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» The Chung Fong and Grace Ning Fund for Chinese Studies has presented awards to UH-Manoa graduate students and faculty members Xing Fan, Theatre & Dance; and Katsuhiro Ota and Shuhui Su, East Asian Languages & Literature.

» Hiromi Nakai Peterson of Punahou received the 2004 Teacher Award from the National Council of Japanese Language Teachers. She has taught Japanese language and culture for 24 years, and started the first high school calligraphy class in the United States.

» The Department of Economics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has established three scholarship award programs honoring Seiji Naya on his retirement. He joined the department in 1969. Awards for outstanding first-year student, outstanding third-year research paper and the Asia Pacific Research Fund were named in his honor.

Naya served as director of Asian studies and established long-lasting ties with a university in Bangkok; he was chairman of the Economics Department in the early '90s and was director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism from 1995 to 2002.

He remains active in research projects at UH and the East-West Center.

» The Hon Chew Hee Estate Foundation has awarded its Golden Callus Award scholarship of $1,000 to Sean W. Connell of the University of Hawaii. Hon Chew was an artist who established the scholarship to encourage and support fine-arts students living in Windward Oahu.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

HONOLULU
Inmate on work furlough sought after escape

State corrections officials are asking for the public's help in finding a Laumaka Work Furlough Center escapee.

Charles Winfrey, 37, failed to return Feb. 10 to the Kalihi facility from his job at All Tree Service in Waimanalo. He was serving time for unauthorized control of a vehicle and criminal contempt.

Winfrey is not considered dangerous, but should not be approached, officials said. He has tattoos, including an animal and abstract face on his back. He is 6-foot-1 and about 157 pounds.

Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 935-8300 or the state Department of Public Safety deputy sheriffs' dispatch at 538-5696.

Neighbor witnesses apartment break-in

A man called police Wednesday afternoon when he saw someone breaking into his neighbor's Kaheka Street apartment.

The witness said the suspect, a 20-year-old woman, broke some wooden louvers and pushed in a screen to get inside the apartment unit. Police were called and found the suspect in the victim's apartment in possession of some of his property, they said. She was arrested for investigation of first-degree burglary.

Breeder pleads not guilty

A former Hawaii Kai woman charged with 25 counts of animal cruelty pleaded not guilty yesterday in Honolulu District Court and requested a jury trial.

Lucy Kagan, a dog breeder, was under investigation by the Hawaiian Humane Society since May 2003 after firefighters responding to a kitchen fire at her Hawaii Kai condo discovered 27 dogs and cats living in kennels filled with feces, urine and insects.

The animals were taken away, but some were returned to Kagan after she agreed to certain conditions. She had been caring for the animals until buyers could claim them.

Kagan, who left the courthouse without commenting, has denied mistreating the animals.

Cruelty to animals is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine for each count.

LEEWARD OAHU
Man attempts to rob store with metal bat

Police are asking for the public's help in identifying a bat-wielding man who unsuccessfully tried to rob an Ewa Beach 7-Eleven early Wednesday.

The suspect walked into the convenience store at 3:24 a.m. carrying a metal bat and demanded money from the store clerk, police said. The suspect went behind the counter and hit both cash registers with the bat but was not able to force them open, police said.

He left the store and smashed the windshield of a vehicle that was pulling into a parking space as he was walking out, police said. The suspect fled on foot and was seen getting into a waiting Nissan pickup truck.

The man is described as about 5 feet 8 inches tall, between 18 and 20 years old, with a medium build and short black hair. At the time of the incident, he was wearing a white hooded sweatshirt and blue shorts with a white vertical stripe.

Female suspect sought in string of burglaries

Police want help locating a woman suspected of burglarizing military homes last October.

Georgianne K. Vierra, 34, is also wanted on an outstanding probation revocation warrant and has prior convictions for criminal property damage. Vierra is 5 feet 8 inches tall, about 150 pounds, with a medium build, brown hair and brown eyes.

Vierra is known to frequent the Leeward Coast, especially the Waianae Boat Harbor area. Anyone with information is asked to call Special Agent Kay Een of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service at 474-1218, ext. 266. Calls may also be made to CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or by dialing *CRIME on a cellular phone.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Home suffers $122,400 in damage from blaze

Fire heavily damaged a two-story house in Pahoa on the Big Island Thursday night, officials said.

Neighbors living on the same property at 13-3508 Pomaikai St. in Leilani Estates were awakened by a dog barking and noticed flames coming out of the home just before midnight. The neighbors woke up the occupants of the burning house. No one was hurt.

Firefighters had the fire under control by 12:34 a.m. Damage to the home and its contents was estimated at $122,400. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.