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Fund-raiser for Alzheimer's puts disco back on the floor
"Moonlight & Magic" is the theme of the Alzheimer's Association-Aloha Chapter's annual fund-raiser 6 p.m. to midnight tomorrow at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Tapa Ballroom.The event, celebrating its 14th year, features "Night Fever ... the '70s Are Back" with a retro night full of disco activities.
Highlights will include live '70s music, dancing, food and wine, more than 200 silent auction items, a '70s costume contest, "Sweet Memories Live Dessert Auction featuring Dessert Divas" and a free martini bar.
Partygoers can disco from 10 p.m. to midnight at Studio 54. "Anything '70s Evening Attire Goes."
All proceeds will benefit the Alzheimer's Association-Aloha Chapter, which provides programs and services for more than 20,000 residents with Alzheimer's disease, 85,000 family caregivers and 185,000 family members.
Individual tickets are available for $150. Tables of 10 are available as follows: "Boogie Wonderland," $1,500; "Some Kind of Wonderful," $2,500; and "Could It Be Magic," $4,000.
For more information and to reserve tickets, call the Alzheimer's Association at 591-2771 or visit www.alzhi.org.
Red Cross organizing faith ministry
The Xerox shootings and Sacred Falls tragedy in 1999 alerted local American Red Cross leaders to the need for spiritual counseling to help victims of disasters.The Pacific Health Ministry, recently formed by the local Red Cross, is holding its fourth one-day training course April 1 for religious leaders interested in serving on a spiritual relief team.
The free course will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Pohai Nani Good Samaritan Retirement Community club room at 45-090 Namoku St. in Kaneohe.
Register by calling 591-6556 or e-mail phm@pacifichealthministry.org. Lunch will be provided.
To be eligible, team members must have:
>> A theological education or training consistent with one's faith tradition.>> Evidence of official ordination, licensure to minister, commissioning or credentials to one's faith tradition.
Ministry experience is especially sought.
'Walk for Wili' to raise funds for diabetes
The fifth annual Hawaii Walk for Diabetes tomorrow at Kapiolani Park will help raise money for diabetes programs and honor the late radio personality Wili Moku.The message of the event, called "Walk for Wili," is "Good Habits = Good Health."
Recent studies show moderate exercise during youth and as people age is as important as weight control in preventing diabetes, said Majken Mechling, executive director of the American Diabetes Association of Hawaii.
Wili Moku, whose real name was William Saragosa, suffered for years from diabetes and died on Jan. 29 after his heart stopped during a dialysis.
"From his wheelchair he would tell people: 'Look at me. This is what happens when you don't take care of yourself,'" said his sister, Karen Kalei Alcosiba.
The event will begin at 7:15 a.m. with the walk starting at 8 a.m. To register, visit diabetes.org/walk or call 947-5979. Forms are available at Oahu Bank of Hawaii offices, participating Chevron stations and Star Markets.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHONOLULU
Mechanic discovers woman's gun in car Honolulu police arrested a 59-year-old woman yesterday after a gun was found while her car was being serviced.
Police said the firearm was still in its holster when a man servicing her vehicle found it under the driver's seat of the woman's car.
When the woman returned, police said, she admitted that the weapon belonged to her.
She was arrested on a firearm offense.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Collision puts driver in critical condition A Big Island man was reported in critical condition when the car he was driving collided head-on with a dump truck on Highway 130 in Pahoa yesterday.
Hawaii County fire rescue officials said that at 11:06 a.m. the victim was driving a small sedan that had crossed the center line and struck the dump truck as it was traveling in the opposite direction. The victim had to be extricated from the wreck with power tools and was transported to the Hilo Medical Center in critical condition. The driver of the dump truck was uninjured.
Guns seized from man violating court order
Big Island police recovered more than a dozen firearms belonging to a Hilo man who refused to turn in his guns after a court ordered him to do so.Dennis M. Silva, 53, was charged with 19 counts of violating a court order for protection yesterday, 15 of which related to firearm violations. Silva was arrested Tuesday when police with a search warrant recovered six semiautomatic handguns, seven semiautomatic rifles and two shotguns at his home.
Silva was also charged with four counts of contacting the person who had filed the restraining order against him as well as one count of drug promotion.
He is currently being held in the Hilo police cellblock in lieu of $38,250 bail. Police are also investigating whether Silva could face federal charges.
[ THE COURTS ]
Trial set for slaying of park ranger in 1999
A California drifter charged in the slaying of a Big Island National Park ranger more than four years ago will finally go to trial in August.U.S. District Judge Susan Mollway ruled yesterday that Eugene Frederick Boyce III is competent to stand trial based on findings contained in a report from a Springfield, Miss., facility where he was being evaluated.
Boyce is accused in the Dec. 12, 1999, shooting of ranger Steve Makuakane-Jarrell, 47, a 15-year National Parks veteran who had been sent to investigate complaints of wild dogs at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park in Kona. The dogs apparently belonged to Boyce.
Boyce told federal authorities he shot Makuakane-Jarrell in self-defense during a struggle for the ranger's gun.
A U.S. magistrate suspended all proceedings against Boyce in April 2000 after finding him unfit to go to trial because of a mental health condition. He underwent psychiatric treatment at a mainland facility and in January 2001 was declared competent enough to plead not guilty to first-degree murder.
Pflueger changing plea in Kauai landslide case
Retired auto dealer Jimmy Pflueger is expected to plead no contest to multiple criminal charges stemming from a landslide caused by construction on his property on Kauai's North Shore.Pflueger told Kauai Circuit Judge Cliff Nakea of his intention yesterday, and the court set a hearing on his change of plea for Monday.
"Normally, the judge stated he wouldn't allow a (no contest) plea over the objections of the attorney general's office, but he was going to make an exception because of the approach we are taking," said Ben Cassiday, Pflueger's attorney.
Pflueger is not plea bargaining and will accept responsibility but, because of pending lawsuits, will plead no contest instead of guilty, Cassiday said.
Deputy Attorney General Colleen Chun objected to Pflueger entering no-contest pleas. She could not be reached for comment.
During Thanksgiving weekend 2001, heavy rain caused a massive mudslide on the face of the bluff where Pflueger had been building a road to the beach.
The mud washed onto the coral reef off of Pilaa Beach and onto the property of a Kauai couple who own a home on the beach below the bluff.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
