UH ceremonies at Hawaii Theatre

Graduation ceremonies for the University of Hawaii-West Oahu will be held Sunday at the Hawaii Theatre in downtown Honolulu.

There are 91 graduates receiving degrees at the ceremony, which starts at 4 p.m.

UH Board of Regents Chairman Howard Karr and Linda Johnsrud, UH system vice president for academic planning and policy, will address the graduates. Brooke Rehmann, who studied early childhood education, will speak on behalf of the graduating class.

Graduates are expected to greet friends and relatives immediately after the ceremony at Sun Yat Sen Park makai of the theater about 5 p.m. No strollers, tripods or balloons are allowed inside the theater. Parking is available in nearby municipal lots at a rate of $3 to $5 for the day.

Hours are limited for protester ban

A deputy prosecutor who had wanted to ban four Furlough Friday protesters from the governor's office agreed to limit the prohibition to after-hours only.

The prosecutor had planned to ask a district judge to bar the four from Gov. Linda Lingle's office at all times pending their trial in August on charges of trespassing stemming from a sit-in held at Lingle's office.

But the motion was amended yesterday morning to limit the prohibition on access to after-hours only, said Marguerite Higa, one of those charged. It also applies to the three others: Michael Doyle, Teresa Kessenich-Chase and Carrie Lau.

Defense attorney Eric Seitz accepted the amended motion as a condition of bail for his clients. Higa, an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii, had argued that being barred from visiting the governor's office during normal business hours would seem to violate their First Amendment rights.

The Save Our Schools Hawaii protesters occupied the governor's office in hopes of meeting with her and ending Furlough Fridays, which shut down Hawaii public schools regularly this year, but instead were rebuffed and arrested.

SOS Hawaii, Rep. Lyla Berg, Project Citizen, Hawaii Education Matters and The Learning Coalition are holding a teach-in at the state Capitol from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow to mark the final Furlough Friday of the school year, offering a fun day of educational activities for children.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Soldier judged fit for trial

HILO » A Hawaii Army National Guard soldier and Iraq war veteran has been found fit to stand trial for allegedly fatally stabbing his son and his estranged wife's unborn child with a military-issued combat knife.

Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara said Tuesday that two psychiatrists and a psychologist unanimously concluded Tyrone Vesperas is able to understand the proceedings against him and help his attorney in his defense.

Vesperas is also accused in the alleged attempted murder of his wife, Cheryl Vesperas.

Vesperas has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, second-degree murder by omission and possessing a deadly weapon.

Police say Vesperas admitted stabbing his son and his nearly full-term wife in the abdomen during a June 2007 domestic dispute.