Life expected for dad who raped infant

A 31-year-old Honokai Hale man, who admitted raping his infant daughter and videotaping the attacks, is expected to be sentenced today to prison for life with the possibility of parole.

Danny Friddle yesterday agreed to make himself eligible for the extended sentence before District Judge Patrick Border. The normal sentence for first-degree sexual assault is 20 years.

Friddle pled guilty in December to eight counts of first-degree sexual assault, three counts of first-degree promoting child abuse and three counts of third-degree sexual assault.

Friddle was arrested March 12, 2008, after police obtained two video clips, lasting a total of 14 minutes, of Friddle engaging in sexual acts with a baby girl who appeared to be less than 6 months old in one segment. A second segment showed him apparently assaulting the same girl, who appeared to be a year old.

The mini-DV videotape and Friddle's work identification were found in a bag at a bus stop by a woman who gave it to police.

Friddle has said he will request that the Hawaii Paroling Authority grant him eligibility for parole after 15 years.

The prosecutor's office wants Friddle to serve at least 20 years before he is eligible.

$3.9M to aid December storm victims

About $3.9 million in federal and state assistance has been approved to help residents, businesses and government groups affected by storms that occurred in mid-December. Many homes and farms were destroyed in the deluge that directly affected Oahu and Kauai. Disaster recovery centers were previously set up to assist storm victims.

The following is a breakdown of government aid:

» $2,137,184 for 478 households from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Housing Assistance program. The grant moneys will be available to renters and homeowners.

» $609,486 for 408 households from the state and FEMA's Other Needs Assistance program to aid in personal possession, transportation and other losses.

» $584,000 approved from the Small Business Administration for low-interest disaster loans for residents and businesses.

» $564,059 from the state and FEMA Public Assistance program for debris removal and repairs to damaged public infrastructures. A total of $14,000 was also set aside for mitigation projects.

Power loss cancels some UH classes

The University of Hawaii at Manoa canceled classes in five buildings on Correa Road after a short circuit caused a power failure yesterday.

The outage was first reported in the Krauss, Kuykendall and Sakamaki buildings at 12:45 p.m. and spread to the Bilger and Art buildings at about 12:59 p.m., according to an e-mail from UH-Manoa spokeswoman Diane Chang.

The buildings are all on the same electrical circuit.

Power was restored to all buildings except the Bilger Annex by 3:50 p.m. Classes, labs and offices in Bilger Annex remained canceled or closed until further notice last night.