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Council committee OKs parking lot sale
The City Council's Budget Committee approved yesterday the sale of the downtown municipal parking lot known as Block J.Pflueger Group LLC is offering $10.5 million for the 103,000-square-foot lot bordered by Pali Highway and Beretania, Queen Emma and Kukui streets.
Pflueger wants to put a Honda car dealership on the site, but the company is also exploring the possibility of further developing the site for mixed commercial use including a high-rise condominium.
The company presented the committee with a schematic drawing of what the development could look like, with a 350-foot-tall building with 350 units on top of a 40-foot-high podium structure that will house the dealership.
The measure approving the sale goes before the Council on Wednesday for a final vote.
No inquest is planned in cheerleader's death
WAILUKU >> Maui Medical Examiner Dr. Anthony Manoukian said yesterday he has decided against holding a formal coroner's inquest into the death of 18-year-old New Jersey cheerleader Lauren Crossan.Crossan's naked body was found at the base of a tower at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa in Kaanapali on the morning of Jan. 12.
Manoukian said the case will be classified as other cases in which a person's body is found at the base of a cliff or building, without an eyewitness to corroborate the circumstances leading to the fall.
"Unless we know exactly how a person fell, we file it as undetermined," he said.
"The police will keep the case open and collect the information as they can."
Crossan was among three Randolph High School seniors selected by the National Cheerleaders Association to participate with several hundred other cheerleaders in the halftime show at the Hula Bowl.
Police said physical evidence indicates Crossan, who had blood alcohol twice the legal limit for driving, was not pushed and did not jump from a ninth-floor room occupied by two men she had met earlier at a hot tub.
Japanese doctor earns achievement award
Dr. Juro Wada, a Japanese physician and educator, will receive the Pan-Pacific Surgical Association's first lifetime achievement award Saturday during its 2004 Congress.Wada was instrumental in forming the association's Japan chapter. He directs the Wada Heart and Lung Institute in Tokyo and is professor emeritus of the Chancellor International Society of Cardio-Thoracic Surgeons.
He is being honored for his "years of leadership and service, in recognition of his foresight and vision and for his outstanding contributions to surgical science," said Dr. Danny Takanishi, an association board member.
The nonprofit Pan-Pacific Surgical Association was founded in 1929 to facilitate exchange of medical and surgical knowledge and fellowship and understanding among surgeons of different specialties across the Pacific.
For more information, contact Sandy Zukeran, 228-7606, or e-mail sandyzuke@hawaii.rr.com. More information on the Congress is available at www.panpacificsurgical.org
Free talk offers tips on easing arthritis pain
Effective ways to reduce pain associated with arthritis and injury will be presented by Brett Sloan in a free lecture 6 p.m. tomorrow at the Airport Center Chiropractic Clinic. Seating is limited. Call 834-8662 for information.
Cardiologists to speak about heart disease
Two cardiologists will discuss diagnosis and treatment of heart disease in a free public lecture at 6 p.m. Feb. 25 in the Queen's Conference Center, corner of Beretania and Punchbowl streets."Help for Your Heart" will be discussed by Dr. Robert Hong, chief of staff of the Queen's Medical Center's Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, and Dr. John Cogan, interventional cardiologist and associate clinical professor of medicine.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Hawaii, and February is American Heart Month.
The cardiologists will describe irregular heartbeats; treatment of coronary artery disease with medications, lifestyle surgery and stents; treatment of elevated cholesterol; and treatments and program options for heart disease.
For more information or to register, call the Queen's Referral Line, 537-7117. Space is limited and reservations are required. Parking is available for $3 in the Miller Street parking garage.
Weight management to be topic of lecture
Dr. Kenric Murayama, medical director of the Queen's Medical Center for minimally invasive surgery, will discuss the latest weight management treatments in a public lecture from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26 in the Queen's Conference Center, corner of Punchbowl and Beretania streets.His talk, "Overweight to Morbid Obesity: Regaining Control," will cover the new Queen's Comprehensive Weight Management Program and surgical options to treat morbid obesity.
He will discuss his experiences in performing more than 200 gastric bypass surgeries. He formerly led the Northwestern Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery and Technology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Call the Queen's Referral Line, 537-7117, to register. Parking is available for $3 in the Miller Street parking garage.
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[Taking Notice]
>> University of Hawaii alumni from the class of 1953 have been inducted as the newest Golden Scholars: John Bonsey, Betty Evensen and Charles Schrader, of Kaneohe; Pamela H.W. Carlyle, James R. Yano and Helen E. Yano, of Kailua; Jeanette Chun and Thelma Diercks, of Honolulu; Alma Aiu Cirino, of Niu Valley; Frederick Fujimoto and Betty Okano, of Mililani; and Kazuto Tomayasu, of Aiea.Golden Scholars are recognized for their support of the university and their 50th anniversary as a graduating class.
>> John Griffis, a professor in the Department of Tropical Plant & Soil Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, has received a Fulbright award to teach greenhouse-based amenity horticulture at the University of Mauritius (500 miles southeast of Madagascar) from January to June this year.
He will also collect native plant materials to send back to Hawaii.
>> Dr. Julie Johnson, the new dean of the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, has been inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Nursing in San Diego. She is one of six Fellows in Hawaii out of the nearly 1,400 Fellows in the academy.
>> Richard Malins, of Pearl City, a graduate of Iolani School, was one of six students to receive the Beckman Scholars Award from Boston University's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. He is a senior majoring in chemistry and neuroscience, a trustee scholar, a Harold Case Scholar, winner of the Mason Memorial Prize for Excellence in Chemistry and president of the Boston University Stage Troupe.
>> Perfect scorers in the Oahu Math League contest are Melanie Bomke, Derek Goto, Ryan Lau, Ryan Tsukamoto, Mai Tsukikawa and Dean Ushijima, of Iolani School; Young Lee and Eunji Park, of Moanalua High School; and Mariko Kotani, of Roosevelt High.
Team awards in Division A went to Iolani, first; Moanalua, second; Kamehameha Schools, third; Punahou School, fourth; and Roosevelt, fifth.
The Division B winner is Hanalani. Junior varsity team winners are Iolani, first, and McKinley, second.
"Taking Notice" runs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Please send items to City Desk, Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana, Suite 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffWINDWARD OAHU
Motorcyclist dies after hitting highway barrier
A 23-year-old Waimanalo man was killed when his motorcycle struck a concrete barrier separating lanes on Kahekili Highway, just south of Keaahala Road in Kaneohe, about 2:37 a.m. yesterday, police said.The man was traveling Kailua-bound on the highway when he apparently lost control of his motorcycle, hit the barrier and was thrown from the vehicle, police said.
The motorcycle landed a few hundred yards farther down the highway.
The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Speed was apparently a factor, police said.
The motorcyclist was wearing a helmet.
LEEWARD OAHU
Pedestrian hit by car dies from his injuries
A 52-year-old Pearl City man died yesterday of injuries he suffered when he was struck by a car while crossing Kamehameha Highway in front of the Pearlridge watercress farm area.Police said the victim was crossing to the mauka side of the highway just beyond Pali Momi Street about 9 p.m. Tuesday night. He was not in a crosswalk, police said.
He stepped from the grass median area into the path of a 1996 Honda Civic driven by a 79-year-old man from the Aiea area, according to the police report.
He was taken to the Queen's Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead after 1 a.m.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
