Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
ISRAELI DIGNITARY VISITS PEARL
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, center, Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, left, and Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert Dierker dropped red anthuriums yesterday at the Arizona Memorial to honor those who died in the Pearl Harbor attack. Barak, 61, had a 35-year military career in the Israeli Defense Forces. He was elected prime minister in 1999 and served two years.
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Tax revenues falling behind predictions
State tax revenues are failing to meet expectations as lawmakers face deadlines to put together the state's spending plan for the coming fiscal year that begins July 1.If it does not improve, lawmakers will have to find $104 million in savings or new revenues to make ends meet, and a key lawmaker said yesterday that pay raises for state workers could be in the balance.
Through January the state collected $1.94 billion in general fund tax revenues, trailing the same seven-month mark in 2003 by 1.9 percent, the Department of Taxation reported yesterday.
The state Council on Revenues projected on Dec. 22 that revenues in the fiscal year would be 5.2 percent ahead of the year before, the figure that the administration and Legislature are required to consider in preparing state budgets and spending plans.
January's tax take of $315 million was up 2.3 percent from January 2003, bolstered by an increase in corporate income taxes, which offset a 12.3 percent decline in general excise and use tax revenues resulting from a "weekend effect" that shifted some January revenues into February, the department said.
Of note is growth of only 0.8 percent through seven months in general excise and use tax revenues.
The minimal growth in those revenues appears to conflict with reports by economists who serve on the Council on Revenues of sustained growth in the state's economy.
Big Isle nene's killing is deemed an accident
HILO >> A 9-year-old boy skipping small coconuts over water accidentally hit and killed a nene in a Hilo park last year, the state Department of Land & Natural Resources said yesterday.The announcement ended an investigation that has been under way since the Sept. 7 incident at Leleiwi Beach Park, said department Chairman Peter Young.
Federal and state laws protect the endangered nene, the official state bird.
A witness said the boy was throwing rocks at the 3- to 4-year-old male bird.
But the investigation, which included "eyewitness statements from those closest to the incident," determined the boy was skipping small coconuts when he accidentally hit the bird, the department said.
The county prosecutor, the state attorney general, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed with the determination that the event was an accident, Young said.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHONOLULU
Suspect allegedly hit ex-girlfriend with shoe
Police arrested a 50-year-old Kalihi man Monday morning after he allegedly threatened to shoot his ex-girlfriend and struck her in the face with her wooden clog shoes.The 29-year-old Kalihi woman told police her ex-boyfriend confronted her in the area of North Nimitz Highway and Kalihi Stream between 9:15 and 9:30 a.m. The suspect allegedly threatened to shoot her if she did not get into his car.
Police said the woman refused, so the ex-boyfriend used her wooden clog shoes to strike her, cutting her above the right eye. Police arrested the suspect for kidnapping, second-degree assault and second-degree terroristic threatening.
The woman was treated at St. Francis Medical Center and released.
LEEWARD OAHU
Police say teen tried to steal, hit and run
Police arrested a 14-year-old Pearl City boy for second-degree robbery Monday night at a Pearlridge Center department store.The suspect was seen by store security shoplifting items about 8:12 p.m. from Sears Roebuck & Co., police said. Security personnel stopped the teen once he left the store, police said.
The suspect struck a member of the security team and tried to flee, but the security detail was able to hold him until police arrived, police said. The security officer suffered minor injuries.
The suspect was later released pending investigation.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Big Isle visitor hurt by robbery suspect
Big Island police are investigating an attempted-robbery case at a South Kohala coast hotel last week.Police said a 16-year-old male was injured during the robbery attempt on Thursday at the Fairmont Orchid Hawaii Hotel and Resort. Sometime prior to 8:40 p.m., South Kohala patrol officers said, an unknown male walked up behind the victim, shoved him and demanded money and any valuables.
Police said when the victim was unable to give the suspect anything of value, the suspect struck him in the face and fled.
The suspect was described as a male in his early 20s to late 30s, about 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing between 180 and 200 pounds, bald and clean-shaven. The suspect was last seen wearing a white crew-neck T-shirt and blue Hawaiian-print surf shorts, carrying a black backpack and wearing black bicycle motocross gloves. He had a tattoo on his inner left forearm and was wearing earrings in both ears.
The investigation of the robbery attempt was turned over to West Hawaii Criminal Investigation Section detectives after the victim, a visitor, returned to the mainland.
Police are asking anyone with information to call the West Hawaii Criminal Investigation Section at 326-4207 or the police nonemergency number at 935-3311. T
Those who wish to remain anonymous may call CrimeStoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
