Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
Wal-Mart receives OK to move set of bones
A set of native Hawaiian remains unearthed at Wal-Mart's Keeaumoku Street complex on July 22 has been removed and will be reburied, a store spokeswoman said yesterday.Cynthia Lin, a Wal-Mart representative, said the remains were taken off the site Wednesday after a go-ahead from the state Historic Preservation Division. She said the bones will be reburied along with 43 other sets of remains found at the site since construction began in December 2002.
Activists had been calling for the bones to remain at the site. But division administrator Holly McEldowney said in a letter Tuesday that the find was considered "an inadvertent discovery" and so should be reburied at another site.
"We also believe it would be inappropriate to separate this individual from the others, as they may be associated through family ties," she said.
McEldowney said the set of remains were "clearly over 50 years old as it lies beneath fill material deposited throughout the project area during the 1940s."
Trial starts Tuesday for isle-based soldier
The court-martial of a Schofield Barracks soldier charged with killing an Iraqi civilian in February is set to begin Tuesday in Iraq.Pfc. Edward Richmond, 20, is charged with unpremeditated murder for allegedly shooting Muhamad Husain Kadir in the head on Feb. 28 near Taal Al Jai. The Army says Kadir was handcuffed and unarmed. Richmond faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Richmond is a member of the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, part of the 25th Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which left Wahiawa in January for a year-long deployment to Iraq.
At his arraignment Tuesday in Tikrit, Richmond will be allowed to determine whether he will to be tried by a judge or jury and will enter a plea.
Airline passenger held in bomb threat
Law enforcement officials detained an Aloha Airlines passenger after he allegedly made a bomb threat yesterday morning during a flight from Kauai to Oahu.An Aloha spokesman said the incident happened on Flight 268 out of Lihue. Sixteen minutes into the flight, the pilot was informed that one of the passengers was threatening that he had a bomb.
The pilot informed authorities, and the male suspect was apprehended and detained once the plane landed in Honolulu at 7:16 a.m. The plane was searched and cleared for takeoff by 8 a.m.
By Star-Bulletin staff
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Big Island police search for Waiakea High vandals
Big Island police are looking for the vandals who defaced property at Waiakea High School between Wednesday night and early yesterday morning.The vandalism occurred just before the school opened for the fall semester. Police determined that several buildings and three vehicles on campus were defaced with graffiti. In addition, police said glue was inserted in the locks on the doors of several rooms. An estimate of the amount of damage was not available yesterday.
Police are asking that anyone with information about the vandalism call the police non-emergency number at 935-3311. Those who wish to remain anonymous may call CrimeStoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona.
Motorcycle accident claims Hana man's life
A 33-year-old Hana man died Wednesday night following a motorcycle accident along Hana Highway, police said.Maui police said Randolph Aoki was traveling north near the 29-mile marker at about 5:02 p.m. when he lost control of his motorcycle and crashed. He was pronounced dead at the Hana Medical Center.
Police said he was wearing a helmet. This was the fourth traffic fatality in Maui County this month and the 10th this year, compared with 11 at this time last year.
EAST OAHU
Driver critically injured in collision near beach
A 20-year-old Waimanalo man was critically injured early yesterday when the car he was driving crossed the center line and collided head-on with a pickup truck on Kalanianaole Highway near Sandy Beach.Police said the driver of the eastbound white 1995 Acura Integra was speeding and passed a vehicle on a curve before it struck a gray 1990 Mazda pickup truck near Kealahou Street at about 12:27 a.m.
Two passengers riding in the bed of the truck, a 17-year-old Kaneohe girl and a 17-year-old Waimanalo boy, were thrown from the vehicle, police said.
Police said the driver of the car was taken to the Queen's Medical Center in critical condition. The passenger in the car, a 20-year-old Kaaawa man, the driver of the pickup, a 16-year-old girl in the passenger seat of the truck and the two teenagers thrown from the truck were all taken to Queen's in fair condition, police said.
LEEWARD OAHU
Teen says he helped friends try to steal car
A 13-year-old Waianae boy arrested Wednesday for allegedly breaking into a car last week told officers he was helping his friends who were trying to steal the car, police said.Last Friday at about 2:20 a.m., an Ewa man was awakened by his son, who heard a noise in the driveway. The son found three males sitting in his father's car, police said.
Two of the males escaped but an 18-year-old was detained, police said. The suspect allegedly threatened the car's owner, 50, with a pipe wrench, but the owner had a handgun and told the suspect to sit down or he would shoot him. Police arrested the suspect for suspicion of terroristic threatening and breaking into a car.
Police found the 13-year-old Wednesday. After he was identified in a photo lineup as one of the males in the car, officers arrested him.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers