Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin Staff
SPECTACULAR SPIRAL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Orlando Duque, 28, from Colombia and living in Hawaii, dived off a cliff Sunday during the Red Bull Cliff Diving Contest in the Port of Fontvielle, Monaco. Diving off the 92-foot ramp beneath the royal palace with his special somersault forwards with four full twists, Duque won the "knock out" competition. Duque told Prince Albert at the prize ceremony that he was "scared every time I was standing on this ramp."
Lingle is asked to OK school safety program
A program that brings retired police officers into the public schools to serve as safety managers is set to expand to 70 schools statewide starting next month, pending approval of the budget.House Majority Leader Scott Saiki (D, Moiliili-McCully) wrote a letter to Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday urging her to fund the "School Safety Manager Program," a pilot project that started three years ago in 23 Oahu high schools.
The state Department of Education had sought $2 million for the expanded program in each of the next two fiscal years, but the funds were cut from the executive budget. Legislators restored them in their version of the budget that is awaiting the governor's approval.
Lingle spokesman Russell Pang said the governor is closely reviewing the budget and has not yet identified any line-item vetoes. She has until Monday to proclaim her intent to veto budget items.
Unlike security guards, the safety managers bring at least 20 years of law enforcement experience and expertise to the job and can focus on the big picture at each school.
Peanut butter ministry founder to be honored
The founder of the Institute for Human Services, known as the "peanut butter ministry," will be honored at the organization's 25th anniversary from noon to 2 p.m. July 1 at 350 Sumner St.The Rev. Claude DuTeil, who started distributing peanut butter sandwiches on Smith Street to the homeless, founded the organization in July 1978.
DuTeil extended his support for the homeless by helping them clean up their lives.
He and his wife, Roberta, moved in 1993 to Texas, where he died in 1997.
Roberta DuTeil, legislators and community members are expected to attend the event.
Entertainment from Frank De Lima and music from the Island Boys will be presented at the celebration.
Mayor Arakawa says he will not sign budget
WAILUKU >> The Maui County Council's fiscal 2004 budget, which includes increases in trash pickup fees and gasoline and diesel fuel taxes, takes effect July 1.Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa announced yesterday he would not sign the $318.8 million budget because he disagreed with certain tax increases and reductions in grant money. Without his signature, the budget automatically becomes law.
Arakawa said he thought the Council did not need to increase property tax rates to $5.86 from $4.93 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for apartments and improved and unimproved residential properties, and gasoline and diesel fuel taxes to 18 cents from 13 cents a gallon.
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[Taking Notice]
>> Air Force 1st Lt. Thomas Cahill has received the Silver Star medal of valor, the third-highest award for valor in the military, for his heroism during a battle in Afghanistan in 2002. The search and rescue helicopter pilot, who is a 1987 graduate of Farrington High School, rescued three critically injured soldiers.
He has been featured on the "60 Minutes II" television show and was in the May issue of Him Magazine.
>> Retired Judge Boyd P. Mossman has been named the most outstanding member of 2003 of the Hawaii Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.
While serving as a circuit court judge on Maui, he attracted statewide attention for his unconventional sentences. In lieu of prison terms, he allowed convicted criminals the option of holdings signs in public to apologize for their crime.
Mossman also was instrumental in establishing the successful Maui Drug Court, and continues to serve as one of its directors. He is a mediator and arbitrator in private practice.
>> John R. Lacy, a civil trial lawyer with Goodsill Anderson Quinn and Stifel, has been awarded the John S. Edmunds Award for Civility and Vigorous Advocacy by the Aloha Chapter of the American Inn of Court.
"Taking Notice" runs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Please send items to City Desk, Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana, Suite 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHONOLULU
Police investigate couple's death in Pauoa
Honolulu police are investigating a possible murder-suicide case involving a Pauoa Valley couple.Police said relatives last saw the couple alive at 9 p.m. on Sunday. The same relatives discovered their bodies in the back yard of the couple's Booth Road home at 11 a.m. yesterday.
The couple was identified only as an 89-year-old man and an 84-year-old female. Police said the man was found hanging from a rope that was tied to a tree branch, and the body of his wife was on the ground.
Police said the woman apparently suffered a major wound to her upper torso, but that injury could have happened after her death. Autopsies will be performed to determine how each person died.
WAIKIKI
Suspect held after call to stolen cell phone
Honolulu police recovered a stolen cell phone and a pair of brass knuckles yesterday during an attempted-extortion bust in Waikiki.Police said relatives of a taxi driver who had earlier been robbed of his money and cell phone called the phone and ended up talking to a male suspect who said the victim could have the phone back for $50. The suspect then arranged a time to meet the victim in front of Food Pantry at the corner of Kuhio Avenue and Walina Street, police said.
Undercover officers instead met the suspect, a 21-year-old man, and arrested him for allegedly having a prohibited weapon and detaining stolen property. The victim said, however, that the suspect was not one of the people who had robbed him in the first place.
LEEWARD OAHU
Fire guts house and spreads to neighbors
Fire investigators have not determined what caused yesterday's fire that gutted a home in Ewa Beach. Witnesses told them the fire appeared to have originated in a bedroom at the rear of the home at 91-1030 Fort Weaver Road.The fire caused an estimated $200,000 damage to the house and $17,000 to three vehicles in the driveway. The fire also caused $80,000 damage to the neighboring house at 91-1032 Fort Weaver Road and $70,000 damage to another neighboring house, at 91-1026 Fort Weaver Road.
No one was injured in the fire.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Police search for teen missing since June 5
Big Island police are looking for a 14-year-old boy who has been missing from his residence in Pahoa, Puna, since June 5.
Christopher Brockway is described as a 5 feet 7 inches tall, about 105 pounds, with a slim build, fair complexion, dirty blond hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information is asked to call Officer Lloyd Ishikawa at 966-5835 or the police nonemergency number at 935-3311. Anonymous calls can be made to CrimeStoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona.
Utah man found dead in ocean off Poipu
A 56-year-old Utah man died Sunday after he was rescued at a popular snorkeling spot in Poipu on Kauai.The man, whose name was not released, was lifeless when he was rescued about 12:30 p.m. in water off the Marriott Waiohai Beach Club, fire officials said. County lifeguards from Poipu Beach Park tried to revive him before he was taken to Wilcox Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
West Maui brush fires appear to be unrelated
LAHAINA >> Two brush fires occurred in West Maui within less than an hour of each other yesterday.Assistant Fire Chief Alan Pascua said the causes of the fires were undetermined, and there was no indication that the two were connected to each other.
Firefighters took a little less than four hours to extinguish a blaze that burned less than an acre of brush mauka of Dickenson Street in Lahaina, after receiving a call at 10:37 a.m.
A helicopter, along with ground fire crews, extinguished a blaze that burned 12 acres of brush mauka of Embassy Suites Resort in Kaanapali less than five hours after the alarm at 11:04 a.m.
Pascua said there was no monetary damage from the fires.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
