Rain keeps New Year air breathable

Despite all the fireworks on New Year's Eve, Hawaii's air pollution did not exceed federal standards, the state Department of Health's Clean Air Branch reported yesterday.

“;The rain helped disperse and 'scrub' some of the particles from the air,”; the Health Department said in a news release.

The Pearl City station reported the highest concentration of particulate levels at 73 micrograms per cubic meter within a 24-hour period on Wednesday, New Year's Eve, topping last New Year's Eve.

The state and federal air quality standard for particulate matter is 150 micrograms per cubic meter of air averaged over 24 hours.

The other air quality stations reported lower average particulate matter concentrations than on Dec. 31, 2007.

The following are the reported average levels in micrograms per cubic meter: Honolulu, 23; Kapolei, 20; West Beach, 14; and Kihei, Maui, 15.

The highest hourly averages of particulate matter were recorded between 8 p.m. Dec. 31 and 4 a.m. Jan. 1.

Funeral set for Chaminade president

A funeral Mass for ^Chaminade University President Sue Wesselkamper will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at St. Patrick Church, 1124 7th Ave.

Honolulu Catholic Bishop Larry Silva will preside at the service. The Rev. Tim Eden of Chaminade and the Rev. John Civille, Wesselkamper's brother, will participate.

Friends may call from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Mystical Rose Oratory at Chaminade University, 3140 Waialae Ave.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to Chaminade University for an endowed scholarship in Wesselkamper's name, or to the Kaiser Permanente Employee Welfare Fund.

An ecumenical memorial service will be held at Central Union Church. The date has not been set.

Wesselkamper, 66, died Saturday.

Ton of meth leads to prison terms

A Las Vegas couple convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Hawaii and related money laundering offenses have been sentenced in Honolulu to 32 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Edward Kubo Jr. said Benjamin Acuna and Anabel Valenzuela were the leaders of a ring that shipped 2,000 pounds of meth from Nevada to Hawaii between 2002 and 2005.

U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway also ordered Acuna and Valenzuela yesterday to forfeit five Las Vegas properties, five bank accounts and the contents of a safety deposit box.

The jury that convicted the two in September ordered them to forfeit to the government $8 million, representing the ring's profits.

Kubo says 23 people have been convicted of crimes for their roles in the organization.