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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
Water Board urges further conservation
The Board of Water Supply has extended its call for island residents and businesses to keep their hoses on hold for a fourth month of voluntary water conservation.Chief engineer Clifford Jamile told the board yesterday that there is a slight improvement in well levels because people have complied with the request to limit irrigation to three days a week. But wells are generally a foot below last year's levels, he said.
Water used in the week ending last Wednesday averaged 159.78 million gallons a day. The average consumption for October is 157.77 million gallons a day.
Jamile said forecasts call for increased rainfall as is normal in winter months.
But as of mid-October, year-to-date rainfall was 56 percent of normal at Honolulu Airport, according to the National Weather Service. The Punaluu well improved from critical to alert status, he reported.
HECO seeks feedback on meeting demands
Hawaiian Electric Co. will hold a meeting to receive community comments on its Integrated Resources Planning process at 7 p.m. tomorrow in Room 325 of the state Capitol.HECO's Integrated Resource Planning is a Public Utilities Commission-required process to forecast expected electric demand and how HECO will meet it.
Representatives from community, business, political and customer groups are expected to attend, said HECO spokesman Jose Dizon.
The plan can be seen online at irp.heco.com. For information, call 543-7753.
High-tech measuring to assay Arizona's hull
DENVER >> Researchers will take pinpoint measurements on the sunken hull of the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor next month to help caretakers determine whether the ship's fuel tanks are in danger of rupturing as the wreckage shifts.A National Park Service team from Colorado with high-end Global Positioning System devices will map previously marked reference points on the ship to see how much they have moved.
"We've got a vessel that's halfway sunken in the mud, that's deteriorating and could at any time release a large volume of oil," said Tim Smith, a GPS expert at the park service regional headquarters in the western Denver suburb of Lakewood.
An estimated 500,000 gallons of fuel oil remain in the wreckage. Preliminary calculations indicate that the collapse of the Arizona may be decades away, said park service archaeologist Matt Russell.
"There is time to come up with the best, least destructive method to remove the oil," he said.
The Arizona sank on Dec. 7, 1941, taking 1,177 crew members to their deaths, when the Japanese bombed the base.
Waialua forum to look at improving schools
Friends of Waialua Library is sponsoring a community forum on improving the schools and libraries of Hawaii from 6:30 to 8 p.m. tomorrow at the Waialua Library.Sen. Robert Bunda (D, Wahiawa-Pupukea) and Rep. Michael Magaoay (D, Schofield-Kahuku) have been invited to speak on the topic.
Questions will be screened to ensure that the discussion stays on topic.
HPD to start enforcing Nimitz contraflow rule
Honolulu police officers were scheduled this morning to begin enforcing the two-occupant rule for motorists using the Nimitz contraflow lane.Since the lane opened Sept. 29, officers have issued warnings to solo drivers in the lane.
The lane is in operation from 5:30 to 8:30 a.m. from the airport viaduct to Pier 32 near Hilo Hattie.
[ TAKING NOTICE ]
>> The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation has awarded the Hawaii Business Roundtable $125,000 for a Web site database of school performance and student achievement throughout the state which will be accessible to educators and the general public.
>> Molokai Ohana Health Care has received a $100,000 grant from the Rural Development Office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish a clinic providing medical, dental and behavioral health care.
>> The Freeman Foundation has awarded a two-year $1.2 million grant to Kapiolani Community College to establish an intensive second-language learning and study-abroad program for seven community colleges in the University of Hawaii system. The program will focus on East Asia beginning next fall. Thirty full-time students will be selected each year on a competitive basis to participate in the program.
>> The Waipahu Community Foundation has awarded quarterly grants to Cub Scout Pack 167, $3,337; YMCA Communities in Schools at Waipahu, $1,825; Girl Scout Troop 44, $1,596; Girl Scout Troop 1061, $1,325; Boy Scout Troop 76, $3,992; Girl Scout Troop 157, $610; Girl Scouts Service Unit of Waipahu, $1,000; and Lighthouse Outreach Center, $2,720.
Grant applications for the next quarter -- January through March -- are due Dec. 5. For information, call Cal Kawamoto at 677-9455 or 306-2381.
>> The Sixth Annual Roy's Restaurants Golf Classic at Kapalua Bay in September raised nearly $35,000 for Imua Family Services, which provides programs and services for infants and children with developmental delays and special needs.
Sponsored by First Hawaiian Bank and Southern Wine & Spirits of Hawaii, the winning team for the second year was MORRAD Foodservices, followed by Dawn Pacific Team and Sansei Seafood Restaurant and Sushi Bar.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffLEEWARD OAHU
Honolulu police have arrested a robbery fugitive and auto theft suspect who has been on the run for almost two years now.
Robbery, theft fugitive is caught after nearly 2 yearsJason Perez, 19, was arrested Sunday at 1:30 p.m. near Kapolei Regional Park by patrol officers. Perez is the fifth fugitive to be arrested after being featured in a MidWeek cover story earlier this month on CrimeStoppers' most wanted criminals.
Perez has two grand jury robbery warrants totaling about $95,000, one of them for allegedly robbing another man at gunpoint at a Nimitz Highway pool hall in November 2001. Perez is also wanted for questioning involving several auto theft cases.
Anyone with information about any fugitive can call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellular phone.
Woman who died while swimming is identified
The Honolulu medical examiner has identified the woman who died Sunday while swimming out to sea to spread her sister's ashes. She is Patricia Felix, 48, of Hilo.Family members said Felix was pushing a niece on a bodyboard out to sea from Ewa Beach Park about noon when she stopped breathing. When firefighters arrived, relatives had taken Felix to shore and were performing CPR.
An ambulance later took her to St. Francis Medical Center-West, where she was pronounced dead.
Relatives said Felix had a history of heart illness.
WAIKIKI
Police arrested and charged a 20-year-old homeless man with second-degree theft on Saturday for allegedly stealing a bicycle from under a lifeguard tower near the Waikiki Police Station.
Man, 20, is charged for alleged bike theftRemington Guy was arrested at 1:30 p.m. after allegedly stealing the bike from under the tower where a lifeguard sat, police said.
The lifeguard heard a bumping sound and saw a man walking away with his bike, police said.
The lifeguard held the suspect until officers arrived from the substation, police said.
Bail was set at $11,000.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
