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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
State sets meeting to discuss surf schools
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources will hold a meeting Thursday to hear concerns on the possible impact of surfing schools near Kaimana Beach and Tonggs Surf Break.The meeting will be held at the Jefferson Elementary School cafeteria from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Issues to be discussed include water safety concerns for surf students and possible disruption to the neighborhood. For more information on the meeting, call Ed Underwood, of the DLNR Boating Oahu district office, at 587-1973.
HECO crews plan Palolo repair flights
Starting tomorrow, Hawaiian Electric Co. will be using a helicopter to bring crews and materials in and out of Palolo Valley to fix a utility structure.The work will continue until March 16. Flights are scheduled weekdays for 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. The helicopter will fly along the back of Palolo Valley and not over residential areas.
Hawaii earns A-minus for firearms laws
Hawaii has received an A-minus from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence for having what the group calls better than average laws to protect children from gun violence.Thirty-one states received grades of D or F on the group's report card this year.
The Brady Campaign said last week that Hawaii holds adults responsible for leaving loaded guns around children and requires gun buyers to obtain a safety license. The state also restricts "Saturday Night Specials" and semiautomatic assault pistols, the group said.
Hawaii can improve its laws by requiring child-safety locks to be sold with guns, the organization said. The state should also require annual registration of firearms to help police track guns used in crimes and to catch gun traffickers, it said.
The Brady Campaign is named for former presidential press secretary James Brady, who was shot during the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffNEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Maui police begin murder investigation
Maui police have opened a murder investigation into the death of a man in his 30s or 40s who was found in Kihei's Kalama Park early yesterday morning.A caller reported the body to police and the man was found in the park at about 2:20 a.m. with injuries that indicated homicide, police said.
Police did not elaborate on the kind of injuries the man had or how they were inflicted.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Maui CrimeStoppers at 242-6966 or the Maui Police Department at 244-6400.
Maui suffers first traffic fatality of year
A 1997 Ford pickup went off Honoapiilani Highway and onto the shoulder, where it struck and killed a 60-year-old Lahaina woman yesterday morning, police said.The victim was identified as Maria Ortega. Police said she died at the scene after being struck by the pickup driven by 19-year-old Tilose Vainikolo of Kihei. The accident, Maui's first traffic fatality of the year, occurred at 6:58 a.m.
LEEWARD OAHU
Waimalu house fire said to be 'suspicious'
Police are investigating a Waimalu house fire that gutted a vacant one-story home at 98-342 Ponohana Loop in Waimalu last night.About 25 firefighters responded to the blaze at about 6 p.m. yesterday. The fire was under control by 6:11 p.m.
Fire Department spokesman Kenison Tejada said the fire's "circumstances were suspicious."
The house was scheduled for demolition next month because of the H-1 freeway widening project, Tejada said.
HONOLULU
Waikiki and Ala Moana get jellyfish warnings
Box jellyfish warning signs were posted at Waikiki and Ala Moana beaches yesterday, after lifeguards found dozens of the stinging animals in the water.But Hanauma Bay, which was closed Friday, was open yesterday.
Thirty box jellyfish were sighted at Ala Moana Beach yesterday and 25 were found off Waikiki's shores.
Makiki woman allegedly assaulted
Police were looking for a 30-year-old man who they say sexually assaulted a 23-year-old Makiki woman late Friday night.The woman was partying with the man before the two returned to her apartment, where he allegedly assaulted her just before midnight, police said. The woman was taken to Kapiolani Medical Center for observation and released.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
