Isle man faces sex-trafficking charge

A 33-year-old Hawaii man is scheduled to appear in a Miami federal court this morning on charges of sex trafficking of a minor he allegedly escorted from Hawaii to Miami during Super Bowl weekend.

Federal authorities charged Fred Quinton Collins with transporting and causing a minor to engage in commercial sex acts. He faces a minimum 10 years' imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Collins allegedly brought the girl from Hawaii to Miami to engage in prostitution in South Florida during the Super Bowl weekend, according to a Department of Justice news release on the FBI's Miami Web site.

Collins allegedly booked the girl under a false name, paid for her airfare and hotel lodging, as well as supervised and directed her prostitution activities, the news release said.

Local, state and federal law enforcement officers with the South Florida Minor Vice Task Force were alerted to possible prostitution activity at a Miami Beach hotel.

Officers found Collins and three females, including the girl brought from Hawaii, at the hotel.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and the FBI made the announcement Tuesday.

Collins is scheduled to appear in court this morning for a pretrial detention hearing.

Collins, also known as Damon Warren, was convicted in 2008 and 2009 in Hawaii for driving without a license, a misdemeanor.

Ethics panel defers decision on director

The state Ethics Commission is deferring a decision on the fate of its longtime executive director after meeting for hours with the official's lawyer yesterday.

Commission Chairwoman Maria Sullivan said Dan Mollway remains the agency's top administrator and lawyer, and that the panel is in discussions with him about his duties. She also said malfeasance isn't the reason for the deliberations. But Sullivan would not describe what prompted the discussions.

She commented after the panel met in executive session with a deputy attorney general. Mollway's lawyer, Susan Ichinose, also participated in part of the closed meeting. Mollway did not attend.

Mollway has served as the panel's executive director for 24 years.

Eatery serves up Haiti aid

Saigon Garden Restaurant is holding a fundraiser from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. today to help raise funds for the victims of the recent Haiti earthquake.

The restaurant is in Ala Moana Center's Makai Market.

Fifty percent of all sales today will be donated to the American Red Cross.

Donations will benefit the Haiti earthquake victims and victims of disasters in Hawaii.

“;This is our opportunity to give back to the community,”; said Saigon Garden owner David Giang. “;We want to play a part in helping those affected here in Hawaii and abroad.”;

Ginoza nominated to appellate court

Gov. Linda Lingle is nominating Lisa Ginoza, the No. 2 lawyer in the state Attorney General's Office, to fill a vacancy on the state Intermediate Court of Appeals.

“;Lisa has provided legal advice and well-thought-out counsel to my administration and has always demonstrated integrity, fairness and compassion. I feel very confident Lisa will do an outstanding job,”; Lingle said.

Ginoza is a former partner with McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon, which she joined in 1990. Ginoza has served as first deputy attorney general for the state since January 2005.

Ginoza was selected to replace Corinne Watanabe, an associate judge who retired.

Lingle also nominated Robert Mark Browning, a District Family Court judge, to the Circuit Court, to replace Victoria Marks, who also retired last year.

Since 1997, Browning has served in district court. Before that he was a partner with Shim Tam Kirimitsu Kitamura & Chang and served as a Honolulu deputy prosecutor.

Search begins for new zoo director

The city will begin a nationwide search for a new Honolulu Zoo director for the second time in two years.

Stephen Walker resigned for personal reasons after a year in the position, according to an announcement yesterday by Sidney Quintal, director of the Department of Enterprise Services. Walker had been director of the Tulsa, Okla., zoo for several years when he was selected to replace Kenneth Redman, who retired.

Quintal said the assistant director, Tommy Higashino, will assume the top job while the search is under way. He said Higashino has more than 30 years' experience at the Honolulu Zoo. He said that “;the zoo's in good hands,”; with a staff of 80 people, including a veterinarian, curator and three senior specialists.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Limited hunt for feral goats OK'd on Kauai

The state Division of Forestry and Wildlife has announced a limited hunting period to control feral goats in an area known as Hunting Unit F in Waimea Canyon, Kauai.

Due to safety concerns, the action is being limited to archery and muzzleloader methods.

Archers can hunt on weekends and state holidays from Saturday through April 25. Hunting using muzzleloaders will be permitted only on weekends and state holidays from June 1- 27.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources says the limit will be two feral goats per hunter per day. Animals may be de-boned in the field. Blaze orange hunting apparel will not be required for the archery-only season. The ongoing pig hunting season will continue as scheduled.

Interested individuals will need to show a valid hunting license and be required to sign an animal control permit at the Lihue Division of Forestry and Wildlife office at 3060 Eiwa St., Room 306, Lihue. For more information, contact the Lihue office at (808) 274-3433, or check under “;Announcements”; on the DLNR Web site, http://www.hawaii.gov/dlnr/dofaw