Man gets probation for sex assault

A man charged with raping a woman on the state Capitol grounds last year pleaded guilty yesterday to second-degree sexual assault and kidnapping but will not have to serve jail time.

Edward Eter, 27, was charged with two Class A felonies—first-degree sexual assault and kidnapping—but in a deal with the city prosecutor, he pleaded guilty to two Class B felonies.

In exchange, Eter will receive five years' probation when he is sentenced later this year. The state also agreed that Eter will not have to serve any jail or prison time as part of the probation.

“;This was a very difficult case for the victim, and the victim wanted to see this case resolved without her having to testify,”; said Thalia Murphy, deputy city prosecutor.

Two other men are awaiting trial for kidnapping and being accessories to sexual assault for allegedly holding the woman down.

State deputy sheriffs and Honolulu police arrested the men and a male juvenile Feb. 23, 2008, after a deputy on patrol came upon the four suspects apparently sexually assaulting the woman near the Korean and Vietnam War Memorial.

3 file to run for open Council seat

Three candidates have filed to run in the special election to fill the City Council vacancy created by the death of Barbara Marshall.

Potential candidates have until March 9 to file for the mail-in ballot election.

The three who have filed so far include former City Councilman Steve Holmes, who lists a Kailua address. The other two are Waimanalo residents Paul H. Akau and Wilson Kekoa Ho. Ho sought the District 3 seat last year against Marshall but did not advance out of the primary.

Ballots will be mailed to the roughly 55,000 registered Windward Oahu voters, and the deadline for ballots to be received is April 23. Absentee walk-in voting will be held at City Hall from April 6 to 21.

Obama looks to retired Marine

President Barack Obama announced yesterday his intent to nominate retired Marine Lt. Gen. Wallace “;Chip”; Gregson Jr., former commanding general of all Marine forces in the Pacific, as assistant secretary for Asian and Pacific security affairs.

Gregson commanded the Pacific Marine Forces from 2003 to 2005 from his office at Camp Smith where he led and managed more than 70,000 Marines and Sailors in the Middle East, Afghanistan, East Africa, Asia and the United States. He retired from the Marine Corps in 2005 after 37 years of service.

Before coming to Hawaii in 2003, he commanded all Marine Corps bases in Japan for two years. During that tenure he was awarded the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, the Gold and Silver Star and the Korean Order of National Security Merit Gukseon Medal.

Deadline approaches for FEMA aid

People whose property was damaged by storms Dec. 8-16 have until Friday to apply for assistance from the Federal Emergency and Management Agency.

Applicants have until 6 p.m. on that day to register for help by calling FEMA toll-free at (800) 621-3362, or (800) 462-7585 for the speech or hearing impaired. Online registrations are available at http://www.disasterassistance.gov.

People who have already received a disaster loan application from the U.S. Small Business Administration must submit those forms by Friday to become eligible for other disaster assistance.

More information is available by calling SBA at (800) 659-2955 or e-mailing .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).