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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff
and wire service
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Big Apple chef wins Big Isle contest
Ilan Hall, the 24-year-old wonder chef from New York, won Bravo's "Top Chef" competition in a finale from the Big Island, with Hawaii chef Roy Yamaguchi among the judges. The episode, taped last month and aired last night, put Hall to work in the kitchen of Donatoni's in the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Hall defeated Las Vegas chef Marcel Vigneron, 26, with a five-course meal inspired by local ingredients, including an entree course of Macadamia Nut Gazpacho with Pan-Roasted Moi. His prize: $100,000, a new kitchen, a feature in Food & Wine magazine and a cooking spot at the Aspen Food & Wine Festival.
Ewa Beach basks in free Wi-Fi
Ewa Beach District Park users can now get free wireless Internet access, thanks to a group of volunteers dedicated to free and open-source software. The city set up the Wi-Fi hot spot in a partnership with the
Hawaii Open Source Educational Foundation and local entrepreneur Jim Thompson. The hot spot covers the whole park, HOSEF Executive Director Scott Belford said. The group also maintains a computer lab with eight refurbished computers at the park and classes for kids.
Returning UH students can apply for grants
Students who return to complete their degrees after being out of school for at least five years can apply for grants at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and UH-West Oahu provided by the Bernard Osher Foundation.
The foundation gives the campuses $50,000 each as part of a national program, UH announced in a new release.
UH-Manoa Chancellor Denise Konan said, "Many of these returning students are working parents with families to support. They face special challenges in resuming their educations after a long hiatus as they juggle the pressures of working, studying and raising a family."
The Osher Re-entry Scholarship Program will be administered at UH-Manoa by the Bridge to Hope Program, a unit within Student Affairs.
"A survey of UH-West Oahu shows that more than 70 percent of our students report having to provide care for dependents living with them. About 80 percent work while attending classes, with 51 percent working 36 hours or more a week," said Gene Awakuni, chancellor of UH-West Oahu.
Parker Ranch gives beneficiaries $745,000
WAIMEA, Hawaii » The Parker Ranch Foundation Trust has announced $745,000 for 2006 to the trust's four beneficiaries.
The award brings the total to $13 million since 1996. North Hawaii Community Hospital received $357,000, for a total since 1996 of nearly $6.3 million. The Richard Smart Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation received $149,000, for a total of $2.6 million. Both Hawaii Preparatory Academy and Parker School Trust Corp. received $119,200, for totals of nearly $2.1 million.
SHINING STARS
Ryan Kamisugi is promoted to Eagle Scout
Ryan Naoto Kamisugi of Honolulu was promoted to the rank of Eagle Scout by the Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He belongs to Unit 35 in Kapiolani.
Rajkamal Kahlon of Kaneohe is one of 25 recipients nationwide to be awarded $25,000 by the 2006 Painters & Sculptors Grant Program, sponsored by the Joan Mitchell Foundation of New York.
Macy's Hawaii Region, including Guam, won the top 10 places in Macy West's "Thanks for Sharing" Campaign, raising more than $375,000 for local charities. The stores that raised the most money included the Downtown branch, Kahala, Kailua, Prince Kuhio (Hilo), Windward Mall, Pearlridge, Ala Moana, Micronesia Mall (Guam), Kaahumanu (Maui) and Kukui Grove (Kauai).
Waste Management of Hawaii donated $20,000 to help the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center build a new facility. The new 26,000-square foot building will help to alleviate a severe shortage of clinic space for basic family medicine and emergencies.
Sacred Hearts Academy received a $500,000 grant from the Mary D. & Walter F. Frear Eleemosynary Trust for a new Performing Arts Building.
"Shining Stars" runs Monday through Thursday.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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Maui woman is charged in fatal hit-and-run
WAILUKU » Maui police have charged a woman after the vehicle she was driving struck a pedestrian and she allegedly fled the scene.
Leona Figueira, 40, of Kahului was arrested at a friend's house in Kihei less than two hours after the hit-and-run accident on Mokulele Highway.
Figueira was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and driving without a license. She was freed after posting $1,200 bail.
The victim, Matthew Manibog, 40, of Wailuku was walking on Mokulele Highway toward Kihei when he was struck by a vehicle going the opposite direction at 10:03 p.m. Monday, police said.
Manibog was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center and died the next morning.
Police Lt. Jeffrey Tanoue said traffic investigators are still trying to determine whether Manibog was walking on the road or on the shoulder of the highway.
The accident took place about 1.5 miles north of Piilani Highway.
Tanoue said a person in a vehicle driving a few cars behind Figueira saw the crash and followed her vehicle.
He said the witness contacted police.
HONOLULU
Suspect sought in Kalihi bank heist
Police are looking for a man who allegedly robbed Central Pacific Bank in Kalihi yesterday.
At 11:46 a.m., police said, the suspect told a teller at 2119 N. King St. she would get hurt if she did not comply with his demands. The teller gave the man money before he fled east on North King Street. No weapon was observed.
Police described the suspect as being in his late 20s to 30s, 6 feet tall, weighing 160 to 180 pounds, with a slim build and black wavy hair. He was wearing a dark baseball cap, white long-sleeve T-shirt, blue jeans and a black backpack.
Stolen copper wire worth $350,000
Police are investigating the theft of $350,000 worth of copper wire from a truck.
About 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, a transportation worker reported a stock of wire missing from the back of a work truck parked in a secured Department of Transportation yard at 727 Kakoi St. since Friday, police said.
Police investigate child sex assault
Police are investigating the sexual assault of a Moanalua juvenile by a schoolmate.
Police said the juvenile reported going to a classmate's apartment Monday and being sexually assaulted by the classmate between 3:50 and 4 p.m. Police would not give the sex of the suspect and victim.
WAIKIKI
Military marker stirs Elks Club to evacuate
A military canister believed to have been washed ashore by big waves emitted smoke and was removed off a Waikiki beach yesterday.
At 8:23 a.m., firefighters responded to a call of a canister spotted on the beach off 2943 Kalakaua Ave. Police evacuated the Elks Club and surrounding areas while a HazMat team assessed it. Members of the Army's 706th Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit removed the canister.
Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti described the device as an MK58, a marker used to mark areas in the ocean by emitting red smoke.
