Newswatch Star-Bulletin staff and wire service

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LOYAL MONK:

Solicitation upsets lawyer group

Publicity about a lawyer's attempt to find clients willing to challenge the Hawaiians-only admission policy of Kamehameha Schools has projected a negative image of attorneys, according to the Hawaii State Bar Association.

A statement yesterday from the Bar Association board of directors said the controversy sparked by David Rosen's action "highlighted the need to review, in a timely and reasoned manner, the issue of client solicitation in our community."

The board acknowledged that it does not have jurisdiction to chastise Rosen, who sent an e-mail to a fellow attorney and the head of a nonprofit group asking them to refer potential plaintiffs against Kamehameha to him.

Rosen sent the message the day after a previous challenger reached a settlement with Kamehameha Schools. He told the board at its Thursday meeting that the e-mail was not a solicitation for fee-paying clients and "in his opinion, is in the best tradition of the profession in providing representation to clients who chose to pursue unpopular causes," the statement said.

Rosen told the board that the state Office of Disciplinary Counsel received a complaint and started an investigation.

Poor offered free health coverage

Up to 20,000 needy men and women, including part-time and unemployed workers, are eligible to enroll in a free Medicaid health insurance program offered by the state Department of Human Services.

The new QUEST-ACE (Adult Coverage Expansion) program is open to residents ages 19 to 64 whose income is at or below the federal poverty level. For single adults, the limits are $980 per month or $11,760 per year. For married adults, the income limits are $1,313 per month or $15,756 per year.

Benefits include inpatient and outpatient care, emergency room visits, mental health services, diagnostic tests, immunizations, alcohol and substance abuse treatments, dental care and prescription drug coverage.

For more information or to obtain an application, contact Aloha United Way at 211 or call 524-3370 on Oahu or (800) 316-8005 toll-free from the neighbor islands. Translation services are available.

Police, Fire, Courts Star-Bulletin staff

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Wailuku driver, 31, dies after drifting out of lane, hitting truck

WAILUKU » A man died in a two-vehicle crash on Maui.

Ray Wilhelm, 31, of Wailuku died at Maui Memorial Medical Center after the crash at 10:48 p.m. Monday, Maui police said.

Wilhelm was westbound on Mill Street and approaching the intersection at North Market when his vehicle drifted into the oncoming lane and collided head-on with a pickup truck, police traffic investigator Dukie Racadio said.

The driver of the other vehicle was treated for minor cuts and scrapes and released at the scene.

Wilhelm was the ninth traffic fatality in Maui County this year, compared with six for the same period last year.

HONOLULU

19-year-old held in online enticement

Police arrested a 19-year-old Pearl City man who allegedly arranged to meet two 13-year-old girls to have sex in a hotel room.

He allegedly asked to meet the girls -- actually police detectives chatting with the suspect on the Internet -- at Manoa Marketplace, and the three would go to a hotel, according to a news release by the state Department of the Attorney General.

When the man arrived, detectives arrested him on suspicion of two counts of first-degree electronic enticement of a child.

LEEWARD

Wrong-way driver arrested in mo-ped theft

Police arrested a 18-year-old man who was allegedly driving a stolen mo-ped the wrong way in traffic last night with the headlight turned off.

An officer pulled over the driver of the mo-ped in Waianae at about 11:15 p.m., police said. The officer conducted a routine check on the mo-ped and learned that it had been reported stolen.

The officer then arrested the man for investigation of auto theft and traffic violations.