Newswatch
By Star-Bulletin Staff
Northwest cuts flights from Honolulu to Japan
Northwest Airlines Corp., the fourth-largest U.S. carrier, will suspend flights between Kansai airport and Honolulu because of a slump in demand, spokesman Masaharu Takahashi said today.The Eagan, Minn.-based airline, which currently operates seven flights a week on the route, will stop the service starting Oct. 1, Takahashi said. Northwest also canceled flights from Kansai, which serves the western Japanese city of Osaka, to Los Angeles and Seattle.
Airlines slashed capacity as people canceled trips because of fears they would be infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome.
"Once demand recovers, we will resume flights" going Kansai-Los Angeles and Kansai-Seattle, Takahashi said.
Demand for flights on those routes declined after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Grant to help treat mentally ill offenders
HILO >> The state Department of Health has received a $300,000 federal grant to put nonviolent, mentally ill criminal offenders on the Big Island into treatment programs instead of jail, the department announced.The federal program allows grants of $300,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for up to three years.
The program is intended to help people with severe and persistent mental problems, whether or not they are also drug users. Only persons charged with nonviolent misdemeanors or petty misdemeanors are eligible.
A 1995 nationwide study found an estimated 10.1 million jail admissions per year, of which about 15 percent were people with serious mental disorders, the Health Department said.
When such offenders receive treatment instead of jail, the long-term likelihood of them returning to jail is reduced, the department said.
Kona hospital to get helicopter landing pad
KEALAKEKUA, Hawaii >> The Atherton Foundation has donated $25,000 to Kona Community Hospital for building a landing site for medical helicopter flights, the Kona Hospital Foundation announced.As many as a dozen patients per month arrive at the hospital by helicopter, which lands in a hospital parking lot. But as hospital use has increased, clearing the parking lot has not been possible at times, forcing the helicopter to land at a nearby park. The patients are taken the rest of the way by ambulance.
The planned landing site, on the mauka side of the hospital, will be large enough to handle Coast Guard and military helicopters. Completion is expected by the end of October, the hospital foundation said.
DOH seeks public input on stream assessment
The state Department of Health is seeking public comment on its updated criteria for assessing the health of Hawaii's streams and other surface waters.The draft 2004 Listing and Delisting Criteria on water quality are available at www.hawaii.gov/health/eh/ epo; at the department's Environmental Planning Office, 919 Ala Moana, Room 312, Honolulu; and at district health offices on the Big Island, Kauai and Maui.
Public comments on the draft criteria are due by Friday. Data for the 2004 list must be received by Oct. 1. For more information, call 586-4337.
Police, Fire, CourtsBy Star-Bulletin staff
HONOLULU
Burglary suspect rescued from Manoa Valley ledge
A 41-year-old Aiea man is under investigation for a burglary today after firefighters rescued him from a ledge in Manoa Valley.Police said the man became stranded last night and began yelling for help. Nearby residents heard his calls and alerted police about 9:20 p.m. Two officers who had been investigating a burglary at a Tantalus home stopped their investigation temporarily to look for him.
The officers found him in a heavily wooded area off Kumu Place but could not reach him, police said. Fire rescuers then joined the search at 10:03 p.m., and they helped him and the officers out of the hills through Kumulani Street about 2 a.m., said fire Capt. Kenison Tejada.
The man was arrested on two warrants charging him with contempt of court. Detectives also are investigating if he was connected to the Tantalus burglary, police said.
Police hunting robber of bank near airport
Police are looking for the man who robbed the Hawaii National Bank's airport branch at 549 Lagoon Drive Friday.The robber is described as in his 40s or 50s, with dark complexion and heavy build. He was wearing a gray jacket and a baseball cap.
He entered the bank about 3:30 p.m., gave a demand note to a teller and fled after receiving cash, police said.
LEEWARD OAHU
Waipahu bank robber sought by authorities
Police are looking for the man who robbed the Central Pacific Bank's Waipahu branch about 3:45 p.m. Friday.The robber used a demand note, which said he had a gun, police said. He ran out after receiving cash from a teller.
The robber is described as in his mid-30s, about 6 feet tall and 160 pounds. He was wearing a light-color baseball cap, dark glasses, a short-sleeve shirt with vertical stripes and dark jeans.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
2 Mexican nationals charged in drug case
HILO >> Law enforcement officials have charged two Mexican nationals with first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug after they allegedly accepted a package containing cocaine.Charges against Lazaro Mendoza Cardenas, 42, and Miguel Angel Torres, 36, were filed on Friday.
The men were arrested Thursday after a package containing half a pound of cocaine was delivered to a Kipahele Street address in Waimea, South Kohala, Big Island police said.
The UPS parcel, addressed to Lazaro C. Mendoza at the address in Waimea, was shipped from Mexico, but it was intercepted by the U.S. Customs Service in Kentucky, Lt. Norman Keamo said.
Hilo vice officers, assisted by federal agents, made a "controlled delivery" of the parcel and arrested the suspects after it was opened, he said.
The cocaine had a street value of about $26,000, police said. The men were being held in lieu of $200,000 bail each.
Maui sees nearly twice as many fires this year
KAHULUI, Maui >> Maui County firefighters have battled 139 brush fires so far in 2003 -- almost double the 75 blazes that were fought during the same period a year ago, according to recently released statistics from interim fire Chief Richard Fernandez.For the same period, there had been 133 brush fires in 2001 and 106 brush fires in 106.
Dry and windy weather this year may be responsible for some of the increase in brush fires, usually caused by people careless with flames, said interim Deputy Chief Alan Cordeiro.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
