City meeting to address Waikikian Tower plan
The city Department of Planning & Permitting will hold a public hearing 10:30 a.m. today on Hilton Hawaiian Village's proposed Waikikian Tower.The hearing is scheduled to go until 4:30 p.m. at the second floor of the Ala Wai Golf Course Clubhouse, 404 Kapahulu Ave.
The Hilton Hotels Corp. plans timeshare units, retail spaces, administrative offices, a wedding chapel, a restaurant building and a swimming pool.
Health Department removes 'God' signs
The state Department of Health is the second state agency to remove "God Bless America" signs from its property after complaints from Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church.Health Director Bruce Anderson removed a sign from the public lobby of the Kinau Hale building, 1250 Punchbowl St.
The state Tax Department earlier removed three prayer signs posted by employees in areas visible to the public at 830 Punchbowl St.
Group marks 24 years of helping homeless
The Institute for Human Services will celebrate its 24th year in operation on Monday.The nonprofit was founded by the Rev. Claude Du Teil to provide food and shelter to Hawaii's homeless.
This year's anniversary will feature a barbecue luncheon and entertainment by local band Koa Uka and comedian Frank DeLima, and will be held at the IHS Men's Shelter on 350 Sumner St. from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Both the luncheon and open house are free and open to the public.
Food for the luncheon was donated by local restaurants and businesses, but attendees can bring canned food for IHS stock.
To volunteer at the shelter during the anniversary or on a more regular basis, call volunteer service manager Catherine Graham at 537-2724.
Deadline nears to take written test for HPD
The deadline to apply for the Honolulu Police Department's next written test to become a police officer is Monday.The test will be given Aug. 10, and applications are available at Oahu police stations, satellite city halls, the city Department of Human Resources and on HPD's Web site (www. honolulupd.org).
Beginning Monday, recruits will earn $2,784 a month, plus benefits.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens, national or permanent resident aliens and at least 20 years old. They must also have a high school diploma or equivalent, a valid driver's license and be legally eligible to carry firearms.
As of May 31, HPD had 264 vacancies. For more information, call 547-7041.
Hilo boathouse is scheduled for demolition
HILO >> The state Department of Transportation has awarded $78,000 to Freshwater Enterprises Ltd. to demolish an old boathouse at Hilo Harbor.The boathouse is located in the portion of the harbor called Radio Bay, where yachts and a Coast Guard cutter anchor.
The contract also calls for restoring catwalks in the area. Work will start in August, the department said.
Advertising group offers scholarships
The Hawaii Advertising Federation is offering a total of $3,500 in college scholarships to students with a career goal of working in the Hawaii advertising industry.The deadline is July 15.
The scholarships will be awarded to high school seniors planning to attend college or to students enrolled in an accredited two- or four-year college or university.
Applicants must have a minimum 2.5 overall grade-point average and a desire to work in the advertising industry after graduation. A letter of recommendation from a present or former teacher must also be submitted.
To apply, download and fill out the application online at www.hafspot.com.
More information is available online or by calling 532-0555.
Free UH course offers tips on wild bird care
A group of volunteers dedicated to caring for injured and orphaned birds will be offering a free wild-bird rehab course Sunday at the University of Hawaii.The informal group of about 25 people takes care of about 1,000 birds a year and needs new volunteers.
The Animal Care Foundation is sponsoring the workshop, which will be held in the Agriculture Science Building.
Call 943-2547 for more information.
Robot arm to pick up trash in Maui County
WAILUKU >> Maui County is scheduled to start a system of automated trash pickup on the Valley Isle, beginning with some 4,000 households in Kahului on Monday.The pickup service is similar to the one adopted in residential areas of Oahu and involves a robot arm on a truck picking up trash in a 96-gallon container provided by the county.
Residents will have an opportunity to have an extra pickup day, and seniors and other residents unable to handle the 96-gallon container may request a 64-gallon container through the county's Solid Waste Division, 270-7890.
Kahului is the first community on Maui to switch away from a manual system of trash pickup requiring workers to pick up and empty trash cans into a refuse truck.
A complete list of pickup days by street is available for review at the county's Web site at www.co.maui.hi.us.
Chinese Catholic Club offering scholarship
The Chinese Catholic Club is offering a scholarship to graduating seniors who plan to attend the University of Hawaii-Manoa or Chaminade University in the fall.Students should be Hawaii residents in financial need.
Applicants should submit a handwritten letter telling why they want the scholarship, an official high school transcript and two letters of recommendation confirming financial needs.
Application forms are available through high school offices or by calling Marianne Lum at 456-4483.
All documents must be mailed by Monday to Lum at 98-829-F Noelani St., Pearl City 96782.
$20,000 grant will help restore Haili Church
HILO >> Historic Haili Church has been awarded a $20,000 grant by the Cooke Foundation Ltd. for the restoration of the building.Constructed in 1857-59, the building was recently determined to need $270,000 in repairs. Most serious was the subsiding of the foundation at the back of the church.
In thanking the Cooke Foundation, Maureen Thibadeau, director of the Haili Church Restoration and Preservation Force, noted that much work remains to be done.
Work on the foundation will start soon. Replacing deteriorated and termite-eaten lumber will require further funding.
The church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 23, following placement on the state register last year. To contact the church, call 959-0210.
[TAKING NOTICE]
Academic Awards
>> Nobuyoshi Tanaka has been appointed chancellor of Hawaii Tokai International College. He most recently served as counsel to the chancellor of Tokai. Kiyoshi Yamada, who has been chancellor of the college from 1998, was appointed executive director of the International Affairs Division.>> Robert Lau of Mililani finished second at the National Elementary School Chess Championships in Portland, Ore., in a field of 413 youths in grades K-5 from across the country. He won first place in the Blitz Event with a perfect score in a field of 165 participants in grades K-6. In an earlier contest, he tied for first place in the booster section of the National Open in Las Vegas in a field of 217 competitors, most of them adults.
|
>> The Hawaii State Judiciary says about 40 percent of disabled parking violations last year were dismissed in court. A Page A1 article on June 19 quoted Honolulu Police Sgt. Bart Canada as saying two-thirds of the cases were dismissed; he has not responded to requests to produce the source for his statistics. Also, an editorial June 20 cited the two-thirds percentage in arguing for more effective enforcement and prosecution of the law. Corrections and clarifications
>> The halfway house Matlock Hale is in Makiki. A Page A1 story yesterday about former City Councilwoman Rene Mansho's sentencing incorrectly said the facility is in Moiliili.
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 staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
LEEWARD OAHU
Police arrest Ewa man, 33, in fatal hit-and-run
A 33-year-old Ewa man turned himself in to police Wednesday in connection with a fatal hit-and-run traffic collision more than a year ago. He was arrested for negligent homicide and fleeing the scene but released pending further investigation.Theron Keoni Nicodemus, 21, of Ewa Beach, was riding his bicycle on the right shoulder of Fort Weaver Road just past St. Francis Medical Center-West on March 7, 2001, when he was struck from behind.
A witness said the driver of the blue van that stuck Nicodemus fled after the collision.
Nicodemus was taken to Queen's Medical Center in critical condition where he died the following day.
Police arrest man, 29, in assault of sister
Pearl City police arrested a 29-year-old man for allegedly robbing and assaulting his sister yesterday.Police said the suspect went to the victim's Kaahumanu Street home at 8:30 a.m. and asked her to let him in because someone was trying to get him.
Police said the victim, a 32-year-old female, was home with her 5-week-old child and asked him to leave. The suspect then forced his way into her house, pulled her hair, dragged her to her garage and told her to drive him to the federal building, police said.
Police said the victim told the suspect she did not want to leave her baby home alone, so the suspect demanded money to catch a taxi.
Police said the victim gave the suspect $100 and he left.
Police arrested the suspect later for burglary, robbery, kidnapping and abuse of a household member.
HONOLULU
Police foot chase yields stolen car, credit cards
A quick check by a Honolulu police officer, along with a shopping cart, helped recover a number of stolen credit cards yesterday.Police said an officer investigating a separate incident at Ala Moana and Atkinson Drive checked the license number of a nearby car and found that the plates were stolen.
The officer later discovered that the car also was stolen.
The officer then asked the driver of the car, a 29-year-old female, to step outside the vehicle, police said.
Instead, the suspect attempted to flee on foot and ran into a shopping cart.
Police said the impact knocked the suspect's purse to the ground, and out of it spilled a number of stolen credit cards, all bearing different names.
Police arrested the woman for operating a stolen vehicle and for credit card theft.
Police also arrested a 24-year-old man who was in the passenger seat of the stolen car.
Man, woman arrested in murder-for-hire plot
Police arrested a 38-year-old woman and a 21-year-old Waikiki man Monday for allegedly soliciting someone to kill the woman's estranged husband.The man was arrested in Moanalua.
The woman turned herself in at Honolulu police headquarters at 801 S. Beretania St.
Woman, 55, arrested for setting home afire
After a standoff in a Waikiki hotel, police this morning arrested a 55-year-old woman who reported she had set fire to her former home in Kailua after losing ownership in a divorce settlement.Police said witnesses saw the woman leave the vacant house at 223 N. Kainalu Drive just before 3 p.m. yesterday as fire broke out inside the single-family dwelling.
Firefighters put out the blaze within minutes, but the fire caused an estimated $15,000 in damage. A woman later telephoned a television station, saying she lost possession of the home in a divorce settlement and set fire to it. Police said they made contact with the suspect early this morning at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel.
After she threatened to jump from a 35th-floor lanai, officers of the Specialized Services Division broke into her room and took her into custody at 4:45 a.m.
The woman was taken to Queen's Medical Center for a mental health evaluation.
Kalihi woman, 75, dies after being hit by car
A 75-year-old woman who was struck by a car Wednesday as she tried to run across seven lanes of traffic died yesterday. The Honolulu Medical Examiner identified her as Rizalina Alfaro, of Kalihi.Police said Alfaro had just gotten off a city bus near the Makalapa Gate to Pearl Harbor about 6:20 p.m. Wednesday and was attempting to run across Kamehameha Highway when she was hit by a Honolulu-bound car.
Police said Alfaro was not in a crosswalk. She was taken to Queen's Medical Center in critical condition where she died at about 4:30 p.m. yesterday.
