Saturday is deadline for ballot requests
Saturday is the last day to request an absentee mail-in ballot for the Jan. 4 special election for Congress.Completed mail-in absentee ballots must be received at the appropriate county clerk's office by 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4. Absentee ballots can also be dropped off at any polling place on election day.
The special election is to fill the term of the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink, who died of pneumonia in September but won re-election in November.
Talks between union, Queen's to resume
Negotiations between Queen's Medical Center and the Hawaii Nurses Association resume at 2 p.m. tomorrow, both sides said yesterday. About 1,400 nurses went on strike against Queen's, Kuakini Medical Center and St. Francis Medical Center at the beginning of the month. No talks are scheduled between the union and Kuakini or St. Francis.Meanwhile, the HNA is warning the public about recent bogus fund-raising solicitations on behalf of striking nurses. There is no authorized effort by the HNA or union members to solicit food or money from the public, said HNA spokesman Scott Foster.
The Honolulu Police Department is aware of at least one suspect working in the downtown area, according to HNA. The union advises anyone who receives such solicitations to call police immediately.
Audit faults court complaint system
An unsystematic processing of complaints resulting from the Family Court's lack of policies, procedures and training has reduced the court's ability to resolve criticism and improve services, state Auditor Marion Higa said in a report released yesterday.State lawmakers requested an audit earlier this year after the state attorney general's office declined to investigate what lawmakers said was a perception of unfairness in the Maui Family Court.
Senior Family Court Judge Frances Wong said Higa's findings will be helpful and that "the Judiciary will seriously consider the auditor's recommendations in light of available resources."
"We especially agree that many people do not understand the court process and that the judiciary has a continuing responsibility to educate the public," Wong said.
However, with a caseload of 54,000 statewide, "the Family Courts had to make difficult resource allocation decisions about improving operational and organizational efficiency," she said.
Higa said: "The Family Court should implement more controls to produce consistent and effective resolutions. In addition, greater attention to and tracking of complaints would provide opportunities to improve court services."
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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
HONOLULU
Woman in hospital after being hit by car
A 64-year-old Kalihi woman was in critical condition at Queen's Medical Center after she was struck by a car yesterday morning.Police said the woman was in a crosswalk at the intersection of North King Street and Richard Lane when a car traveling Koko Head-bound on King Street struck her at about 6:09 a.m.
The car had just moved into the left lane to get around a parked truck when it struck the woman, police said. The driver, a 60-year-old Aiea man, was not injured.
State hospital inmate flees custody briefly
A 20-year-old Hawaii State Hospital inmate escaped briefly Monday, police said.He was being taken back to the Kaneohe facility from Leahi Hospital in Kaimuki when he escaped on Date Street near Iolani School. He fled on foot but was recaptured less than a mile away about 50 minutes later.
CENTRAL OAHU
Teen is arrested after returning stolen items
Police arrested a Mililani Blockbuster employee on suspicion of theft after he returned $700 worth of merchandise taken from the store, police said.The employee, a 17-year-old Mililani boy, agreed to return the merchandise taken from the store over the last several months, police said. When he returned to the store Monday with 27 DVDs and video games, store managers fired him and called police, who arrested the him for second-degree theft, police said.
Lack of fire hydrants hinders firefight effort
Honolulu firefighters spent more than two hours trying to contain a brush fire that scorched about 20 acres in Waiawa yesterday.The fire, in the brush area near the road to the Waiawa Correctional Facility, was reported at 2:11 p.m. and brought under control by 4:57 p.m.
Fire officials said there were no fire hydrants in the area, so firefighters were forced to go across the H-2 freeway to Ka Uka Boulevard to refill tankers
The origin of the fire was unknown. Fire crews are expected to return today to put out any hot spots they might have missed.
WAIKIKI
'Controlled buy' nabs Waikiki store manager
Police arrested the manager of a Waikiki leather goods store Monday for allegedly pocketing money from cash purchases, police said.Employees of A Testoni Boutique at 2342 Kalakaua Ave. noticed that the manager, a 45-year-old Kahala woman, was not registering cash purchases, police said. The store set up a "controlled buy" and caught the manager stealing the money, police said.
The store turned the case over to police, who arrested the woman Monday. She was released pending investigation.
Police say 2 tourists tried 5-finger discount
Police arrested a husband and wife visiting from Japan for allegedly stealing a $3,000 set of earrings and other items from the Duty Free Store in Waikiki.Police said a store loss-prevention officer saw the couple, a 31-year-old man and his 32-year-old wife, browsing through the store Monday, selecting items and concealing them in a bag. They were stopped after they left the store without paying for the items, police said.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Big Isle police find second dead man
KAILUA-KONA >> Big Island police are investigating the discovery of a man's body, the second such find in less than a week.The latest discovery was made at 5:45 a.m. yesterday in some bushes at the old Kailua-Kona industrial area, they said.
The identity of the partly decomposed body was not immediately determined, they said. The case is classified as a coroner's inquest and an autopsy will be done to determine the cause of death.
The case follows the discovery in Hilo last Thursday of the body of a man in an abandoned former restaurant on Kinoole Street.
The dead man was identified as James Gerald Shackelford, 49, of no permanent address.
No foul play was involved in that case, and a toxicological report is being awaited to determine the cause of death, police said.
