Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
Big Brothers, Sisters fund-raiser is today
Rain or shine, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Honolulu will be collecting clothing and cash donations today at the Blaisdell Center.Drive-by contributions to the "Clothes for Kids' Sake" campaign may be made at the curbside fronting the center on Ward Avenue from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Used clothing suitable for sale is sought in the fund-raising drive.
The first 100 donors will receive gifts from AT&T Hawaii, a partner in the drive, which will benefit local Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring programs.
The nonprofit organization matches adult volunteers with children in single-parent families to offer friendship, guidance and support to the youngsters. In another program, volunteers serve as mentors to students for an hour a week at schools and community sites throughout the school year.
The company supports volunteerism nationwide through the AT&T Cares program, which provides eight paid hours per year to employees doing community service work.
Wali Osman joining Insular Affairs Office
An East-West Center economist is joining the federal office that oversees the U.S. government's relationship with its island territories, officials said yesterday.Wali Osman, East-West Center senior fellow for Pacific economies, is scheduled to leave next month for the job with the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs.
"Wali's reputation as an expert on Pacific economies is second to none," Insular Affairs Director Nikolao Pula said in a news release.
Osman, who has been with the East-West Center since 2001, has an undergraduate degree from Kabul University in Afghanistan and a master's degree from the University of Hawaii.
He previously served as a vice president and international economist for Bank of Hawaii.
The East-West Center, on the University of Hawaii campus, is an organization funded by Congress to study and strengthen U.S.-Asian ties and understanding.
The Office of Insular Affairs oversees U.S. relations with Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Bell ringing commemorates bomb test
A bell-ringing ceremony, using the Nagasaki Memorial Peace Bell, will be held tomorrow to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Bravo Hydrogen Bomb test on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands.The ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. on the Honolulu Hale Civic Center grounds by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition-Hawaii; United Nations Association, Hawaii Division; and the Pacific Justice & Reconciliation Center.
The U.S. bomb test, with more than 1,000 times the destructive force of the two bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima during World War II, destroyed a tranquil way of life for an entire culture, decimated two generations and rendered the land and water unlivable, according to the sponsors.
The bomb was only one of 67 atomic and hydrogen bombs detonated in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958.
The Bravo blast will also be commemorated Monday by Bishop Maryann Swenson, of the United Methodist Church's California-Pacific Annual Conference.
It will be held at 7 p.m. in the Marshall Islands at Kresge Chapel at the Claremont School of Theology.
[ TAKING NOTICE ]
>> Kristina Sault, a sophomore at Sacred Hearts Academy, has won top honors in the Veterans of Foreign Wars and its Ladies Auxiliary, Voice of Democracy contest. She received an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete for a $25,000 scholarship and a trip to Valley Forge, Pa., in June.
Second place went to Shelly Hokama, a senior at Hawaii Baptist Academy; third, Yvonne Himan, of Waianae High School; and fourth, Bethany Smith, of Kahuku High.
Jessica Lau, an eighth-grader at Iolani, won first place in the Veterans' Patriot's Pen essay contest. Britney Tuamu-Miyashiro was second; Jessica Calventas and Karen Herndon, both of Sacred Hearts Academy, won third and fourth, respectively.
>> Waldtraut Krohn-Ching, of the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Education Laboratory School, has been selected by the National Art Education Association to receive the Hawaii Art Educator of the Year Award. She will receive the award at the association's national convention in Denver in April.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffNORTH SHORE
The Honolulu Police Department's missing-persons detail and CrimeStoppers are asking the public for assistance in finding Barry Dennis James, a tourist from England who was last seen Wednesday swimming at a North Shore beach.
Public asked to help find missing visitorAbout 12:45 p.m. Wednesday, a friend who was with him became concerned when James was no longer in sight from the beach at 58-021 Kamehameha Highway. The Honolulu Fire Department and city lifeguards searched on Wednesday.
Fire Department rescue divers and their helicopter resumed the search on Thursday. The U.S. Coast Guard also assisted.
James, 53, is a Caucasian male, 6 feet tall, 196 pounds, with a medium build. He has light brown crewcut hair and blue eyes.
Witnesses may call investigator Phil Camero at 529-3394; anonymous calls may be made to CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellular phone.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Hilo police are investigating a number of recent thefts where thieves have been breaking into soda machines.
Thieves breaking into soda machinesLocal businesses in the Hilo Industrial Area have reported a number of thefts during the past few weeks.
Police are encouraging businesses with soda machines to keep them in well-lit areas or areas that can be secured at night.
Anyone with information about the thefts or the identity of the thieves is asked to call police officer John "Masa" Pagay at 961-8892 or the police nonemergency number at 935-3311.
Those who wish to remain anonymous may call CrimeStoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona.
13-year-old Hilo girl missing since Sept. 3
Big Island police are looking for a 13-year-old girl reported missing from her home in Hilo since Sept. 3.
She is identified as Natasha Santos. She is Filipino Hawaiian, 5 feet 3 inches tall, about 120 pounds, with a medium build, tan complexion, brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call Officer Peter Kualii, of the East Hawaii Juvenile Aid Section, at 961-2373; the police nonemergency telephone number at 935-3311; or CrimeStoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
