Newswatch
Student distributes $80,000 in restitution
More than 200 consumers who paid to fly from Los Angeles to Honolulu but ended up with nothing more than phony tickets have received refunds totaling about $80,000, Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly said Friday.The refunds were distributed to 212 consumers as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed against a Babson College student who started the fake airline from his dormitory in spring 2003.
Luke Thompson, founder of Mainline Airways LLC, was ordered to pay restitution. He has said he originally planned for his business to become a tour provider, not an airline, and that he planned to subcontract everything from the airplanes to the ground staff.
Authorities have said Mainline was nothing more than a Web site. Thompson had no aircraft and none of the permits required to get into the airline business. Massachusetts and Hawaii issued court orders in June 2003 that prevented Thompson from selling tickets.
Thompson, of Yardley, Pa., set up Mainline Airways from his dormitory room in Wellesley, Mass., during his freshman year. The service offered flights between Los Angeles and Honolulu for as little as $89.
The settlement filed in Suffolk Superior Court orders Thompson to return the proceeds. It prohibits him from promoting or selling air travel tickets without federal authorization, and he cannot act as a charter tour operator or travel agent without a license. The judgment also imposes a suspended $5,000 civil penalty.
Annual fund-raiser will match customer alms
Foodland and Sack 'N Save are running their annual fund-raiser for charity, Give Aloha, until the end of the month.Foodland and the Western Union Foundation will match any amount up to $249 that customers donate to their favorite charity.
This year, through a grant of $250,000 from Western Union, a total of $500,000 will be given to nonprofit organizations, twice as much as in previous years.
Donations will be accepted at checkout stands at any Foodland or Sack 'N Save store. Customers must present their Maika'i Card to make a donation. The cashier will enter the organization's registration code and the customer's donation amount in the register.
Customers may give up to $249 a person, per organization. Donations in the form of cash, check or charge will be accepted and are tax-deductible.
The Give Aloha Program was created in 1999 in honor of the late Maurice "Sully" Sullivan, founder of Foodland Super Market Ltd., to continue his legacy of giving back to the community.
Funds will be distributed by Oct. 31.
By Star-Bulletin staff
WINDWARD OAHU
Boy hurt falling out of pickup in motion
A 14-year-old boy was seriously injured yesterday afternoon when he fell out of the back of a moving pickup truck near Kahuku, an Emergency Medical Services supervisor said.Family members took the boy to Kahuku Hospital at about 4 p.m. He was later transported to the Queen's Medical Center in serious but stable condition.
Officials could not estimate how fast the truck was traveling.
WEST OAHU
Aiea man sought after alleged sexual assault
Police are looking for a 47-year-old man who allegedly sexually assaulted a 19-year-old woman early yesterday at his Aiea residence.The incident happened at about 2 a.m., police said.
Officers went to the man's home to question him yesterday, but he was not there.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers