter season events
Neighborhood parks will host several Easter activities this month, all free and open to the public.Today:
>> 3:30 p.m.: Complex Easter Eggery, Kahaluu Community Park.Saturday:
>> 8:30 a.m.: Waiau Easter Egg Hunt, Waiau District Park.
>> 9:30 a.m.: Diamond Health Easter Egg Hunt, Kaimuki Community Park.
>> 9:30 a.m.: Easter Egg Hunt, McCully District Park.
>> 3 p.m.: Kamokila Easter Fest, Kamokila Community Park.Sunday:
>> Noon: Kahili Uka Easter Egg Hunt, DeCorte Park.March 28
>> 10 a.m., Spring Fling, Windward Mall.March 30
>> 9 a.m.: Makakilo Easter Bash/Egg Hunt, Makakilo Community Park.
Woman who fled with children is tried on Maui
WAILUKU >> A woman who claims her two daughters were abused by her ex-husband is standing trial in Maui Circuit Court for fleeing with them to Central America.Mary Lou French, 56, faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of custodial interference.
French was arrested in Panama in April 2000.
The prosecution says French's story about child abuse is false.
The trial, which opened Monday, continues this week with ex-husband James French expected to be a prosecution witness.
He is the former director of the Maui Symphony Orchestra.
Damien to hold its big luau at Blaisdell Center
Damien Memorial High School's 2002 luau will be happening April 7at the Blaisdell Center exhibition hall.The luau includes a country store and silent auction and features a performance by the Frank DeLima Show. The luau runs from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m., with local fare, including teri chicken, kalua pig, haupia and poi, being served from 1 to 2:30 p.m.
Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under. For more information or to buy tickets, call Damien's Development Office at 841-0196.
Proceeds help fund the school's scholarship program and allows Damien to offer financial aid.
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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 staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Coast Guard tows sailboat into Lanai's harbor
WAILUKU >> The Coast Guard towed a sailboat into Manele Harbor on Lanai yesterday morning, after its mast broke in high wind.Petty officer Christopher Crowther said the sea was 6 to 8 feet high and wind was in excess of 20 mph when the Coast Guard assisted the owner of the 37-foot vessel Adventuress.
On Maui, Lahaina harbor agent Hal Silva said three 26-foot sailboats broke their moorings off Mala Wharf between Sunday and Monday.
Silva said two of the three ran aground and suffered moderate damage before being put on trailers.
HONOLULU
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Police seek help in theft of picnic table from condo
Honolulu police are asking for the public's help in identifying a truck involved in the theft of a picnic table and benches from a Keeaumoku area condominium last month.Surveillance cameras at the Princess Leilani Condominiums at 1561 Kanunu St. recorded video of a dark color Chevrolet pickup truck entering the parking lot empty and leaving a few minutes later with the picnic table and benches, valued at $400. The theft occurred on Feb. 11, at 6:15 p.m.
The truck had gray primer on the sides of the bed and driver's-side door and an aluminum tool box in the bed.
Anyone with information about the truck or theft is asked to call Detective David Lock at 547-7214 or CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME by cellular phone.
Woman honking car horn leads to man's arrest
Honolulu police arrested a Makiki man yesterday for allegedly reaching into another car and grabbing a woman because she was tooting the car horn.Police said the victim, a 36-year-old female, was sitting outside her boyfriend's Lunalilo Street residence in her boyfriend's car about 9:50 a.m. when she started honking the car horn to tell him to hurry up.
Police said that's when the suspect, a 31-year-old male, reached in the car, grabbed the victim and told her to stop honking the horn. The victim's boyfriend then came outside and got into a fight with the suspect. Police were called and they arrested the suspect for unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle.
WINDWARD OAHU
Man, 20, held in stabbing of man, 22, in Kahaluu
A 20-year-old man was arrested for attempted murder last night in connection with a stabbing in Kahaluu.The suspect and the victim, a 22-year-old Waipahu man, were drinking beer at a town house on Ahuimanu Road when the two men got into an argument, police said. During the argument the suspect allegedly slashed the victim's left shoulder with a knife. The victim ran out of the town house but the suspect caught up with him and assaulted him again with the knife, police said.
The suspect fled before police arrived, but officers saw him across the road looking in the direction of the town house and arrested him. The victim was taken to Queen's Medical Center where he is in guarded condition.
Boy alleges acquaintance is sexually assaulting him
A 12-year-old boy told Honolulu police yesterday that a 46-year-old male acquaintance had been sexually assaulting him for several months.Police said the alleged offenses took place in the Kailua area and that the case is pending investigation.
LEEWARD OAHU
Ewa Beach school appeals for return of nylon tarp
Officials at Messiah Lutheran School in Ewa Beach are asking for the public's help in recovering a tarp stolen from the campus over the weekend.The 20-foot by 30-foot gray nylon tarp covered four picnic tables in an outdoor lanai where students ate their lunch. The thief or thieves also stole parts of the pipe frame which held the tarp in place, said the Rev. Patrick Poock, school administrator.
A smaller, second tarp was partially off its frame. Poock believes the thieves tried to steal that one as well.
Poock said the small, private school does not have money to buy a new tarp. Anyone with information about the theft or anyone who wants to offer support is asked to call 689-6649.
About 50 students in grades kindergarten to eight attend Messiah Lutheran at 91-679 Fort Weaver Road.
[THE COURTS]
Waialua man pays fine for cruelty to animals
A Waialua resident has pleaded no contest to a charge of cruelty to animals.Under a plea agreement, Albert Woods was fined $500 and a second animal cruelty charge was dismissed.
On Jan. 23, the Hawaiian Humane Society issued Albert Woods two citations after investigators discovered malnourished animals -- a horse, pig and three goats -- on a piece of land on Kaukonahua Road.
According to the Humane Society, the horse was about 300 pounds underweight and the pig was 200 pounds underweight.
The Humane Society provided food and water to the animals and arranged for a veterinarian to do a checkup.
"After we provided for their immediate needs, we moved the animals to a safe location where we could continue to care for them," said Pamela Burns, president of the Hawaiian Humane Society.
Woods later turned over ownership of the animals to the Humane Society.
All were adopted after they had regained their health.
Honolulu woman faces charges of tax fraud
A federal grand jury indicted a Honolulu woman Thursday for allegedly failing to pay income tax on about $300,000 of income.Kim Young Suk Johnston submitted false income tax returns for three consecutive years, ending in 1997, U.S. Attorney Edward Kubo said.
The three-count indictment accused Johnston of claiming taxable income of about $137,300 over a three-year period, while her actual taxable income was nearly $437,000.
If convicted, Johnston would face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.
The criminal investigation division of the Internal Revenue Service was the lead investigating agency in this case.
Daughters sue stepfather over strangling of mother
Two women are suing their stepfather, Kenneth Wakisaka, who is charged with the strangulation murder of their mother last April.Tiffany Young of Arizona and Tammy Cocord of California, and the estate of Shirlene Wakisaka filed a wrongful death suit in Circuit Court on Monday.
The lawsuit alleges Kenneth Wakisaka intentionally and wrongfully assaulted and battered Shirlene Wakisaka.
The Kapolei man was indicted by an Oahu grand jury last year on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of his wife, then 54. He is scheduled to be tried in June.
