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An hour donating blood can save about 3 lives

Residents have an opportunity to save about three lives in an hour with a blood donation at Blood Bank of Hawaii blood drives scheduled on Oahu as follows:

Today: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Pearl City Shopping Center.

Saturday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Ben Parker Elementary School Cafeteria (Windward Community Blood Drive sponsored by Honolulu Police Department)

June 12: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Waikele Center.

June 14: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., University of Hawaii-Manoa, Campus Center, Room 309-210.

June 18: 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Town Center of Mililani.

June 19: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Waianae Mall.

June 20-21: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., UH-Manoa Campus Center Room 309-310.

June 26: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Pearlridge Center.

June 28: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Kapiolani Community College Conference Room.

June 30: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Chaminade University, Ching Conference Center.

June 30: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Manoa Shopping Center.

Donors must be 18 or older, in good health, weigh 110 pounds or more and provide a valid photo ID. To make an appointment or get more information, call 845-9966 or see www.bbh.org.

Heart-care author to speak at Ala Wai

"Eat Your Heart Out of Trouble" will be the topic of a free lecture by Neal Pinckney at a Vegetarian Society of Hawaii gathering at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Ala Wai Golf Course Clubhouse, 404 Kapahulu Ave.

He will discuss how he outlived three of four cardiologists who told him he'd be dead if he didn't have immediate bypass surgery 12 years ago.

He'll also describe ways to prevent and reverse heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and lose weight.

Pinckney is the author of the "Healthy Heart Handbook" and founder and director of the Healing Heart Foundation (www.kumu.org).

He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and Oxford University and professor emeritus and former chair of Behavioral Sciences at California State University-Sacramento. He had a private practice in family and individual therapy and psychoanalysis for about 30 years.

For more information, call the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii, 944-8344, or see VSH.org.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM The Honolulu Fire Department searched Kaimana Beach last night after receiving reports of a paraglider in distress. Firefighters waited as fireworks went off over Waikiki.

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NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Kauai crews bring brush fire under control

Kauai firefighters fought a brush fire yesterday that burned more than 40 acres near Lihue between Friday night and last night.

The fire started about 8:30 p.m. Friday and raged through the night.

Firefighters couldn't do much to stop the fire's spread until yesterday morning because hiking the dense terrain in the area at night would have been too dangerous, said Battalion Chief Teddy Williams.

He said there are no homes in the area, but the blaze did get within a few hundred feet of Garden Island Disposal on Niumalu Road.

A bulldozer cut a road for firefighters yesterday afternoon so that they could bring their hoses deeper into the dense brush to douse remaining hot spots, Williams said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

50-year-old charged with drug trafficking

A 50-year-old woman has been charged with drug trafficking after police found 89.5 grams of crystal methamphetamine in her pick-up truck, Big Island police said.

Susan Watson, of no permanent address, was arrested in Naalehu Thursday. Police also found drug paraphernalia, marijuana residue and ammunition for a .22-caliber handgun in her truck.

She is being held in Kona in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Watson could also face federal prosecution, police said.

WAIKIKI

Crews search waters for downed paraglider

The Honolulu Fire Department and Coast Guard searched the ocean off Kaimana Beach for several hours last night, after receiving a report of a paraglider in distress.

People at the beach told officials they saw a paraglider aloft over the ocean at 7:30 p.m., said Coast Guard Petty Officer Kien Pham.

The Coast Guard and Fire Department each sent one boat and one helicopter to search for the paraglider, didn't find anything and no one had been reported missing.

WEST OAHU

4-year-old reports alleged sex assault

Police arrested a 14-year-old boy yesterday for questioning about an alleged sexual assault of a 4-year-old girl last month.

The girl told her parents that the boy, an acquaintance of her family, sexually assaulted her on May 23 in Makakilo. The boy was released pending investigation.

HONOLULU

Water main breaks on Kapiolani Boulevard

The Board of Water Supply was investigating a break in a 12-inch water main near the intersection of Kapiolani Boulevard and Ward Avenue last night.

The break was reported at 7:02 p.m. and at 9 p.m. workers were still trying to find the exact location of the break, a BWS spokesman said. Police were directing traffic around water on the road.

LEEWARD OAHU

Police seek suspect in Waimalu robbery

Police want help in identifying a man possibly in his early 20s who allegedly robbed a 51-year-old woman of her purse Thursday at the Waimalu Shopping Center.

The woman was walking to her car at about 7 p.m. after grocery shopping when the suspect came from behind, pushed her to the ground and grabbed her purse, police said.

The suspect fled in a waiting vehicle last seen heading makai on Kaahumanu Street.

Police said the suspect may be responsible for two other similar purse snatchings.

The suspect, known as "James," is 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds with a medium build, short, black, curly hair and a tan complexion.

Police said the suspect may be from Waianae.

Anyone with information should call Detective Derrick Kiyotaki at 529-3436. Anonymous calls may be made to CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on your cell phone.