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[ TAKING NOTICE ]

>> University of Hawaii astronomer Michael Liu and assistant professor of physics Kirill Melnikov were recently named recipients of the 2005 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship.

Liu has been awarded a Sloan Fellowship to search for newly formed planets outside of the solar system. Using the Keck telescope on Mauna Kea, Liu is studying the formation of planets around young stars.

By studying how young planets form around new stars, Liu hopes to learn how planets formed in our own solar system, as well as around other stars.

Liu came to UH as the Beatrice Watson Parrent Fellow in 2000 and was appointed to an assistant professorship in 2004.

Melnikov received a Sloan Fellowship, including a grant, to support his research with the university's High Energy Physics Theory Group.

The fellowship follows the U.S. Department of Energy's Outstanding Junior Investigator Award, which Melnikov received in 2003.

Melnikov joined UH-Manoa in 2002.

He is an internationally recognized expert on precision calculations in elementary particle physics.

Melnikov was one of 23 scientists awarded the Sloan Research Fellowship in physics this year. Liu was one of eight young scientists in astrophysics to receive it.

The Sloan Research Fellowships, which were established in 1955, provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars.

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Civil defense sirens will blare tomorrow

The state Civil Defense Division's monthly test of the sirens and the emergency alert system is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. tomorrow.

The siren test is the "attention/alert" signal, a steady 45-second tone. It is used to alert the public of any emergency that might pose a threat to life and property, including natural and technological hazards, terrorist threats or acts of war.

When the siren is on in your district, turn on any radio or television station for emergency information and instructions from Civil Defense.

Monthly tests are usually conducted on the first working day of the month. Civil Defense disaster preparedness information is also located in the front section of the white pages of telephone directories.

Box jellyfish due back along southern shores

Lifeguards have issued a box jellyfish advisory for today and tomorrow.

Those who are allergic to jellyfish stings are advised to stay out of the water.

The most commonly affected areas including Waikiki and Ala Moana beaches. Box jellyfish have also been known to come into Hanauma Bay, Pokai Bay, Makaha Surfing Beach and Waimea Bay.

For more information, contact the city Ocean Safety Division at 922-3888.

Lucky work volunteers to get Haleakala hike

WAILUKU >> Haleakala National Park on Maui is holding a lottery to select 12 volunteer workers to go on a three-day backpacking trip into the crater July 2-4.

A lottery will be held June 9, and those selected will be required to each pay a $15 fee.

The volunteer workers would be accompanied by park staff and hike down on July 2 to sliding sands trail to Paliku, where they would do volunteer work and stay in a visitor cabin both nights.

They would hike out of the crater through the Kaupo Gap on July 4.

A lottery entry is limited to no more than two people. To participate, send a name, address, telephone number and the number of people in the party to Kaupo Service Trip, Haleakala National Park, P.O. Box 369, Makawao, HI 96768.

For more information, the public is asked to call 808-572-4459 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

HONOLULU

Police arrest 4 in late-night robberies and assaults

Police arrested three men and a juvenile who allegedly went on a robbery spree early Sunday.

The suspects were first spotted about 1 a.m. along Ala Moana Boulevard, when one of them allegedly punched a 27-year-man and then grabbed his wife's handbag. Police said that suspect jumped into a maroon-colored sport utility vehicle.

Then about an hour later, the suspects allegedly pulled two teenagers out of their car, which was parked at the Aiea Shopping Center, and robbed them of their belongings. They also allegedly removed speakers and stereo equipment from the victims' car, then pushed one of the victims -- a 19-year-old man -- inside the suspect's SUV and then fled.

Police said the suspects drove the victim to a nearby store and forced him to withdraw cash from an automated teller machine. After that the suspects brought the victim to an open field where they assaulted him and removed his shoes and shirt.

Police said the victim returned to the ATM and called police, who later found the suspects along Kalakaua Avenue and Makaloa Street. Officers arrested the four suspects, ages 19, 18, 16, and 20, for investigation of kidnapping, robbery, theft, assault and unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle. Police said they were able to recover most of the victims' property and return it to their rightful owners.

Hiker reported missing turns up OK

A 24-year-old man who was reported missing after his personal belongings were found on a bench at the Manoa Falls pool was reported to be OK, according to Honolulu police.

Joel Lemmon became emotionally distraught after hiking into the falls and left the area without taking his things, according to missing-persons detectives. Hikers found his belongings about 9 a.m. Friday, police said. Police later found his mountain bike secured with a lock at the entrance to the falls trail.

Missing-persons investigator Phil Camero said police had trouble locating Lemmon because he had just moved back to Hawaii about a month ago and had not updated his address and contact information. Lemmon's co-workers called police and reported that Lemmon was not missing and had gone to work on Sunday after reading about a search for him in a newspaper.

CENTRAL OAHU

24-year-old man reports being raped

A 24-year-old man told police he was sexually assaulted by another man who offered to drive him home Sunday morning.

Police said the victim was too intoxicated to make it back to his apartment in Wahiawa and that a man he did not know offered to drive him back. The victim told police he voluntarily got into the suspect's vehicle and then passed out. He awoke later in a wooded area where he was being sexually assaulted, he told police.

The victim ended up at the doorsteps to his residence at about 3:45 a.m. but told police he was in and out of consciousness and does not remember how he got there. Police were investigating the case as a first-degree sexual assault.

WINDWARD OAHU

Laie woman dies after crashing her truck

A 38-year old Laie woman was killed Sunday night after she lost control of her vehicle and crashed near Kamehameha Highway and Punaluu Valley Road.

Police said the victim was traveling Kaneohe-bound on Kamehameha Highway at a high rate of speed just before 8:30 p.m. when she lost control of the 2003 Dodge pickup she was driving, veered in both directions, then struck a utility pole and a cement wall. The crash happened in front of Ching's Store at 53-3360 Kamehameha Highway.

The victim was taken to Kahuku Hospital where she later died, according to investigators. Police closed Kamehameha Highway in both directions for several hours as they investigated the crash.

Investigators said it appears speed was a factor in the crash, but it is not known if alcohol or drugs were involved. Although the victim was wearing a seat belt and the side airbag deployed, police said the front airbag did not. This was the 34th traffic fatality on Oahu this year compared with 30 for the same time period last year.

NORTH SHORE

2 men are robbed at gunpoint in Haleiwa

Police are looking for a man who robbed two other men at gunpoint Sunday night on the North Shore.

The victims, 32 and 28, had just left a bar-and-grill restaurant in Haleiwa Market at about 10:20 p.m. when they saw the suspect sitting in their rental car. When they approached their vehicle, the man got out, pulled out a silver revolver and demanded money, police said.

The victims handed the suspect their cell phones and a wallet, and the suspect then fled, police said. Police described the suspect only as a man in his 20s.