Newswatch Star-Bulletin staff and wire service

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Update Hanauma plan, audit says

The city needs to plan better for the future of one of Hawaii's most popular attractions, Hanauma Bay, according to a report by the city auditor.

The report released yesterday by city Auditor Leslie Tanaka said the Departments of Parks and Recreation and Budget and Fiscal Services are appropriately tracking and monitoring revenues and expenditures of the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve Fund.

The fund was created to help protect the preserve, which is second only to Waikiki Beach as a tourist destination.

But the city needs to improve how it plans and prepares for the projected financial needs of the preserve, and its 1992 master plan is now "outdated and ineffective as a guide," the report said.

City auditors also found elements of a 2000 carrying capacity study had yet to formally become a part of planning efforts at the preserve.

Recommendations for improvements included updating the master plan for the preserve and making sure preserve staff are actively involved in all levels of planning for the bay's use.

Lagoon Drive restricted on July 4

The Department of Transportation is restricting access to Lagoon Drive near the Honolulu Airport on the Fourth of July to keep people from setting off aerial fireworks in the area, a spokesman for the department said.

Only business tenants, employees, their customers and guests will be allowed in from 6 p.m. to midnight Wednesday.

Deputies from the Sheriff's Office will be operating a security checkpoint near Aolele Street.

The road will be closed off for safety reasons, said state transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa.

Deadline extended for Pflueger

PILAA, Kauai » Kauai landowner James Pflueger has been given more time to complete remediation work at his 373-acre property near Pilaa Beach, the Environmental Protection Agency announced this week.

Pflueger settled lawsuits with a half-dozen private, federal, state and county agencies last year over illegal grading work that damaged streams, Pilaa Beach and a pristine coral reef.

A retired auto dealer, Pflueger had been fined $135,000 earlier this year for not finishing portions of the work on time, but his lawyers argued that they could not get the proper grading permits from the county to even begin the work.

According to the new agreement, portions of the work are slated for completion next year, with the entire $5 million project scheduled to be finished by 2012,* EPA officials said this week.

Work has already started on the removal of a 15-foot berm along Kuhio Highway.

The berm raised the ire of residents dating back to 2000, when the dirt pile began blocking views of the ocean from the highway.

Neem trees planted on top of the berm have also been removed.

The 2006 settlement announcement came just days before another of Pflueger's properties, Ka Loko Dam, breached, sending thousands of gallons of water into Kilauea Bay and killing seven people.

Police, Fire, Courts Star-Bulletin staff

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NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Body identified as missing visitor

MOLOAA, Kauai » Kauai police have confirmed that the body of Roy Overstreet washed up Wednesday after he drowned at Larsen's Beach earlier this week.

Overstreet, 42, of Bellingham, Wash., was swept off the reef Sunday with his pregnant wife, Cara Jaye, 42, and a Kapahi man who swam out to try to help the two.

Jaye was able to reach the shore, while the good Samaritan, Dr. Michael Ancharski, was helped to shore by lifeguards.

Ancharski said he watched Overstreet, not a strong swimmer, go under.

After a two-day search for Overstreet, officials suspended the search. But a body washed up on shore Wednesday.

Officials used dental records to identify Overstreet yesterday, they said.

Haleakala airlift transports body

Maui firefighters airlifted yesterday the body of a man in his 40s or 50s that was found Tuesday below a cliff in Haleakala National Park.

The identity of the man, believed to be a tourist from the mainland, and cause of death are still under investigation, said Dominic Cardea, Haleakala National Park spokesman.

Park rangers spotted the man's body about 500 feet below the Leleiwi overlook after finding an abandoned rental car and searching for the renter.

"We're pretty sure it was the owner of that vehicle," Cardea said.

Firefighters and national park service personnel tried to extract the body, but were delayed by wind and rain until yesterday.

Cardea said firefighters reached the man's body using a 600-foot rope and airlifted the victim to a waiting area.

Passenger injured in cycle crash dies

A woman who was injured in a motorcycle crash June 19 died Thursday at the Maui Memorial Medical Center from her injuries.

Maui police said yesterday that Rochelle Kekona was riding a black Harley-Davidson operated by her husband, Lloyd Kekona, during the crash.

About 7:45 a.m., the Harley-Davidson was heading south on Piilani Highway and rear-ended a 1999 GMC pickup truck in the same lane, police said.

Kekona died at 10:15 a.m. Thursday at the medical center.

It was Maui County's 14th traffic fatality this year compared with nine at the same last year.

Man sought over theft of marijuana

Big Island police are looking for a man wanted in connection with the robbery of five medical marijuana plants.

Police issued an all-points bulletin for 44-year-old Harry Hose. Shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday, officers responded to a home invasion report at a home off Highway 11 between the 88 and 89 mile markers.

A 15-year-old girl was home alone when the suspected confronted her, prevented her from leaving and announced his intentions to rob the home. Five medical marijuana plants, ranging from 2 to 3 feet tall, were stolen, police said.

Witnesses saw a red truck containing four or five men near the home just before the incident. The same truck was seen leaving the home afterward and traveling north on Highway 11. Kona detectives are looking for Hose in connection with robbery and kidnapping charges. Police said Hose is a convicted felon, and considered dangerous.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Sharlotte Bird at 326-4646, ext. 275, or police at 935-3311.

Body found in mud on Maui identified

WAILUKU » The man whose body was found Tuesday in the Maalaea mud flats has been identified as David Fleury of Kihei.

Fleury, 40, was found among the brush next to his motorcycle off the makai side of North Kihei Road near the Maui Electric power plant in Maalaea.

Police Lt. Robert Hill said Fleury suffered multiple traumatic wounds and the motorcycle appeared to have been traveling in the Kihei direction when it went off the road. The accident apparently occurred about a week before his body was found Tuesday afternoon by a bicyclist who noticed a foul odor.

"We're looking at it as a traffic accident," Hill said yesterday.

WEST OAHU

Man busted after threats to 3 people

Police arrested a 37-year-old after he allegedly threatened and assaulted three people when he arrived at home early yesterday morning in Aiea.

According to police, the man got home and allegedly assaulted a 50-year-old man with a knife. Then he allegedly assaulted a 16-year-old girl with a piece of glass. He also allegedly threatened to kill a 60-year-old man with a knife and damaged his property.

The suspect then left the house and allegedly damaged the 60-year-old man's car.

Police arrested the man at the home on suspicion of second-degree attempted murder, second-degree degree assault, first-degree terroristic threatening and criminal property damage.

LEEWARD OAHU

Woman allegedly steals man's ID

A 28-year-old woman was arrested on several identity theft charges after she allegedly opened a credit card under a man's name.

In March the woman allegedly used a fake identification card to open and use a credit card account in a 56-year-old man's name. She had used the card at the Pearlridge Shopping Center.

Police arrested her Thursday on suspicion of forgery, fraudulent credit card use, unauthorized possession of confidential information, theft, identity theft and credit card theft.

Lure of iPod leads to theft from teen

A 19-year-old man was arrested Thursday morning for allegedly stealing a 14-year-old boy's belongings after luring him into a park in Ewa and offering to give him an iPod.

At around 7:55 a.m. yesterday, police said the 19-year-old met the boy at a bus stop and offered him an iPod. The boy followed him into a park, when the teenager told him to empty his pockets.

The suspect took the boy's other belongings, including cash, and gave him one dollar to catch the bus home.

The boy went home and told his family what happened. His family members located the suspect and held him until police arrested him on suspicion of second-degree robbery.

HONOLULU

Stolen car crashes into patrol vehicle

Police arrested two people after the stolen car they were in collided with a patrol car.

A patrol officer had identified a stolen vehicle being driven in Manoa and attempted to pull the vehicle over at about 2:35 a.m. Thursday. The driver lost control, and the car collided with another officer's car.

Police arrested the 21-year-old male driver on suspicion of auto theft and criminal property damage, while his 15-year-old male passenger was arrested for unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle.

CORRECTION Sunday, July 1, 2007 » Kauai landowner Jimmy Pflueger has until 2012 to finish remediation work on his property near Pilaa Beach required to settle lawsuits with the Environmental Protection Agency and other state and county agencies. A Newswatch item on Page A3 yesterday had an incorrect date. Please see the applicable Corrections Page for more information.