HPD plans to sell off unclaimed inventory
The Honolulu Police Department will hold an auction of unclaimed items on Saturday at 9 a.m. in the parking lot at Hotel and Kealamakai streets located behind police headquarters.Unclaimed items include jewelry, cameras, video and stereo equipment, tools, sporting goods, musical instruments, toys, clothing and garden ornaments.
All items will be sold on a cash-only basis, and guarantees or warranties will not be given.
HPD and the city do not guarantee the authenticity of items bearing brand names. No returns will be allowed.
State cancels welfare for 225 felony suspects
The state has saved about $900,000 in welfare payments after determining that hundreds of recipients were ineligible because they were wanted in connection with felony offenses, state Attorney General Earl Anzai said yesterday.As a result of an investigation into those receiving public-assistance benefits in Hawaii, 225 people were identified as being wanted in connection with felony offenses by various law enforcement.
A person wanted for a felony offense is not eligible for welfare benefits. Anyone having information about possible welfare fraud crimes can call the Welfare Fraud Hotline at 587-8444.
March will highlight plight of isle homeless
Partners in Care, a coalition committed to ending homelessness on Oahu, is sponsoring a march and candlelight vigil tomorrow as part of National Homelessness Awareness Week.Participants will meet at 5:15 p.m. across from Macy's at South King Street and Fort Street Mall and then march to the state Capitol.
The public is encouraged to participate in the event. For more information, call 537-2724, ext. 107, or visit www.vlsh.org/partnersincare.
BACK TO TOP |
[ TAKING NOTICE ]
COURTESY PHOTO
Hawaii's Muscular Dystrophy Association officials are, from left, Audrey Taniguchi, Kathleen Hurtubise, Czarina Tabilas and Christine Lau.
Isle MDA wins Western
Award of ExcellenceThe Hawaii Muscular Dystrophy Association beat out 33 other districts and won the national association's Western Division regional Award of Excellence.
The award recognizes the Hawaii branch for its achievements, including excellent client services, meeting yearly goals, a strong volunteer program, an involved executive committee and income growth -- more than $700,000 last year, said Hawaii MDA Director Kathleen Hurtubise.
Hurtubise credited the 14 people who serve on the executive committee and Audrey Taniguchi, health care services coordinator, for the award. Taniguchi spearheaded the expansion of the MDA clinics on Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island, she said.
"This award is really for the people of Hawaii," who generously donated their time and money in the midst of a slow economy, Hurtubise said. "We were really stunned" to receive the award, especially since Hawaii, being an island state, is limited in donors, she said.
MDA Hawaii raised more than $250,000 last year for the association's signature program, "MDA Lock Up," making it the top program in the Western States Division.
Hawaii also developed the "Rainbow of Hope" dinner to raise funds for the ALS Research Center at the University of California at Los Angeles, where most Hawaii residents go for further tests and evaluations.
Hurtubise said her organization has made a "concerted effort" to show appreciation for donors and volunteers by giving them plaques, certificates and dinners in their honor.
Hurtubise said the vast majority of the money goes to "buying equipment and providing services" for people affected by the 43 neuromuscular diseases, including Lou Gehrig's disease.
"Taking Notice" runs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Listings also appear online at www.starbulletin.com. Please send items to City Desk, Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana, Suite 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. |
>> Honolulu firefighter Kevin Won graduated yesterday to the first level in the Brazilian martial art capoeira and received his green belt and the name Bombero. A photo caption on Page A3 yesterday incorrectly identified Won as having graduated to master status to become "Mestre Bombero." Corrections and clarifications
>> Officials from Hawaii Nurses Association and the Queen's Medical Center agreed to have a federal mediator become involved in contract negotiations after the union recommended it. A Page A3 story yesterday said incorrectly that Queen's officials had asked for a mediator.
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
Boy accused of raping Kapolei High girl
Police are investigating possible charges against a 15-year-old boy accused of raping a fellow Kapolei High School student on campus yesterday.Police said the boy allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl in the boy's restroom about 2 p.m. Further details were not available.
Kapolei High School Principal Al Nagasako said the alleged rape apparently occurred after school, while tutoring was going on in the classrooms. But he said authorities are still investigating and the school will beef up security if necessary.
"The investigation is still going on. We don't know yet if the incident is actually true. We are cognizant of the fact that if it is indeed true, then we need to mobilize and tighten security," Nagasako said.
Alcohol, speed blamed in crash that injures 2
A 24-year-old Ewa Beach man had been drinking and was speeding when he lost control of his pickup truck early yesterday in Ewa, police said.The truck struck the median on Renton Road about 1:20 a.m., flew in the air and crashed into a tree near Tenney Street, police said. Both the driver and his passenger, a 19-year-old man, were injured.
The passenger, who was not wearing a seatbelt, remained in critical condition at Queen's Medical Center this morning. The driver, who was wearing a seatbelt and protected by a deployed airbag, has improved from guarded to fair condition.
NORTH SHORE
Police recover 4 of 10 stolen firearms
After a search of a neighbor's home yesterday, police recovered four of 10 firearms stolen in a burglary of a Sunset Beach home last week.Police said they went to the neighbor's home after residents called and reported they discovered the stolen firearms. Officers recovered two rifles and two handguns.
Police also arrested a 19-year-old man for investigation of detaining stolen property. He was released later pending further investigation. Police said five handguns and a rifle taken during the burglary remain missing.
HONOLULU
Man, 81, dies following Nov. 5 traffic collision
An 81-year-old man who was critically injured in a traffic collision near Tripler Army Medical Center Nov. 5 has died.Milton Suzukawa of Kaneohe died Sunday, the Honolulu Medical Examiner's office said. Police said Suzukawa was a passenger in a two-vehicle head-on collision at the intersection of Mahiole Street and Jarrett White Road.
Mugging suspects nabbed at checkpoint
Honolulu police arrested a man and two teenage boys after a witness pointed them out as mugging suspects to a drunken-driver checkpoint team.The arrests took place near the corner of Monsarrat and Leahi avenues on the Diamond Head end of Waikiki at 12:15 a.m. yesterday. Police said the witness identified the vehicle to police, who then stopped the suspects at the checkpoint.
After police stopped the car, officers noticed that the ignition had been damaged. Police later determined that the car was an unreported auto theft, and arrested all three suspects.
Bank robbery suspect is arrested in Kakaako
A 34-year-old man was arrested in Kakaako in connection with the robbery of the Hawaii National Bank at 45 N. King St. in downtown Honolulu yesterday afternoon.Police said a man walked into the bank at 3:15 p.m., demanded money from a teller, then fled with an undisclosed amount of cash. Police later identified and arrested the suspect.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Big Isle police chief warns of phone scam
Big Island police are warning the public about a man telephoning residents and asking for donations to buy bulletproof vests for police officers.Police said the caller telephoned Kailua-Kona businesses claiming to represent the Big Island police department in an apparent telemarketing scam.
Acting Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna cautioned residents to be on guard against telephone solicitations in the name of the police.
"The Hawaii County Police Department does not solicit private donations for official use," said Mahuna. "If you receive a telephone call soliciting funds, it's more than likely a scam."
Anyone with information is asked to call the Kona police at 326-4646, the police nonemergency number at 935-3311 or CrimeStoppers at 329-8181 in Kona or 961-8300 in Hilo.
BACK TO TOP |
[ COURTS ]
Pharmaceutical firm sued over sales fraud
A pharmaceutical company named two years ago in the largest medical fraud case in Hawaii's history for illegal sales and billing practices was named in a class-action lawsuit filed yesterday in Circuit Court.Filing suit for an estimated 10,000 drug recipients against Interstate Pharmacy Corp. of California were William Ray Helbig, a representative of Delta Helbig, a resident of Maunalani Nursing Home, and Francis Markham, administrator of the estate of Eleanor Wallwork, a former resident of Hale Malamalama Intermediate Care Facility until her death in January 1999.
Interstate supplied prescription drugs to nearly all long-term care facilities in Hawaii.
The suit alleges that the corporation, later purchased by Bergin Brunswig Corp., one of the largest distributors of prescription drugs in the United States, devised a scheme to increase profits by recycling drugs.
Interstate violated state laws against unfair and deceptive practices by failing to inform patients that the drugs they were buying had been previously sold, possibly multiple times, and returned for various reasons and recycled, the suit said.
The corporation also failed to keep sales records on the drugs so that no one would be able to prove who received drugs that had been previously sold, the suit said.
In 2000 the state attorney general prosecuted four Interstate employees on misdemeanor charges of deceptive business practices and entered into a compliance agreement that required monitoring by an independent review organization.
Bias suit filed against big defense contractor
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a racial bias suit against Raytheon Technical Services Co., the largest private contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense.The suit alleges Raytheon, after winning the U.S. Air Force contract to provide base-support operations on Johnston Atoll, refused to hire George Dial, an African-American painter.
According to the suit, Dial was one of the more experienced workers to apply, had more than 20 years of job-related experience and had worked for the previous Air Force contractor as a journeyman painter.
Of the five painters Raytheon subsequently hired, none were African American, and some were not as qualified as Dial, the commission alleged.
Because he was not hired, Dial was forced to leave the island to find work, the suit says.
The commission seeks monetary damages and injunctive relief.
The Honolulu office of the commission investigates discrimination complaints against employers in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Wake Island and Hawaii.
