Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
Part of Round Top to be shut for repairs
A two-block stretch of Round Top Drive will be closed to vehicles indefinitely until city crews have repaired pavement that was undermined by a landslide.Only emergency vehicles will be allowed to pass through the area, according to the Oahu Civil Defense Agency.
The area is owned by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which is developing a plan to stabilize the slope.
Some Oahu waters still deemed unsafe
Four Windward and Hawaii Kai beaches remained closed to swimming yesterday, along with several Oahu streams, pending improved results in water quality tests, the state Health Department said.The waters were closed after sewage spills Friday and Saturday caused by heavy rain.
In daily checks of all emergency rooms, there have been no reports of anyone getting sick from swimming in the ocean or streams, said Darcie Yukimara, Department of Health spokeswoman.
Kaneohe library closed for repairs this month
The Kaneohe Public Library will be closed until early February.Patrons may return books to any other public library in the state. Clients who have reserved library materials at Kaneohe may pick them up at Kailua Public Library.
Work planned at Kaneohe Library includes the replacement of all louvered windows with picture windows, and removal of asbestos from window frames. When renovations near completion, the library will announce its reopening date.
Chinatown event offers New Year festivities
The city and Honolulu Chinese Jaycees host the annual Chinese New Year's event, Night in Chinatown, Saturday on Maunakea Street.The event features a parade, food booths, arts and crafts, games, souvenirs, martial-arts demonstrations and cultural entertainment. Entertainment runs from 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
The parade -- including a 150-foot dragon and 40 Chinese societies -- begins 4 p.m. at the state Capitol and goes down Hotel Street, ending at River Street.
Stages will be at Maunakea and Pauahi streets and Maunakea and King streets.
Maunakea Street will be blocked off from Beretania Street to King Street.
Buddhist teacher to lead talks on death
Two speaking engagements later this month with a well-known Buddhist teacher will focus on fostering a peaceful death.Frank Ostaseski, founder of the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco, will present the "Opening to Life" lecture 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 23 at Central Union Church at 1660 S. Beretania St.
On Jan. 24, Ostaseski will hold the "Honoring the Mystery at the End of Life" workshop 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Honpa Hongwanji.
Cost for the lecture is $10 a person and pre-registration is preferred.
The deadline to sign up for the workshop is Jan. 23. Cost is $35 a person and includes breakfast, lunch and materials.
Call 924-9255, ext. 8046 to register for either the lecture or the workshop.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staff
CRIMESTOPPERS
Police are asking for the public's help in identifying this man, who robbed the City Bank branch at 201 Merchant St. on Dec. 31.
LEEWARD OAHU
HPD officer relieved of duty after his arrest
A Honolulu police officer arrested yesterday for terroristic threatening will be relieved of his police powers until an investigation is completed, Police Chief Lee Donohue confirmed.Based on a complaint, the patrol officer was arrested early yesterday and will be assigned to administrative duties pending the investigation, he said.
Police said the officer assigned to the Pearl City station was on duty when he was arrested by the police Internal Affairs Division and taken to the main station for processing.
Police at Honolulu Police Department's Central Receiving said last night that the officer was released at 4:45 p.m. pending investigation, but has not been charged.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Maui police ID man who died from fall
WAILUKU >> The man whose body was found on a rocky shoreline along East Maui on New Year's Eve has been identified as Stephen Alan Goddard of Honolulu.Goddard, 60, dressed in shorts and an aloha shirt, was found at the bottom of a 300-foot cliff at Huelo Point, near a house being rented by his family.
A search helicopter discovered the body at 10:18 a.m. on Dec. 31, after family members reported to authorities that he was missing.
Maui detective Mervin Holokai said yesterday that an autopsy showed Goddard had died in a fall.
Investigators have classified the death as a miscellaneous accident.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
