Newswatch

Police, Fire, Courts

Star-Bulletin staff and wire

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Company chosen for library's alarm system

Acting state librarian Jo Ann Schindler selected Security Alarm Shop yesterday to install a burglar alarm system at the Wahiawa Public Library, which has lost computers and other items in a rash of break-ins.

"I think it's great that it's finally happening," said temporary branch manager Anthony Hooper.

Keith Fujio, administrative services officer for the state's libraries, said the company had offered free equipment and installation and will cover monthly charges for a year.

Last month, two monitors, three computers, a fax machine and other items were stolen. In previous break-ins, more computers and a DVD collection were taken. An estimated $10,500 worth of items were stolen from the library between November and July.

Martha Hanson of the Friends of Wahiawa Public Library said the organization is still willing to pick up the $30 monthly charges for the alarm system after the first year.

Military convoys may cause traffic delays

Motorists on the North Shore and Central Oahu can expect some delays due to military convoys going from Dillingham Army Airfield and Kahuku Training Area to Schofield Barracks today and tomorrow.

Convoys run from 1 to 5 p.m. and from 8 to 10 p.m. today, and from 4 to 6 a.m. and from 8 a.m. to noon tomorrow.

HPD gets funds toward costs of DNA analyses

U.S. Rep. Ed case has announced a $224,098 grant to the Honolulu Police Department from the U.S Justice Department to cover the costs of conducting DNA analysis on backlogged cases, many of which are sexual assault crimes.

"We all know that forensic DNA evidence has solved some of our most serious crimes, as well as exonerated persons charged with or convicted of crimes they did not commit," Case said. "We also know that the lack of resources to conduct DNA analysis has seriously hampered local law enforcement officers."

State office gets grant to help abuse victims

U.S. Attorney Edward Kubo Jr. has announced that the U.S. Office on Violence Against Women has given a grant of $499,984 to the state Attorney General's Office.

The grant will allow the state to develop assessments and service plans for abuse victims and their children, provide them with counseling and other assistance, enhance public awareness, carry out a volunteer program and recruit attorneys to do free legal work for victims.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Maui fire threatens endangered wildlife

WAILUKU -- A sugarcane fire started a West Maui Mountains brush fire that burned at least 1,200 acres and was climbing toward the state reserve where there are endangered species.

The fire was out of control as of last night. Maui firefighters, along with heavy equipment operators from the county and volunteers from Goodfellow Bros. Inc., were trying to cut a fire break to halt its progress west, said Deputy Fire Chief Neal Bal.

Three helicopters were used to make water and fire-retardant foam drops.

Bal said the wind was blowing at 25 miles an hour at the command center on a hill overlooking the golf course. "Up in the mountains, it's even more," he said.

Bal said a Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar worker called at 5 a.m. yesterday, saying a sugarcane fire had jumped into the brush mauka of Honoapiilani Highway near the Sandalwood Golf Course.

County Civil Defense administrator Kyle Watanabe said there was no report of damage or injury from the fire but employees of the golf course had to evacuate the club house area yesterday afternoon.

Fire Chief Carl Kaupalolo said the fire had reached about 2,000-feet elevation and that state workers would likely get involved in battling the blaze if it reached the 4,000-foot level.

Boyfriend charged in woman's shooting

A 20-year-old North Kohala man was charged Monday with numerous offenses stemming from the shooting of his girlfriend Saturday.

Alexander Pale, of Kapaau, is charged with two counts of second-degree assault, three counts of terroristic threatening, abuse of a family or household member, reckless endangering, theft of a firearm and seven other firearm offenses. His bail is $36,500.

Pale's 20-year-old girlfriend showed up at the North Kohala Community Hospital Saturday with gunshot wounds in her right shoulder and right foot. She was treated for her injuries and released.

Police arrested Pale at the hospital.

They later recovered two .22-caliber guns at the victim's residence on Union Mill Road.

Kihei man, 58, killed in 2-vehicle collision

WAILUKU -- A 58-year-old Kihei resident died and another was seriously injured when the car they were riding was struck by another vehicle in Kahului.

Police traffic investigator Duke Pua said yesterday the collision occurred at about 11:34 p.m. Monday, when a pickup truck was headed in the Kahului direction on Kaahumanu Avenue and turned into a four-door sedan at Puunene Avenue. A man in the sedan was pronounced dead at Maui Memorial Medical Center.

Another man in the sedan, also 58 and a Kihei resident, was taken to Maui Memorial in serious condition, Pua said.

Pua said the pickup truck driver, a 39-year-old male, was discharged after refusing treatment, he said.

Maui police officer Derrick Delos Santos said no one has been charged and the cause of the crash was under investigation. He said the names have been withheld pending notification of relatives.

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Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers