Dead baby monk seal found off Kauai beach
POIPU, Kauai >> A dead baby monk seal was found yesterday morning floating off the beach fronting the Sheraton Kauai Resort. It apparently had been stillborn.Officials from the National Marine Fisheries Service are investigating the cause of the aborted birth.
It was not determined if the mother was the same seal who gave birth to pups the past two summers at nearby Poipu County Beach Park.
Meeting to discuss using hurricane fund for budget
Lloyd Lim, acting executive director for the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund, will speak at 7 p.m. today at an Ewa Beach community meeting in the Asing Community Recreation Building at 91-1450 Renton Road.Lim will answer questions about the controversial transfer of money from the hurricane fund to help balance the state budget. State Rep. Willie Espero (D, Ewa Beach), who is sponsoring the meeting, also will discuss the traffic camera enforcement program.
Hazardous-waste citation is issued to Marine base
The state Department of Health has cited Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe for violating the state's hazardous-waste rules, officials said yesterday.The Windward Oahu base is a "large-quantity generator of hazardous waste," the state said. It faces a fine of $62,800.
Despite repeated assurances from the base officials that the violations were corrected, "similar violations continued to be found at different locations throughout the base," the Health Department said.
The Kaneohe base was cited for:
>> Failure to make a hazardous-waste determination and disposal of hazardous waste without a permit. >> Storage of hazardous waste without a permit. >> Failure to properly mark containers. >> Failure to label containers of used oil. "Since 1990, MCBH failed to make a hazardous waste determination on the barrier paper used to line the floors in their Corrosion Control Hangar," the state said. "DOH inspectors questioned (the base) on why this was not done, since analytical results from filters used in the hangar indicated high levels of chromium."
The Marine base has 20 days to respond to the citation.
Emergency exercises to be held at Kona Airport
An aircraft emergency exercise will be held at Kona Airport at 9 a.m. Thursday.The state Department of Transportation will conduct the exercise, which includes deployment of emergency response vehicles from county agencies.
The airport will remain open to flights during the exercise.
New child lifejacket law includes Pacific islands
A new federal law that requires children under the age of 13 to wear lifejackets while aboard recreational vessels also includes several Pacific islands, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.The law is applicable in waters surrounding Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, starting Friday, officials said. All recreation vessels -- except racing shells, rowing sculls, racing kayaks, surfboards and sailboards -- are included in the law. It does not apply to children below decks in enclosed cabins or when the vessel is not underway.
More than 100 children died from 1995 to 1998 in water-related accidents. Most of the cases could have been prevented if they were wearing personal flotation devices, the Coast Guard said.
Violators may face a fine of up to $5,000 and a year in jail.
Currently, the law requires that lifejackets be readily accessible for everyone on board.
Summer hours begin Monday at Oahu parks
Beginning Monday, gates to six Oahu state parks will close one hour later, at 7:45 p.m. every day, due to longer daylight hours.Park gates open at 7 a.m. year-round. The later closing time reflects the Department of Land & Natural Resource's annual summer schedule.
The affected parks are:
>> Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area, Aiea. >> Malaekahana State Recreation Area, Kahuku. >> Puu Ualakaa State Wayside, Makiki. >> Sand Island State Recreation Area, Honolulu. >> Waahila Ridge State Recreation Area, Honolulu. >> Wahiawa Freshwater State Recreation Area, Wahiawa. The winter schedule for gate closing will resume on Sept. 3, the day after Labor Day. For more information, call the Division of State Parks, 587-0300.
Hana health center gets grant of nearly $200,000
The Hana Community Health Center Inc. on Maui has been awarded $199,765 by the U.S. Health & Human Services Department to increase primary-care health services, particu- larly for those who are minority, poor, elderly or disabled.HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said the grant "will bring additional emergency medical services, dental care, prenatal care and mental health services to rural areas that badly need them."
The award is one of 39 first-time Rural Health Outreach grants announced by Thompson and one of 162 grants totaling $28.9 million for expansion of clinical services and community-based health-care systems in America's rural areas.
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>> Amy August was the woman who was injured at Sandy Beach recently. A Page A17 story Sunday incorrectly gave her last name as Autumn. Corrections and clarifications
>> The last sentence in a story yesterday on page A9 headlined "Families interviewing for 9/11 trial" was incomplete. It should have read: "The form also asks the interviewee's position on the death penalty."
>> Studio Ignition won two awards at the Hawaii Advertising Federation's Pele Awards event March 16. One award was "Best of Show" in the design category, while the other was for illustration. A March 17 article on Page E4 omitted the company from the multiple-winner category.
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.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffNEIGHBOR ISLANDS Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Hanalei Bridge reopens after flooding subsides
Kauai County officials reopened the Hanalei Bridge about 10 p.m. last night.The bridge was closed early yesterday morning because of flooding from heavy rain.
Suspect sought in hitting cop car, violating parole
WAILUKU >> Maui police investigators are looking for a 37-year-old man allegedly wanted for a parole violation and fleeing in a pickup truck about 5:15 p.m. Sunday from the parking lot of Star Market in Hono-kowai.Police Lt. Glenn Cuomo said investigators have also opened an attempted-murder investigation after the truck struck a police car in a pasture in Kahakuloa.
Cuomo said no one was injured and that the Ford Ranger truck was later located and recovered in the Waihee area.
He said Llewellyn Foster, who was seen carrying a handgun, is considered armed and dangerous and is wanted for questioning for several other violent incidents.
HONOLULU
2 Kalihi women arrested in stabbing of man, 24
Two Kalihi women, ages 22 and 23, were arrested last night for attempted murder in connection with the stabbing of a 24-year-old man on Amelia Street just before midnight last night.Police said the man and a friend were trying to disarm one of the women who was distraught and threatening to cut herself with a knife. Several other women then began arguing with the men and attacked them, police said.
The victim was stabbed twice in his abdomen and received cuts to the back of his neck. He was taken by ambulance to Queen's Medical Center in critical condition but has since improved to guarded.
Police arrested the two suspects pointed out by witnesses as attacking the man. The victim and both suspects live on Amelia Street.
Police arrest woman in embezzlement case
Honolulu police arrested a 51-year-old Waipahu woman yesterday for allegedly embezzling more than $100,000 from her employer over a six-year period.Police said the thefts took place from Jan. 10, 1994, to Feb. 18, 2000, at a physician's office on Punahou Street. Police have released the suspect pending an investigation.
Man in custody may be involved in burglaries
Honolulu police said a 27-year-old man arrested and charged last week may be involved in a recent series of thefts by a cat burglar in Kalihi.Rendell Venezuela is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail after police charged him earlier this month for burglarizing three homes and impersonating a police officer.
Police said Venezuela burglarized homes on Ahuula, Akina and Puuhale streets between March 3 and last Friday.
During one of the burglaries, police said, Venezuela was confronted by a resident and claimed to be a police officer before fleeing the scene.
LEEWARD OAHU
9-month-old Makaha boy drowns while taking bath
A nine-month-old Makaha boy died yesterday after apparently drowning in the bathtub while taking a bath with his older sister.Police said the parents left the children unattended and were alerted that something was wrong about 9 a.m. when the 21-month-old girl started screaming.
The boy was transported to the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center where efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
Police arrest 1 of 2 felons on parole violation counts
Honolulu police arrested one of two convicted felons this weekend who were wanted on parole revocation violations. Pearl City patrol officers arrested Michael Lee Cregan, 33, in Waipahu on Saturday morning.
Police also recovered two stolen vehicles at the scene of Cregan's arrest. Police are still looking for another man charged with parole violation, seen frequently with Cregan, Fred "Masami" Kiyabu Jr.
Police said Kiyabu is known to hang out in the Honolulu, Waipahu and Salt Lake areas. Police said Kiyabu may be armed with a shotgun and driving a stolen dark-colored SUV or Dodge pickup truck.
Anyone with information about Kiyabu's whereabouts is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellular phone.
