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Makiki home raid yields illegal monkey

The Honolulu police Specialized Services Division assisted state investigators who searched a Makiki home and seized a monkey being kept illegally there, the state Department of Agriculture said in a news release yesterday.

The Department of Agriculture said it has been investigating the case for several months and that it is still under investigation.

Primates, including monkeys, are only allowed to be imported and kept in Hawaii under a permit with specific conditions, and with the approval of the Board of Agriculture.

The Specialized Services Division, the attorney general's office and agriculture investigators served a search warrant on the home of a 52-year-old man.

Harris vetoes tax bill for time-share owners

Mayor Jeremy Harris vetoed a bill Wednesday that would give a tax break to time-share units in areas zoned for apartments.

The mayor said in his message that he was vetoing the bill because it is unconstitutional as it "imposes unequal taxation on property of the same class, without rationally furthering a legitimate government interest."

Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi, who authored the bill, said the Council has a legal opinion to the contrary.

"It's limited to those who are on apartment-zoned land, and they can never convert to hotel, yet we charge them hotel property tax and they have no hotel amenities," Kobayashi said. "It's very unfair for these people."

The bill passed the Council 6-3, enough to override a veto.

U.S. team fails to find remains in Tibet area

A U.S. military team returned home this week from China's Tibet region without being able to locate the remains of three American servicemen missing since World War II, officials said yesterday.

The recovery team from the Joint POW/MIA Account Command left Honolulu on Aug. 12 in hopes of recovering the remains of three men lost as a result of a C-46 aircraft crash in the Himalayan Mountains.

Portions of an aircraft wreckage and other items including oxygen masks and clothes were found, but no remains were recovered.

The lost flight crew was transporting supplies from the Assam Valley in India over the Himalayas and into China during an operation on an air route that became known as the "hump."

During operations on the "hump," more than 600 airplanes and 1,000 crewmen were lost.

Educator's Evening set for museum

Bishop Museum will hold its fourth annual Educator's Evening from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the museum.

Teachers will be able to try out educational programs offered by the museum. A live auction will allow teachers to bid on class visits to the museum or Hawaii Maritime Center.

Call 848-4168 or e-mail education@bishopmuseum.org for information.

Maui road plan to take 8 years

Planning the realignment and widening of Maui's Honoapiilani Highway will take eight years, says the state Transportation Department.

"We hope it's sooner, but that's what we have on the books," Rodney Haraga said Tuesday after addressing a meeting of the Maui Hotel Association.

A $2.5 million study will address the planning, cultural and historical issues of widening one of the Valley Isle's main highways, he said. Construction would not start until after 2012.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

EAST OAHU

Man believed to have died while free-diving

A Honolulu man in his 60s apparently drowned yesterday afternoon while free-diving near Lanai Lookout, fire officials said.

His identity was not immediately released.

The man, of Ahua Street, was free-diving with a partner, also in his 60s, about 60 yards from shore, officials said. A fire captain said the water was choppy at the time.

The partner brought the victim to shore about 1 p.m. The man was not breathing, and witnesses said the man had been underwater for up to 10 minutes.

Fire Department spokesman Kenison Tejada said the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

HONOLULU

Victims say stabbing was not provoked

Police arrested a 25-year-old homeless man at Ala Moana Beach Park on Wednesday night for allegedly stabbing two other homeless men.

The victims told officers that the suspect stabbed them at about 10:48 p.m. for no apparent reason, police said. All three men lived at the park, police said. The men were taken to the hospital in serious condition.

Police arrested the suspect under suspicion of first- and second-degree attempted murder.

LEEWARD OAHU

Police say 24-year-old robbed his mother

Police arrested a 24-year-old Iwilei man for allegedly robbing his mother and three other women Wednesday.

Police said the man robbed his mother of her purse at her Ko Olina home at about 12:30 p.m., then stole the family car.

Later in the afternoon, the man robbed three other women, ages 21, 58 and 56, in separate incidents within an hour in Hawaii Kai, Kapahulu and Honolulu, police said.

After the last robbery, on Kapahulu Avenue, police issued an all-points bulletin.

An off-duty officer monitoring police communications saw the suspect and notified on-duty units of his position.

Police arrested the suspect on three counts of second-degree robbery and one count of second-degree theft.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Big Island woman died of self-inflicted wound

A woman whose partially decomposed body was discovered Monday in the corner of a Waikoloa housing complex parking lot has been identified as Wanda Brenner, 76, of Waikoloa Village.

Brenner was identified through dental records. An investigation and autopsy determined she died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers