Driver is indicted in fatal crash

An Oahu grand jury indicted a 22-year-old driver yesterday who allegedly caused the death of a 14-year-old boy who was riding in his car and injured two others.

Melandrew Leano Taban of Kunia was indicted on charges of manslaughter and two counts of second-degree assault.

Juanito Omnes Jr., an eighth-grader at Wahiawa Middle School, died after an apparent street-racing accident on Oct. 31, 2007.

The indictment alleges Taban recklessly caused Omnes' death.

Taban also allegedly recklessly caused serious bodily injury to Jake Leano, then 13, and Jendricks Bermudez, and was indicted for second-degree assault, the indictment says.

Omnes was pinned inside the car and pronounced dead at the scene. Leano was initially in critical condition, and Bermudez, then 12, was in serious condition.

If convicted, Taban faces an extended term of imprisonment because he would be considered a multiple offender when being sentenced for two or more felonies.

Safety tips offered for holidays

Honolulu police officials are asking residents to keep safety in mind as the holiday shopping season begins.

Police Maj. Clayton Kau held a press conference yesterday to remind shoppers of safety tips, which include:

» Not carrying large amounts of cash.

» Limiting the number of items you carry to not obstruct your movement or vision.

» Not leaving purchased items alone in the car in plain view.

» Teaching children to contact a security official or store clerk should they ever get lost.

Police officials also remind drivers that they will be holding random sobriety checkpoints. The checkpoints began last night and are expected to continue through Jan. 2.

Robotics teams to compete

More than 800 middle and high school students from Hawaii, the mainland, China and Japan will compete here next week in a three-day robotics contest.

The inaugural VEX Robotics Pan-Pacific Championship is scheduled for next Thursday to Dec. 6 at the Hawai'i Convention Center. Admission is free.

For the past several months, students, with guidance from their teachers and mentors, have been building robots designed to solve a set of challenges in the upcoming event.

During the competition, 83 teams from 65 schools will square off in the game of “;Elevation.”; Robots will place cubes into goals of various heights and “;own”; goals by having the highest cube in a given goal.

Ten teams will advance to the VEX Robotics World Championship at the Dallas Convention Center and Arena from April 30 through May 2. Winning teams will challenge top-ranked peers from countries coming from the Asian Robotics League, South America and Europe.

As many as 282 Hawaii public, private and charter schools have robotics programs, up from 95 schools in January. Educators say robotics helps students learn science, technology, engineering and math skills, also known as STEM subjects.

Property data available by e-mail

The city has given Oahu residents the option of receiving their real property assessments through e-mail.

Beginning Dec. 15, the city will also allow eligible homeowners to file their home exemption claims online for the 2010-11 tax year. The city will also accept appeals online for the 2009-10 tax year from Dec. 15 to Jan. 15, 2009.

“;This is another example of the city using its technology capabilities to improve the delivery of important information to the public and streamline the way we do business, as we've successfully done with motor vehicle registration renewals, certain types of building permits and other requirements,”; Mayor Mufi Hannemann said. “;And we'll continue to seek new ways to harness the Internet to make our operations more efficient.”;

For more information, visit www.realpropertyhonolulu.com or call 768-3799. E-mail questions to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).