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Star-Bulletin staff
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» Police, Fire, Courts

Services set for Lisa Matsumoto

Services for acclaimed Hawaii playwright Lisa Matsumoto have been set for Sunday at First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu at Koolau Golf Club in Kaneohe.

Matsumoto, 43, died Dec. 14 in a head-on collision in which she was traveling the wrong way on the H-1 freeway near the Bishop Museum.

Founder of Ohia Productions, a theatrical company, she was the author of "Once Upon One Time," "Once Upon One Noddah Time," "Happily Eva Afta" and "On Dragonfly Wings," a musical based on the life of cancer victim Alana Dung.

Visitation is scheduled from 3 to 4 p.m. at the church. A funeral service begins at 4.

The family requests aloha attire and no flowers.

Med school to focus on natives

A new research center at the University of Hawaii medical school hopes to eliminate health disparities suffered by native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, school officials say.

The Center for Native and Pacific Health Disparities Research is funded by a five-year, $7.3 million grant from the national Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities and the National Institutes of Health.

"We are excited by this opportunity to build upon earlier research by the Department of Native Hawaiian Health," said Gary Ostrander, interim dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine, in the news release. "This is a critical part of our mission, to address needs that might go unmet without a Hawaii-based, Pacific-focused medical school."

The center's programs include research, training and community outreach and will look at heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other health issues.

Some of the research at the center includes an evaluation of hula as a physical activity for cardiac rehabilitation and the effects of stress on health risk factors.

Maui college dorm rates are cut

Maui Community College students can get a reduced rent of $335 a month this spring for a shared room at Kulanaa'o, a new private dorm across the street from campus, the college announced.

Students can also apply for one of 50 Kulanaa'o scholarships, which provide $500 toward the cost of rent.

The facility partially opened this fall with 32 students staying there. There will be 350 beds available this semester.

The 400-bed dorm will be completed by fall, officials said. It had been scheduled to be open in 2006.

The four-story project, on the corner of Lono and Vevau streets, features two-bedroom, two-bath apartments. The price includes utilities, basic cable, high-speed Internet and telephone.

Rent will be $651 per month in the fall, according to the building's Web site.

Model apartments are open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. More information can also be found by visiting www.kulanaao.com.

Kahekili Highway project begins

Motorists should expect single-lane closures on Kahekili Highway this week between Kulukeoe Street and Haiku Road when a new project starts.

Crews will close lanes in both directions from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. today through Friday for striping work.

The work is part of the Kahekili Highway Landscaping Project, which will install planter boxes on the median divider, vine planter boxes on the roadside, accessible curb ramps, and will resurface Kahekili Highway between Kulukeoe Street and Haiku Road.

The $4 million project is expected to be finished Dec. 17.

Haleakala cleanup is planned

WAILUKU » The nonprofit Pacific Whale Foundation is asking for volunteers do three hours of work Jan. 20 at Haleakala National Park, followed by a picnic and short hike.

The "Volunteering on Vacation Program," from 9 a.m. to noon, involves clearing the park of invasive species, including uprooting and cutting pine trees.

There is free transportation to the park from the Harbor Shops near the Maui Ocean Center in Maalaea at 7:30 a.m. or Upcountry at the Hannibal Tavares Community Center at 8:15 a.m. Volunteers are required to make reservations at 249-8811, ext. 1.




Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff



WINDWARD OAHU

Officer allegedly hit foiling robbery

Police arrested a 47-year-old man Friday for allegedly stealing items from a Kaneohe store and then driving his car into an off-duty officer when attempting to flee.

At about 2:30 p.m. an off-duty police officer saw a store employee running after a man through the parking lot of a shopping center. Bystanders yelled for help.

According to police, the officer saw the man enter a parked van, showed him his badge and directed him to get out of the vehicle. The man pulled out of his stall, allegedly striking the officer.

The man was stopped in Kalihi and arrested on suspicion of first-degree attempted murder and second-degree theft.

HONOLULU

Traffic accident sparks fight

A 24-year-old Kalihi man was arrested for allegedly assaulting and seriously injuring another man after a traffic incident yesterday morning in Aiea.

At about 2:30 a.m., police said, the men pulled into the parking lot of 99-199 Kamehameha Highway after a traffic incident. They allegedly got into an argument, which escalated into a fight. The victim, 26, was hospitalized with serious head injuries.

Another man fled the area before police arrived. The Kalihi man was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault.

LEEWARD OAHU

Suspect arrested in school robbery

A 41-year-old Nanakuli man was arrested for allegedly breaking into Nanakuli High School early yesterday morning.

Police said at 3:30 a.m., officers responded to an alarm at the school and found the man leaving a building with items that were allegedly stolen.





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