Honolulu Star-Bulletin News /2005/03/22/

HE GOT DUMPED

RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
A Honolulu Disposal Service truck overturned yesterday near the intersection of Dole and McCully streets. A crewman from Affordable Tow worked to secure lines to two large tow trucks that were used to right the truck.

Red-light camera plan stalls in committee

A plan to put cameras at intersections to catch drivers who speed through red lights has failed to move forward in the Senate.

Members of the joint Transportation and Government Operations and Intergovernmental Affairs committees voted yesterday to hold the bill.

Under the measure, citations would have been mailed to the car's registered owner, and photographs taken of the driver illegally crossing the intersection.

Similar proposals to catch red-light runners have failed in recent years.

A 2002 state-run system to catch speeders using cameras planted in unmarked vans parked along the roadway was later aborted.

Residents protest plan to demolish housing

A small group of residents rallied at the state Capitol yesterday against the state's plan to demolish a housing project in Waianae this summer.

They said the loss of the Ulu Wehi housing project will make even more people homeless on the Leeward coast.

"All we want to do is see that the state don't step in and shut it down with the demolition, because we really need it," said Ulu Wehi resident Barbara Badayos. "You know, it's only going to be more problems for more homeless, and probably one day, maybe, I going be homeless myself."

The state said the 60-unit complex needs to be torn down because it is dilapidated. Residents nearby have complained that the site has become a hangout for drug users.

The state wants to build a new affordable transitional housing facility on the grounds, but Ulu Wehi residents say that would take too long. Some said they cannot afford to pay money required upfront for housing alternatives offered by the state.

Kauai Circuit judge is easily confirmed

The state Senate confirmed Kathleen Watanabe as a judge with the Kauai Circuit Court yesterday.

"After all, Ms. Watanabe is a Kauai girl. She is a graduate of Kapaa High School, and she has done her school and her island proud," Sen. Gary Hooser (D, Kauai-Niihau) said in testimony on the Senate floor.

Watanabe's nomination won approval on a wave of strong supporting testimony from her colleagues and Kauai community members and leaders.

Watanabe most recently served as director of the state Department of Human Resources.

From 1995 to 1998, she served as a per diem judge on Kauai, and she was Kauai County's attorney from 1990 to 1994.

She is a graduate of the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law and the University of Puget Sound.

[ Taking notice ]

HONORS

» Hawaiian Electric Co.'s 2004 Energy Efficiency Awards were given to two City and County of Honolulu projects, which won the grand prize for installing special kinds of traffic signals at 500 intersections and renovating Honolulu Hale.

Other winners included Pacific Guardian Tower, Hawaiki Tower, Iolani School Multiple Purpose Building, Ford Island Navy Housing, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

Honorable mentions were Central Pacific Plaza, Kaimuki Shopping Center, the Honolulu Advertiser printing plant, Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, the U.S. Coast Guard's Thompson Hall Duty Berthing, Schofield Barracks Waste Water Treatment Plant and Hickam Air Force Base.

» The 200 Club of Honolulu, a group that provides immediate interim aid to families of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty, has recognized three Honolulu Fire Department Employees of the Year.

They are Battalion Chief Rolland Harvest, Manager of the Year; Rick Karasaki, Firefighter of the Year; and Equipment Repair Superintendent Dean DeMello, Civilian Employee of the Year.

» Waikiki Health Center and Breakthrough for Youth at Risk have been named winners of the 2004 Central Pacific CATCH (Citizens Against Troublemakers and Criminals in Hawaii) Award.

Police, Fire, Courts

By Star-Bulletin staff

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Driver hospitalized after crash on Maui

A single-car crash on Maui left a woman in critical condition early Sunday.

The accident happened about 1:03 a.m. on Hana Highway near Kahului. Police said the woman was heading toward Paia when she apparently lost control and rolled over into a cane field. She was thrown from the vehicle. Police said she was not wearing a seat belt.

The driver was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center. Police are investigating.

Big Island fugitive arrested by authorities

Kalani Kaohimaunu: The fugitive is caught after being loose since Oct. 27

Big Island police, the state sheriff's department and members of the Hawaii Fugitive Task Force have arrested a 23-year-old fugitive sought by police since he escaped in late October.

Kalani Kaohimaunu was arrested without incident Sunday evening in Pohoiki, Kalapana, an area of Puna. He was charged with escape. West Hawaii Criminal Investigation Section detectives are investigating additional charges of three counts of attempted murder, one count of criminal property damage and firearm offenses.

Kaohimaunu is being held in the Kona police cellblock in lieu of $10,000 bail for the escape charge. He is also being held on several outstanding warrants and pending investigation for the other offenses, which stem from an incident that occurred in February at a Waimea residence.

On Oct. 27, Kaohimaunu escaped on foot from adult corrections officers as he was being transported to the South Kohala District Court for a scheduled appearance on warrants for contempt of court and failure to appear.

Later, on Feb. 5, at a Waimea residence belonging to his mother, Kaohimaunu allegedly confronted three men, looking for his brother, with a .22-caliber rifle. He fired four to eight rounds as the three victims fled the area in their vehicle, according to police. Several struck the rear bumper and grazed the left rear passenger door, police said.

HONOLULU

Gulick Delicatessen is damaged in blaze

Fire struck a popular Kalihi delicatessen last night, causing $80,000 in damage.

The blaze damaged mostly the rear exterior of Gulick Delicatessen & Coffee Shop, at 1512 Gulick Ave. A corner of the building, a portion of the back wall and the roof were damaged, but most of the interior was OK, said fire Capt. Kenison Tejada.

One firefighter suffering from possible exhaustion was taken to a hospital for observation as a precaution, he said.

The fire's cause was being investigated last night, but officials were focusing on the area near a gas-powered steam cleaner, Tejada said.

The Fire Department received the call at 5:01 p.m. yesterday. Firefighters arrived in two minutes. Six units fought the fire and had it under control by 5:14 p.m., according to Tejada.

Damage was estimated at $50,000 to the structure and $30,000 to the contents, he said. A house behind the building received an estimated $5,000 in damage to the building and $2,000 to its contents.