Honolulu Star-Bulletin News - Briefs /2005/08/23/

Don Ho released from hospital

Entertainer Don Ho, who had been hospitalized in Honolulu for shortness of breath, was released yesterday.

The 75-year-old was admitted Friday and was receiving treatment for an abnormal heart rhythm.

He will reschedule his Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel shows.

A mainland concert tour set for next month was postponed.

Board of Water Supply honors top employees

Gary Tomita and Herbert Wong are the Honolulu Board of Water Supply's Employees of the Year.

"Gary and Herb represent the kind of enthusiastic and committed professionals we are so lucky to call colleagues here at the BWS," said Deputy Manager Donna Kiyosaki.

The agency's board of directors presented resolutions yesterday to Tomita, a computer programmer involved with developing and implementing several time- and money-saving computer programs, and Wong, a water plant maintenance repair supervisor who helps oversee maintenance and operation of water system pumping equipment.

Meeting on natural, cultural resources

State legislators will hold a meeting on the establishment of Marine Managed Areas at 6 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Haleakoakoa Campus Center at Windward Community College.

Lawmakers said this meeting was added onto a series of statewide meetings on the subject due to heavy community interest.

Marine Managed Areas are established to protect an area's natural and cultural resources.

Event offers keiki free horseback rides

Manawale'a Riding Center's fourth annual ranch party to raise funds for its therapeutic horsemanship program will be from 1 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Da Ranch in Waimanalo.

Free horseback riding will be available for children from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. and from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Covered shoes are required.

The event also will feature entertainment, door prizes, a raffle, silent and live auctions, a country store, lomilomi and keiki games.

Admission is free. Plate lunch tickets will be available for $5.

The riding center, at 41-170A Waikupanaha St. in Waimanalo, is a nonprofit organization staffed by volunteers to provide a therapeutic outdoor educational experience for children and adults with disabilities.

For more information, call 352-1523 or visit www.manawalea.org.

HPU nursing program accredited for 8 years

The National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission recently awarded Hawaii Pacific University's School of Nursing program another eight years of accreditation, the longest accreditation period the commission can grant.

The nursing program is the largest collegiate nursing program in the state, according to HPU officials.

Taking Notice

» The Jessie Ann Chalmers Charitable Trust has donated $4,000 to the American Cancer Society to help families cope and support any member with cancer. The funds will go toward the Families*Can*Survive retreat.

» Ryan Oishi, 2000 Punahou Schools graduate, received $10,000 from the University of Southern California by earning degrees in widely disparate fields of study while maintaining a 3.5 grade-point average.

Oishi, who majored in English (creative writing) and business administration, was among 10 Renaissance Scholars awarded the prize at commencement in May based on an essay and faculty recommendations.

Oishi will pursue a master's degree in creative writing and serve as a teaching aide at the University of Hawaii this fall.

» Tess Lane, associate professor of Spanish and teaching English as a second language at Hawaii Pacific University, has earned the 2005 Hawaii Association of Language Teachers Award for Excellence in Foreign Language Teaching in higher education.

» Mid-Pacific Institute and Punahou School have tied for first place in the Academic WorldQuest Competition, sponsored by the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council. Third place went to the Education Laboratory School. The competition is a quiz game to promote education about different parts of the world. Winning team members include Gan Uyeda, Carolyn Pearce, Kyla Graham and Kyle Tani of Mid-Pacific; and George Bogden, Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, Paige Heckathorn and Zoe Morrison of Punahou.

Police, Fire, Courts

By Star-Bulletin staff

NORTH SHORE

Nude camper tries to deter car thief

A nude female camper jumped on the hood of a rental car to try to stop a suspect from stealing it yesterday morning in Mokuleia.

Police said a man was trying to steal a silver four-door Chevrolet sedan from Mokuleia beach at about 8 a.m. yesterday.

Police said the woman, a visitor from the mainland, was inside a tent when she heard the car starting up while her boyfriend was swimming.

The woman, in her 20s, ran out and confronted the man, police said. The man allegedly drove off with the woman on the hood of the car.

Police later found the car in a Waialua cornfield, but the suspect was not found.

Police have classified the case as a robbery.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Motorcyclist dies after rear-ending vehicle

A 54-year-old Kealakekua man died yesterday of injuries suffered in a motorcycle-motor vehicle collision Sunday evening at Kuakini Highway, Kamehameha III Road and Walua Road.

Police said Michael D. Bovard was riding a 2000 Kawasaki motorcycle north on Kuakini when he struck a vehicle in front of him making a right turn onto Walua Road. Kona patrol officers responded to the 10:30 p.m. call.

Bovard was taken to Kona Community Hospital, where he died at 8:50 a.m. yesterday. The driver of the other vehicle, a 42-year-old Pennsylvania man, was not injured.

Traffic Enforcement Unit officers have ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

The death was the 23rd traffic fatality on the Big Island so far this year, compared with 28 at the same time last year.

HONOLULU

Odor causes 4 to be taken to hospital

Four people were taken to the hospital for observation after complaining of nausea because of an odor coming from a clogged restroom drain at a Honolulu Airport building yesterday.

State crash crews evacuated 140 people from the United Airlines reservations office between 4:30 and 5 a.m. after complaints about a rotten egg smell.

Honolulu Fire Department hazardous materials crews and state firefighters determined the smell was coming from floor drains in building restrooms. Seven other people were treated at the scene and released, officials said.

WINDWARD OAHU

Driver hits utility pole after falling asleep

Police shut down Kamehameha Highway in Hauula for four hours yesterday after four utility poles were downed by a car driven by a sleeping driver.

Police said the 21-year-old Laie woman fell asleep at the wheel and struck a utility pole, and took down two others with it. She suffered minor injuries and refused treatment.

Hawaiian Electric Co. workers later realized four poles were taken down: two regular poles and two stub poles, which hold up the regular poles.

The woman was driving a 1990 four-door sedan toward Kahuku when the accident occurred at about 1:42 p.m.

Police shut down the highway in both directions until they began contra-flowing traffic sometime between 5:30 and 6 p.m.

HECO restored power to about 200 customers last night and was working through the night to restore power to 50 other customers.

[ The Courts ]

Alleged shooter appears in court

A man accused of shooting another man three times in Kalihi on Wednesday made his first appearance in Honolulu District Court yesterday.

Zaldy Doles Tomas, 18, is charged with second-degree attempted murder for allegedly shooting Bryan Flores, 20, in the cheek and both shoulders near Owen and North King streets.

Flores had been walking home and apparently had stopped to talk to a group drinking when he was allegedly fired upon. Flores managed to flee across a freeway overpass to his Ahu Lane home, where a family member called for help.

Tomas is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is set for tomorrow.

Tripler reaffirms duty to patients

The staff at Tripler Army Medical Center takes the care and safety of their patients very seriously, said Tripler spokeswoman Margaret Tippy.

The hospital was responding to a decision last week by a federal judge who ordered Tripler to pay $906,000 to a former patient who had been molested by one of its nurses.

U.S. District Judge Susan Mollway found the hospital liable for emotional distress and injuries suffered by Lacey Panion and her husband, Gary.

Mollway found that Tripler "failed to exercise reasonable care to protect Lacey Panion from the foreseeable risk of sexual assault." She also found that Tripler's failure to reasonably supervise nurse Tyrone Fellers was a "substantial factor" in the sexual assault.

Fellers later pleaded guilty to sexually abusing Panion and is serving a 6 1/2-year prison term.

Attorneys for the Army are reviewing Mollway's ruling before deciding whether to appeal.