UH regents to discuss McClain contract offer

The University of Hawaii Board of Regents is scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss a contract offer to interim University of Hawaii President David McClain.

"We will have a draft (contract) by then," board Chairwoman Kitty Lagareta said yesterday. "The discussion is going very well. We're moving toward having one for Tuesday to present to the regents."

The meeting to appoint McClain as president is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Honolulu Community College.

Lagareta said McClain's salary will be in line with College and University Professional Association for Human Resources guidelines, which the university uses to set the salaries for most of its jobs.

"He (McClain) doesn't feel the president should be way outside the standard set for other positions," Lagareta said.

McClain currently makes $341,256 a year, plus the use of the College Hill residence in Manoa. McClain did not return a call asking for comment.

Committee advances Big Island land bill

The House Finance Committee voted 16-2 to pass a bill that would clear the way for the Hokulia luxury residential development planned for Big Island agricultural land.

The bill would also recognize the legality of other island housing already built on agricultural land. The legislation now goes to the full House for a vote. If approved, it would go to the Senate.

The action came as the Hawaii County Council unanimously approved a recommendation for settlement of the Hokulia dispute on Wednesday, which could allow the project to resume without legislation. No details of the proposal were immediately available.

Work on the $1 billion Hokulia project stopped in 2003 after Big Island Circuit Court Judge Ronald Ibarra ruled developers should have gotten Land Use Commission approval to build multimillion-dollar homes and a golf course on property classified for farm use.

Gasoline spill results in fine of $24,750

The state has fined Tesoro Hawaii Corp. $24,750 in connection with a gasoline spill at a Tesoro station in Kailua.

The spill happened on or about May 3, 2002, at the Tesoro station at 1143 Kailua Road. A flexible underground fuel hose ruptured and released about 2,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline into fuel sumps and surrounding soil, a state Department of Health press release said.

The gasoline also reached ground water, state officials said. However, there are no drinking-water wells nearby. The station is across Kailua Road from Kawainui Marsh and within two miles of Kailua Bay.

The leak set off an on-site alarm, but Tesoro did not notify the Health Department until May 13, 2002, state officials said.

Tesoro officials said the company has paid the fine, but they believe adequate and necessary steps were taken in a timely manner to minimize the impacts of the gasoline spill. And soil samples and ground-water monitoring wells show the gasoline did not spread, company officials said.

What's inside your Star-Bulletin this weekend:

Saturday

KEEPING FAITH
Sisters have mothers' touch
Two Honolulu women chose the life of religious sisters, but they also hold the title of mom and grandma.

Sunday

TODAY
It's Oscar weekend
And the Oscar goes to ... Jon Stewart, irreverent master of "The Daily Show," takes on the Hollywood establishment as host of Sunday's Academy Awards show. The talent coordinator assigned to be sure he's on time and comfortable all night is Kalani High School graduate Julie Kaneko Hall.

Heart of South African art
"Personal Affects: Power and Poetics in Contemporary South African Art," a powerful new exhibit at the Contemporary Museum, captures the individualism of a unique and troubled nation.

BUSINESS
Pot of gold
More than a decade after Israel Kamakawiwoole recorded "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and nine years after the singer's death, the poignant song continues to make its presence felt all over the globe.

There's no place like online
The Internet is changing the way prospective home buyers look for a house and could result in lowering real estate agents' commissions.

Police, Fire, Courts

Star-Bulletin staff

WINDWARD OAHU

Runaway teen turns herself in to police

A missing 16-year-old girl who had fled with her infant daughter turned herself in yesterday at the Kaneohe police station.

Police said Mercedez Estocado turned herself in after her boyfriend, Beau Salis, was arrested for violating a temporary restraining order. Her 3-month-old baby, Skyylee Estocado-Salis, was returned to her grandmother in good condition, police said.

Estocado and her mother have a temporary restraining order against Salis, the baby's father.

Police said Estocado had driven off from her mother's Kaneohe home Saturday in her mother's car without permission.

WEST OAHU

Man hit by truck while crossing street dies

A 76-year-old Kalaeloa man died yesterday morning after he was struck by a pickup truck while crossing a street in Kalaeloa.

A 2003 blue Dodge pickup truck was heading north in the center lane of Enterprise Avenue when it struck the pedestrian at about 6:30 a.m., police said. Police said the victim was outside a marked crosswalk.

He was taken to the Queen's Medical Center, where he later died.

Police said that the collision occurred during the darkness and heavy rain.

HONOLULU

Man arrested following attack using pool cue

Police arrested a 40-year-old man Wednesday night after he allegedly attacked another man with a pool cue in McCully.

Police said the suspect and the victim, 25, were involved in a traffic incident at about 9 p.m. when the suspect approached the victim with the cue and began assaulting him. The two began fighting and caused substantial injuries to each other, police said.

Both men were taken to an area hospital in serious condition, police said.

Police arrested the 40-year-old for investigation of second-degree assault.