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Passport fee rises $12 with new surcharge

A $12 "security surcharge" will be added to passport fees next month, said U.S. State Department officials in Honolulu.

The new fee, which starts March 8, will go to help pay for several security enhancements. It will also cover the cost of upgrading passport delivery from first class to priority mail, officials said.

Also, the fee to search State Department files to verify a passport applicant's U.S. citizenship will increase by $15, to $60, on March 8.

For more information on the new passport fees, call the National Passport Information Center at 877-487-2778 or visit the State Department's Web site at www.travel.state.gov.

Chernobyl survivors' doctor visits Hawaii

A Ukrainian doctor who works with survivors of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster stopped in Honolulu yesterday on her way to the Marshall Islands.

Dr. Lyudmyla Porokhnyak will be meeting with people affected by the United States' test of a hydrogen bomb at Bikini atoll in the northern Marshalls. The test on March 1, 1954, dubbed "Bravo," yielded the largest nuclear blast ever engineered by the United States.

The BRAVO Survivors International Conference in the Marshall Islands will be the first worldwide gathering of the survivors, spokeswoman Julia Estrella said.

Between 1946 and 1958 the United States detonated 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands.

Porokhnyak is medical director of the Women's Society in Ukraine.

Much more remains to be learned about the consequences of nuclear accidents such as Chernobyl, Porokhnyak said.

Lawyer is suspended over panel's inquiry

A Big Island attorney has been suspended from practicing law for failing to cooperate with a state Office of Disciplinary Counsel investigation.

Tim E. De Silva, 54, was suspended Wednesday by the Hawaii Supreme Court.

He was being investigated for his client trust activity, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel said. De Silva may not accept any new clients and has been ordered to return papers, property and unearned advance payments to existing clients.

De Silva was admitted to the Hawaii bar on Oct. 17, 1975, and is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley's law school.

Top architects to judge fellowship applicants

A group of top-notch architects will gather in Honolulu next month to judge entrants of the Lyceum Fellowship, one of the nation's most lucrative student architectural design competitions.

This year's design competition is called "Smart Material: Wearable Architecture." Entrants are required to "design a building that is self-sufficient, inhabitable by a single person or used to create large environments when colonized."

Peter Vincent & Associates will host the fellowship's jury members, who include Jennifer Siegal, principal of Los Angeles-based Office of Mobile Design; Alanna Stang, executive editor of I.D. Magazine; Andrew Blauvelt, design director for the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minn.; and Amy Christie Anderson, principal of ACAtects.

The first prize for the fellowship is $10,000 for six months' travel abroad.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

HONOLULU

Fugitive is sought for parole violation

Robert Joseph Gouveia Jr.: The felon is considered armed and dangerous

Honolulu police, the state Department of Public Safety and the Hawaii Paroling Authority are searching for a 35-year-old fugitive.

Robert Joseph Gouveia Jr., who is wanted on a parole violation warrant, has convictions for kidnapping, armed robbery, sex assault, theft and escape. He is considered armed and dangerous, police said.

Gouveia frequents Ewa Beach and downtown Honolulu and might be riding a mo-ped.

Gouveia, also known as Bobby, is Hawaiian, 5 feet 7 inches tall, about 160 pounds, and has shaved black hair, brown eyes, a mustache and a slight beard. He has tattoos on both arms.

Anyone with information should call 911. Anonymous calls can be made to CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cell phone.

WINDWARD OAHU

Woman arrested in firearm threats

A 48-year-old woman, who allegedly threatened to kill herself and her husband, was found yesterday and arrested.

On Sept. 27 the woman, a convicted felon, got into an argument with her 48-year-old husband at their Kahaluu home, police said. She aimed a gun at her husband, but he disarmed her, according to police.

Police located the woman, who was taken to Castle Medical Center for psychiatric care. She was arrested for suspicion of first-degree terroristic threatening and being a felon with an unregistered firearm.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Big Isle man dies after car overturns

HILO >> A Big Island driver died Wednesday when he was thrown from his car in a one-vehicle crash just south of Hilo, police said. The victim was identified as Michael Nelson, 57, of Volcano. Speed and alcohol are believed to have been factors in the crash, police said.

Nelson was driving his 1993 Jeep Wrangler toward Hilo on Volcano Highway when he ran off the left side of the road and overturned about 3:30 p.m., they said. Nelson was wearing a seat belt but was thrown from the vehicle anyway, police said. He was pronounced dead at Hilo hospital at 8:30 p.m.