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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
Final tribute to a fallen police officer
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State seizes python found near school
A 4-foot-long ball python was found Tuesday night near Waipahu Elementary School and turned in to the state Department of Agriculture.Two men told the state they spotted the snake from a passing vehicle and picked it up at the side of Waipahu Street. They reported it, and officials picked it up at one man's Waianae home.
Ball pythons are native to West Africa and are common in the pet trade on the mainland. The nonvenomous snake can grow to 6 feet long and feeds on small mammals and birds. The name comes from the snake's defensive behavior to coil into a tight ball when frightened.
Snakes and other illegal reptiles collected here are not killed. The Honolulu Zoo sends them to a Florida reptile farm that places animals in other zoos or educational institutions.
Illegal animals may be turned in under an amnesty program that provides immunity from prosecution. They may be surrendered to the Honolulu Zoo, Department of Agriculture or the humane society on any island.
Anyone with information on illegal animals can call the state Plant Quarantine Branch, 832-0566, or the pest hot line, 586-7378.
Maui County to bless emergency helicopter
WAILUKU >> A blessing and celebration will take place tomorrow for emergency helicopter service in Maui County.The blessing is scheduled at 1 p.m. at a ballpark below the Kula Fire Station.
Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa said the initiation of the service could not have happened without everyone's support, including that of Gov. Linda Lingle, who released the state funds.
The county is spending $100,000 in planning and has committed $612,000 in matching funds for the emergency air service.
The helicopter, expected to serve outlying areas such as Hana, Lanai, Molokai and West Maui, will be based at Kahului Airport, with paramedics in Kula.
State Sen. Rosalyn Baker, a lead sponsor of the funding bill, said the service might not be perfect, but she knows it will save lives.
"I'm thrilled that these services are going to be available to the people of Maui County," she said.
Meeting addresses Waikiki sand recycling
State officials will attend a public meeting Wednesday to explain plans to vacuum 10,000 cubic yards of sand from offshore Waikiki and use it to widen Kuhio Beach.The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Waikiki Elementary School at 3710 Leahi Ave. Officials will explain the project and answer questions from the public.
The project will use suction pumps to pull the equivalent of 1,000 dump-truck loads of sand from offshore, dry it and place it on Kuhio Beach from the Kapahulu storm drain to the Waikiki Beach Center and Police Substation. The $500,000 project will take about 30 days and is set for October. Portions of the beach might be closed during the work.
Between 1939 and 2000, almost 250,000 cubic yards of sand have been applied to Kuhio Beach, to increase the area of dry sand. This effort will be the first major replenishment since 1975 and the first to use so-called recycled sand.
American Marine, the company that dredged the Ala Wai Canal last year, has the contract.
[Taking Notice]
>> The Hawaii Management Alliance Association (HMAA) donated $12,191.74 to the Hawaii Foodbank's 15th Annual Food Drive.>> Hard Rock Cafe Maui raised $1,158 for the American Cancer Society through the Concert for Cancer on Maui.
>> The College of Engineering at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has received a commitment through the UH Foundation for $30,800 from Actus Lend Lease, a community redevelopment firm in Hawaii, to establish a civil and environmental engineering scholarship fund.
>> Kiana Frank of Kamehameha Schools is the 2004 state winner of the U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition, the most prestigious youth award for a water-related science project. She was selected for her project, "The Effect of Residual and Agricultural Runoff on a Hawaiian Ahupua'a: Molecular Microbial Ecology of Water Systems."
>> Carol Pham of Iolani School has qualified to train at the U.S. Air Force Academy for a spot on the U.S. Chemistry Olympics Team. She was one of 20 students nationwide who qualified. The American Chemical Society sponsors four top students in the country to represent the nation at the International Chemistry Olympiad.
>> A national exhibition in Easton, Pa., by the 2004 Crayola Dream-Makers art education program has included the work of Honolulu students Rachel Wong, Cody Shidaki, Hunter Mee-Lee, Spencer House, Kylie Tamashiro, Taiga Benito and Laura Okaziki. Their work was among 194 pieces chosen from nearly 1,200 entries. The program is designed to make hands-on art a part of classroom learning for students from kindergarten through sixth grade.
By Star-Bulletin staff
WAIKIKI
Waianae man charged in bank robbery
A 39-year-old Waianae man was charged yesterday in U.S. District Court with robbing a bank in Waikiki on Tuesday.Kolen Kalani Kaimana has been charged with bank robbery.
A man walked into the First Hawaiian Bank at 2181 Kalakaua Ave. at 8:37 a.m. Tuesday, presented the teller a demand note written on the back of a fast-food restaurant receipt and fled with $200, according to federal authorities.
Honolulu police said the suspect was found at Kalakaua Avenue and Olohana Street and arrested.
Speed, alcohol factors in fatal crash at condo
A 71-year-old Waikiki man died Tuesday after crashing his car through a Waikiki condominium building garage barrier and into a wall. The city Medical Examiner's Office identified the man as Lincoln Howe.Police said Howe was seen erratically driving a 2004 Chrysler Sebring two-door convertible as he headed Ewa-bound on Ala Wai Boulevard.
A witness tried to pull him over, but Howe continued into the driveway of the Waikiki Landmark condominium at 1188 Kalakaua Ave., where he lived, police said.
Howe paused at the garage entrance, revved his engine, then drove through the barrier yesterday evening, police said. He then sped up the parking ramp and hit the wall of the garage, police said. Police said speed and alcohol were factors in the accident.
HONOLULU
Driver dies after van hits car and concrete pillar
A man died yesterday morning after the van he was driving hit a car and a concrete pillar on Nimitz Highway near Honolulu Airport.Police said the man was heading Ewa-bound on Nimitz at about 5:26 a.m. when he hit a car that was stopped to make a left turn at Lagoon Drive.
The van then traveled another 150 yards and struck a concrete support pillar under the airport viaduct, police said. An Emergency Medical Services official said the man was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the car was not injured, police said.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers