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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
Talks resume Tuesday in concrete strike
Concrete manufacturer Ameron Hawaii and the union for its 144 striking workers will resume negotiations Tuesday, only days after the union reportedly postponed talks, demanding that the company take its medical premiums proposal off the table."Talks were resumed with no conditions," said George West, Ameron vice president and chief negotiator. "We want to continue the discussion and get the dialogue going."
Officials with Teamsters Local 996 could not be reached for comment last night.
On Wednesday, West said the union called off talks until the company took its medical premiums proposal off the table, which Ameron refused to do. In their expired contract, Ameron workers had a 20 percent medical insurance premium co-payment deducted from their after-tax paychecks. The company now wants employees to pay a 30 percent premium, which would be taken out before taxes are subtracted from checks.
OHA to have trial run for emergency loans
Emergency loans at a low interest rate will be available to native Hawaiians under a program to be launched Monday by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.Under the Consumer Revolving Micro-Loan Pilot Program, an eligible person may borrow up to $7,500 to meet financial emergencies such as home or automobile repairs. People may also borrow to pay for tuition, certification programs or required equipment for classes in their current career field.
The money will be loaned at a fixed 5 percent interest rate, with a five-year term limit, according to an OHA announcement yesterday.
OHA trustees will review the program after a month trial run to decide whether to extend it. They approved a maximum of $500,000 in consumer loans to be disbursed in the first five months, if it continues.
Applicants must have their Hawaiian ancestry verified by OHA's Hawaiian Registry Program. For information on the Micro-Loan Program, call Gilbert Fernandez at 594-1829. For information on the Hawaiian Registry Program, see the Web site www.oha.org.
Box car race tracks will be built at city site
An unused part of the city's Kunia Park and Ride facility will be developed into box car race tracks, under an agreement between the city and American Box Car Racing International.Mayor Jeremy Harris said the five-year agreement is an investment in promoting safe driving skills in youths. The development of three tracks on the underutilized city property will be at no cost to taxpayers, he said in an announcement yesterday.
The nonprofit group has operated the racing program for children and adults in Pearl City for eight years. About 40,000 youngsters and adults come to the track each year to learn driving skills, physics and maintenance, according to the city announcement.
The organization will build two race courses, a spectator area and a workshop and storage area in the first phase of development. It plans to add a third track later.
[ TAKING NOTICE ]
>> Earline N. Yokoi, a criminal justice planning specialist with the state Department of the Attorney General, has been appointed the state's first drug control liaison. She will work directly with Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona to manage and support functions for the Hawaii Drug Control Strategy, coordinating private and public partnerships that implement programs to improve drug prevention and treatment services.
>> Dane Lee, of Honolulu, has been promoted to the rank of Eagle Scout by the Boy Scouts of America. He belongs to Troop 201, chartered by Maemae School.
>> The Honolulu District of the U.S. Postal Service has appointed Myrna Gullion customer services at the Wahiawa Post Office, Terry Gerber to Transportation Networks Specialist, and Kaaawa Postmaster Janet Mau to postmaster of the Kunia Post Office.
>> Andre Bachmann, of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, has been elected 2004 chairman of the American Chemical Society-Hawaii Section. He is a researcher in the Molecular Carcinogenesis Section of the center's Cancer Etiology Program.
Bonnie Warn-Cramer, also a researcher in that section, has been elected chairwoman-elect and will take office next year. She is only the fourth woman in the Hawaii Section's 82-year history to be elected to that post.
Other officers of the ACS-Hawaii Section are I-Chia Shih, secretary-designate; F. David Horgen, of Hawaii Pacific University College of Natural Sciences, treasurer; and Blake Vance Jr., councilor.
The ACS is the world's largest scientific society with more than 163,000 members. The Hawaii Section began in 1922, with members including chemists and other scientists and people interested in chemistry and related disciplines.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffWAIKIKI
Police arrested one of two suspected bicycle bandits Thursday in connection with a robbery earlier this month.
1 of 2 suspected bicycle bandits caughtA Waikiki woman told police that she was confronted by two men on bicycles who blocked her path at 1901 Kalakaua Ave. on March 2.
The woman said the larger man grabbed her by the neck and picked her up off the ground, according to police.
The woman lost consciousness, and when she came to, the suspects had gone and money was missing from her purse, police said.
Police arrested the suspect, 39, at 3:50 a.m. Thursday after the woman saw him in a bar and called them.
HONOLULU
Police arrested a 28-year-old McCully man Wednesday in the robbery of a woman they described as a Chinatown prostitute.
Man allegedly robs Chinatown prostitutePolice said after the suspect picked up the woman in Chinatown, he drove her to Stevenson Intermediate School at 1202 Prospect St. in the Punchbowl area to have sex at about 11:30 p.m.
But the woman told him she did not want to have sex there because it was too dark, police said.
He allegedly pushed the woman down, grabbed her purse and fled in his vehicle.
The woman got the license number, and police went to the registered owner's address and arrested the suspect for second-degree robbery.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
WAILUKU >> A man whose body was found near an irrigation flume in Happy Valley has been identified as 56-year-old Edward Napp, of Kahului.
Body found in flume on Maui is identifiedPolice Lt. Glenn Cuomo said Napp's bicycle was found in the Iao Stream about a mile mauka of the location of his body.
Napp's body was found by a Maui man last Saturday night, and the death has been classified as an accident.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
