local news
Bob Cunningham
There were 40 homicides in the state last year (30 on Oahu). Among
the lowest numbers in years.
Gov. Waihee unveiled a Hawaii Small Business Loan program, a joint
effort involving the US SBA, local banks, and HEDCO, a non-provit
organization. $3 million in small business loans (an estimated
60-100 loans) has been committed for the first year.
Oahu. Surf: north shore 6-9 feet, south shore 1-3 feet.
The Blood Bank of Hawaii has issued an urgent call for platelet donors.
There's been unusually high demand for them over the last few weeks
(indeed, over the last year, usage has shot up 30%). Platelet donations
take longer (90 minutes to 2 hours) than a 30-minute whole blood donation.
Platelets are most commonly needed by patients undergoing cancer
chemotherapy and similar treatments to restore their platelets destroyed
by therapy.
New rules govern access to Hanauma Bay starting 1 Jan. The 300-stall
parking lot is closed as soon as it fills up, additional cars allowed
only as stalls fill up. Tour buses can't drop large groups at the
park, and each taxi can only drop off one load of tourists a day. The
idea is to limit visitors to the park. A lot of tourists are now
hiking up the hill to the bay from the Hawaii Kai shopping center.
Taxi drivers and tour organizers are complaining.
Six teenagers have been arrested in connection with the deliberate flooding
(and ruining of the floor) of the Kaneohe District Park gym on Dec 21.
Firefighters doused yet another fire at Camp Kailua last night. There
have been three fires there, all in abandoned buildings there lately.
--
Bob Cunningham
b...@soest.hawaii.edu
School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology, University of Hawaii
Bob Cunningham
Mahalo air cut one-way fares for "kamaaina" children and senior
citizens to $20. Aloha matched, and raised it to "all Hawaii residents".
Various & sundry restrictions apply (off peak times, 48-hour advance
ticket sale, etc., etc.).
Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will visit Pearl Harbor
in mid-June, according to reports from Japan. The local consolate
isn't yet able to confirm. This would be the first time a Japanese
emperor will visit the site of the Dec 7, 1941 attack.
Homeowners who spent $125/year for hurricane insurance will probably
dish out about $300/year under a new state plan that's taking
a long time to set up, that would provide hurricane-only coverage
(which most property insurers don't want to write any more for
the islands). The insurance claims paid (more was claimed)
for damage due to Iniki have been over $1.4 billion.
Pat Saiki is beginning to make campaign speeches and seriously
run for Governor. Wants to reform the judicial seletion
process, have an elected attorney general, prohibit public
officials from becoming Bishop Estate trustees for at least
two years after they leave office, and limit terms for state
legislators and Hawaii's Congresspersons.
Oahu. Surf: north & west shores 8-12 feet, other shores 1-3 feet.
About 80 Waikiki beachgowers felt the sting of box jellyfish yesterday.
...and the jellyfish are back again today...
The outrigger Maile Sky Court hotel in Waikiki was evacuated temporarily
yesterday because of a bomb threat.
Hawaii Opera Theatre has made a separate deal with the musicians
union (they usually deal through the Honolulu Symphony), so the
upcoming opera season will go as scheduled. The musicians
and Symphony are still in mediation, and essentially the
whole symphony season is gone.
John Kalani Lincoln has been arrested and charged with federal narcotics
and firearms violations. He has a long, long string of criminal
convictions and much longer string of arrests and trials for
various organized crime murders that he ended up being acquitted
for. His lawyer says police and federal agents have been repeatedly
"harassing" him.
Prominent criminal defense lawyer Winston Mirikitani is facing
11 counts in federal court of money laundering, perjury, and obstruction
of justice, stemming from his taking cash (from drug deals) as
part of his fees and trying to hide the fact he'd gotten it.
The state wants to turn an old Nike missile site near Mokuleia
into a prison work camp. Mokuleia residents are unhappy about that.
Lanai. The state Attorney General's office is investigating the
exclusion of the news media from public areas on Lanai, particularly
the beaches (all beaches are public) for Bill Gates' wedding. ONe
reporter (from Seattle) was arrested (Gates' publicist arranged to have
the charges dropped after he agreed to "jump on the next plane" out),
and a number of others were turned away.
Bob Cunningham
The 18-story First Hawaiian Bank building was reduced to rubble Sunday
as planned. 10-year-old Lauren Dods, a Punahou 4th grader (and, not
incidentally, daughter of First Hawaiian CEO Walter Dods), pushed the
button that set off the explosives. About 2,000 people watched in
person, most from the grounds of Iolani Palace. Only casualties were 7
broken windows in nearby buildings from the blast wave (there
was no damage from debris, though a few police cars parked nearby
ended up covered in dust).
Two of the people running for governor recently shared similar tragedies.
Ben Cayetano's father died Jan 1, and Pt Saiki's mother died Friday.
Oahu. Surf: all shores 0-2 feet.
The city Medical Examiner's Office is investigating unexplained head
injuries found on the body of a Wahiawa woman by mortuary workers on
Saturday, probably inflicted after death. She died Jan 3 after two
weeks in a coma at Wahiawa General of cardiac diseas compicated by
cocain abuse. But at the mortuary workers noticed her injuries did not
match the certified cause of death.
Two men were arrested in separate incidents for the same thing
on Friday, carrying unlicensed guns when they were stopped for
routine traffic offenses.
Elizabeth Cyr Jones
Bob Cunningham <b...@kahala.soest.hawaii.edu> wrote:
>[Synopsis of Honolulu Advertiser stories of interest]
>
>Prominent criminal defense lawyer Winston Mirikitani is facing
>11 counts in federal court of money laundering, perjury, and obstruction
>of justice, stemming from his taking cash (from drug deals) as
>part of his fees and trying to hide the fact he'd gotten it.
This is the first time I've heard about this story - have there been
other pieces in the news? I was close to his younger brother in
high school, and can't image Winston "on the take" (or whatever
it's called.)
liz jones
l...@contex.com
Bob Cunningham
Starting in July, instead of dialing 1 + the 7-digit number for
interisland calls, telephone users will have to dial 1 + 808 + the
7-digit number. This goes along with the assignment of a lot of new
3-digit exchanges.
Oahu. Surf: north & west shores 10-15 feet, south & east shores 1-3 feet.
A pregnant woman was raped in the woman's restroom of the Ewa Distric
Courthouse on Friday at noontime. All Oahu courthouses are getting
to have armed sheriff's deputies for security, but Ewa didn't have
any at the time, it was too low on the priority list. Guards are
being assigned to it and the other the rural courthouses real soon.
Sentencing hearings are going on for Saofaiga Loa, convicted in the
Magic Island stabbing-rape case. Included testimony of incidents he
was involved in, but not convicted of: beating up a teenager, smashing
a bus window, trying to slug a counselor, punching a fast-food worker,
and threatening a security guard. 19 now, he was still a juvenile when
he committed the Magic Island stabbings and rapes. The judge has a
very wide range of sentencing options: from 8 years as a juvenile
offender, all the way up to 7 life terms and two 20-year sentences
(either at the same time or consecutively).
Sunday's implosion of the 18-story First Hawaiian Bank left a LOT of dust
around downtown. Some of it is still being cleaned up.
Pacific Marine has won a $9.3 million contract from Lockheed to build
a SLICE technology ship (SLICE is an advanced version of SWATH), described
as the "ship of the future". Pacific Marine recently completed Navatek II,
a 150-passenger SWATH vessel.
Maui. Four homeless men were arrested at a Kahului beach Sunday
night after they were found cooking a green sea turtle (an endangered,
protected species). They're being held in lieu of $200 bail each.
Bob Cunningham
The published story said, in brief, that he accepted something like
$30,000 in cash as partial payment for legal services, that he
supposedly knew the money came from drug deals, and didn't report it.
Then lied to the grand jury during an investigation of that. He's also
charged with trying to influence (bribe, possibly?) at least one member
of the grand jury. In other words, most of the charges seem to involve
allegations of his trying to cover up having received the money.
He's a well-known defense attorney, and has represented the defendents
in some well-publicized cases.
---
Bob Cunningham
It's not clear who will convene the state Senate. James Aki is
probably still Senate president legally, though Norman Mizuguchi was
elected Senate president in a closed-door Democratic caucus a couple of
months ago. Current plans are for Malama Solomon, who represents
the 1st district (and, incidentally, was elected majority leader
by the caucus) to open the session, though James Aki keeps insisting
otherwise.
Although the state legislature won't convene until next Wednesday, key
lawmakers have already indicated they'll be looking to budget and state
personnel cuts...but possibly spending more for public education. Gov.
Waihee has talked about giving the state Board of Education its tax
powers, but hasn't unveiled any proposed legislation. Conversely, some
legislatures want to look into exactly how the BOE spends its money.
Though the BOE has gotten a lot less than it's asked, for construction
and facilities upkeep, nearly have of the 9,109 new state positions
established after 1986 (when Gov. Waihee took office) are supposedly
education-related in some way or another.
Lawmakers will also seek a $.02/gallon gasoline tax hike.
Oahu. Surf: North shore 8-15 feet, west shore 3-8 feet, sough shore 1-2
feet.
Regular unleaded gasoline at Oahu self-service pumps is currently
selling in the range of $1.439-$1.479/gallon.
Saofaiga Loa, convicted of the brutal Magic Island robbery, stabbing
and rape case, was sentenced to 7 consecutive life sentences plus 40
years. Probably the harshest sentences ever handed out by a state court
here. In part, it was also a "hate crime"; Loa made it plain while he
was stabbing the male victim that he despised his Japanese ancestry.
John Knight was found guilty of 2nd degree murder of a Waikiki gay
man. Also, apparently a hate crime. Knight later bragged to friends,
"I got a faggot--I killed a faggot."
The urgent shortage of platelets and type O positive whole blood at the
Blood Bank is over, thanks to more than 600 people who showed up over
the last few days to give blood or platelets. Among them: Tim Pratt,
a bus maintenance worker and Bill Buxman, a night shift maintenance
supervisor at Hawaiian Air both of whom stop who by the Blood Bank
once a week on their way home, and spend 2 hours donating platelets.
City Councilman Andy Mirikitani has proposed a bill that would require
hikers and swimmers saved by lifeguards and the fire department to
pay for their rescue if they disobeyed warnings about dangerous conditions.
But should tourists pay? Some might vacation elsewhere after
they learned they'd have to pay to be rescued.
Rick Pacholczak said he hadn't rented a video from Video Centers of
Hawaii for six years when bill collectors went after him for owing
$4,300 in late fees and interest for two video tapes the store says he
never returned. Video Centers blamed a computer error at Uni-Check
(which was acting as their collection agency). Uni-Check came up with
a $4,300 invoice from Video Center, blamed them, and said they'd no
longer accept any business from Video Centers. The state Dept. of
Consumer Affairs is investigating.
An obscure hilltop at Opana, next to Turtle Bay, will soon be
designated as a national historic landmark. It was the site of the
portable radar station that detected Japanese planes headed for Oahu on
Dec 7, 1941 by Army Privates George Elliott and Joe Stockard shortly
after 7:00am. Unfortunately, the young lieutenant on duty at Fort
Shafter Army headquarters that Sunday morning disregarded the report.
The bombs began to fall on Pearl Harbor 50 minutes later. [The
Honolulu Advertiser also noted it's now the site of a secret naval
computer and telecommunications station.]
Big Island. Prolonged drought in much of West Hawaii prompted officials
to declare 5 districts to be under a state of emergency.
--
Bob Cunningham
SWATH. It means Small Waterline Advanced Technology something-or-other
(I forget what the H is, but it's probably mostly to force a
halfway-decent acronym).
I don't know what SLICE stands for (neither, apparently did the
Advertiser reporter who wrote the story, he didn't spell it out), but
suspect it's an even more forced acronym...though it does better
describe those ships.
Your standard ship is shaped essentially like a box. Well, in
cross-section, like this:
--------
| |
------------
| |
| | <- water surface
| |
------------
A SWATH ship looks like an overgrown catamaran from the surface, where
you see a superstructure sitting on top of what looks like two thin,
streamlined hulls. But if you stop to think for a moment, you realize
those thin hulls couldn't possibly displace enough water to keep it
afloat. The secret is that they widen out a LOT under the water.
Think of a SWATH vessel as a superstructure on stilts, standing on top
of two submarine-shaped things and you'll get the idea.
Diagrammatically, simplifying and exaggerating slightly here's a SWATH ship:
--------
| |
------------
| |
------------
|| ||
|| || <- water surface
| | | |
| | | |
---- ----
The below-water hulls are filled with useful things (engines,
fuel, and sometimes even an underwater viewing lounge).
It takes less energy for the two thin hulls to "slice" through
the surface of the water than to push the box-like cross-section
of a regular ship through the water. (Or, conversely, if you like,
for same energy, a SWATH vessel can go faster.)
As a useful side effect, SWATH ships roll a LOT less than regular ships
(if you know some physics, you can play around with centers of gravity,
centers of bouyancy, and metacentric heights and convince yourself of
that). It makes them a lot more stable, and in fact the US Navy has a
couple of classes of SWATH ships that exploit just that for their
missions. The prototype SWATH ship was the Kamalino, which the Navy
built and used for research work around the Hawaiian islands for many
years.
Greg Furumoto
Bob Cunningham <b...@kahala.soest.hawaii.edu> wrote:
>>Please tell us what a SWHAT ship is.
>
>SWATH. It means Small Waterline Advanced Technology something-or-other
>(I forget what the H is, but it's probably mostly to force a
>halfway-decent acronym).
>
I think the last H is for Hull, but I could be wrong... anybody got the
Popular Mechanics with the "Stealth Ship" on the cover?
Aloha
Greg
Gerard Fryer
|> >Please tell us what a SWHAT ship is.
|>
|> SWATH. It means Small Waterline Advanced Technology something-or-other
|> (I forget what the H is, but it's probably mostly to force a
|> halfway-decent acronym).
|>
I might not be right either, but I think I'm closer than Bob:
SWATH = small wetted area, twin hull
--
Gerard Fryer | gfr...@hawaii.edu
Corine Y Takiguchi
saying that:
>
>[The Honolulu Advertiser also noted it's now the site of a secret naval
>computer and telecommunications station.]
Guess it's not a secret anymore, huh? So much for national security. :)
Corine Y. Takiguchi
taki...@mail.sas.upenn.edu
============================================================================
| "I've got plenty of common sense! I just choose to ignore it." |
| -- Calvin (Calvin & Hobbes) |
============================================================================
Bob Cunningham
The City & County of Honolulu has just declared a hiring freeze. Most
state agencies have had some sort of hiring freeze for some time. The
economy is still flat, and will probably stay that way for another
year, according to First Hawaiian economists. Ditto for tax revenues.
Monday is Martin Luther King Day. Most government offices closed,
most tourist attractions will stay open.
Oahu. Surf: north shore 8-12 feet, south shore 0-2 feet.
Gangs and gang membership has increased 4x since 1988 according
to police statistics (to about 178 gangs with 1,837 members).
Youth crimes have increased only slightly since then, though.
Honolulu Advertiser writer Bob Krauss spent yesterday in a wheelchair,
part of an Easter Seal program to promote disability awareness. He
found it hard going indeed and discovered his kitchen and office to be
too small to effectively manage in. But he hung in there...until he
had to go to the bathroom at work. "I took one look at the toilet
stalls and gave up. No way could I get a wheelchair in there. I'd
have to cawl in on the floor and pull myself up by the arms. I got out
of the wheelchair and walked to the urinal."
Kauai. Thousands of Kauai residents still don't have secure shelter.
Of the 9,000 houses damaged by Iniki, 6,500 have been repaired (2,000
without permits). But about 2,500 have not (400-600 of which are
completely unfit for habitation).
Deanna Ward
>[Synopsis of Honolulu Advertiser stories of interest]
>
>hikers and swimmers saved by lifeguards and the fire department to
>pay for their rescue if they disobeyed warnings about dangerous conditions.
>But should tourists pay? Some might vacation elsewhere after
>they learned they'd have to pay to be rescued.
This is a good bill, and YES, tourists should pay for thier rescues if they
disobey warnings. There are similar bills being introduced in several states
now. I don't think this will ward of tourists... it MAY even make them more
sensible. It may make the local daredevils more sensible too.
Rescue efforts are expensive and the costs fall on the taxpayers. Why should
they have to pay?
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deanna Ward INGRES, a Division of the ASK GROUP
1080 Marina Parkway Village
dea...@ingres.com Alameda, Ca.
Bob Cunningham
The state Dept. of Education has a new plan to shrink its bureaucracy
by reorganizaing its 7 districts into 14 regional offices, moving
more than half of the district bureaucrats into positions where
they will work directly for the schools, serving them instead
of managing them. But critics wonder whether it will bring real change.
State hurricane insurance is being delayed again. The relief fund
won't be in operation by 1 March (just as it wasn't in operation
on 1 Jan, and...).
Back-to-back Safeway special on rice created a rush on rice purchases
(befor the price goes up much more)...and virtually wiped out Safeway's
local stocks of rice.
Deposted state Senate president James Aki has filed a lawsuit to
allow him convene the state Senate. Legally, he's probably still
Senate president, since he wasn't voted out by the Senate itself
in open session, but rather in a closed-door Democratic caucus.
Ex-Big Island Mayor Dante Carpenter is the new agency administrator for
the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA). Perhaps. A closed-door
secret vote of the OHA board apparently selected him, then the board
opened its public meeting and "unanimously" voted him in. Except that
board members, comparing notes later, figured that 5 of the 9 had
probably voted for someone else. Probably either chair Clayton Hee
miscounted the secret ballots, or--perhaps--one of the members lied
afterwards. All state boards are allowed to "discuss personnel
matters" in private session, but have to make final decisions public.
The State Supreme Court has set up a "blue ribbon" panel to recommend
possible Bishop Estate trustees to them. By Bernice Pauahi Bishop's
will, the justices, sitting as a group of individuals, select
trustees...and they've often been criticized for selecting highly-placed
political figures for the lucrative trusteeships. AT issue is Myron
Thompson's retirement in a few months from Bishop Estate.
Oahu. Surf: north shore 6-9 feet, south shore 0-2 feet.
Abraham Fu, 19, was sentenced to 5-20 years in prision for fatally
shooting his girlfriend, Sherry Morioka, in the face in 1992. The
judge, who made some pointed remarks about handguns, turned down
both the prosecutor's proposal of a life term and the defense's
proposal of an 8 year "Youthful Offender" term.
The state's top police officers and attoryneys general will propose
a ban on almost all handgun sales to the legislature.
Police are investigating a dorm attack on a Chaminade University woman
who complained twice earlier about being "stalked". The last time
she called, police responded and found her beaten unconscious
at a Chaminade dormatory.
Gerard Fryer
|>
|> The state's top police officers and attoryneys general will propose
|> a ban on almost all handgun sales to the legislature.
|>
Yup, the specter of legislators with handguns is really chilling...
--
Gerard Fryer
Lynn Osburn
>(befor the price goes up much more)...and virtually wiped out Safeway's
>local stocks of rice.
So, for sake of comparison, what does rice sell for (sale or reg price)??
--
Lynn Osburn
AIX and MVS Systems Guy los...@pace.com
PACE Membership Warehouse
303-843-8000 x8162
rebecca hartwig
Kilauea.
Is there a main area where those 161 homes were destroyed by flows? Are
there many homes in danger at this time? I have looked around news
article data bases, but unfortunately I can't(my error probably) find
what area of homes is being threatened now. Can you help?
Thanx!
:) -edwyn
Charlie Beerman
In article <CJMrE...@news.Hawaii.Edu>, b...@kahala.soest.hawaii.edu (Bob Cunningham) writes...
>
>The state's top police officers and attoryneys general will propose
>a ban on almost all handgun sales to the legislature.
Yes, I agree that there are already far too many guns in the
legislature! :^)
=======================================================================
Charlie Beerman Digital Equipment Corporation
bee...@uhuh.enet.dec.com
=======================================================================
Gregory H. Furumoto
Wasn't there something years ago about then legislator Ben Cayetano and a bolo
knife?
Aloha
Greg
Former participant Hawaii 4H Shooting Sports Program. Never did see any
legislators at the safety classes.....
BRANDAUER CARL M
>In article <CJJ13...@news.Hawaii.Edu> b...@kahala.soest.hawaii.edu (Bob Cunningham) writes:
>>[Synopsis of Honolulu Advertiser stories of interest]
>>
>>City Councilman Andy Mirikitani has proposed a bill that would require
>>hikers and swimmers saved by lifeguards and the fire department to
>>pay for their rescue if they disobeyed warnings about dangerous conditions.
>>But should tourists pay? Some might vacation elsewhere after
>>they learned they'd have to pay to be rescued.
In Europe the ski patrol have been paid for many years for bringing an
injured skier down the mountain. If I remember correctly, it was on the
order of $100 in St.Anton about 30 years ago. And you didn't even have to
violate any rules - just have bad luck.
Cheers - Carl
Tony Lima
Most of the homes destroyed were south of Hilo on the east
side of the island. No homes are currently threatened by lava
flows. However, the eruptions continue. -- Tony
----------------------------------------------------------
Tony Lima, Ph.D. internet: tony...@toadhall.com
MCI Mail: 308-1833 CompuServe: 72331,3724
Voice: 415-593-6431
or: Yo, Tony! We don't do no steenkin' fax
From beautiful San Carlos, California just north of
Silicon Valley
---
* SLMR 2.0 #1193 * We all live in a yellow subroutine.
Gerard Fryer
Many of those 181 homes were in Royal Gardens subdivision, a sprawling
underdeveloped tract once energetically pushed by shady speculators.
Royal Gardens is immediately east of the Hawaii Volcanoes National
Park. The subdivision used to extend from near sealevel to about 1000'
elevation, within a couple of miles of the East Rift of Kiluaea. The
East Rift has been the site of most eruptions during recorded history
(traditionally, Kilauea erupts from its summit first and then activity
migrates down the East Rift). The attraction of Royal Gardens was that
the land was cheap, but it was always under a high risk of being
overrun by lava. People who lost their homes there want the State to
put back the roads that were destroyed. The State, quite rightfully,
refuses; after all, the Chain of Craters has been repeatedly destroyed
by flows in the last two decades and is now obliterated along the coast
for the five miles from Kamoamoa to Kaimu.
The rest of the homes destroyed were in the shoreline villages of
Kalapana and Kaimu, a couple of miles east of Royal Gardens. Kalapana
was totally destroyed, Kaimu almost so. Kaimu's famous black sand beach
is now under fifty or more feet of lava. Kalapana and Kaimu had
probably been settled for hundreds of years.
No homes are currently threatened. The lava has worked its way back to
the western edge of its huge lava delta, close to the (now destroyed)
visitor center and ancient Hawaiian fishing village at Kamoamoa.
The biggest danger now is some sort of slope failure. Even before the
current eruption the south slope of Kilauea was the steepest submarine
slope anywhere in the islands. Now it is even steeper. Its tough to
quantify what the risk from such failure might be, though.
--
Gerard Fryer | gfr...@hawaii.edu
Department of Geology & Geophysics | 808-956-7875
School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology |
University of Hawaii at Manoa |
Honolulu, HI 96822, USA |
Allan Chen
|> In article <CJJ13...@news.Hawaii.Edu> b...@kahala.soest.hawaii.edu (Bob Cunningham) writes:
|> >[Synopsis of Honolulu Advertiser stories of interest]
|> >
|> >City Councilman Andy Mirikitani has proposed a bill that would require
|> >hikers and swimmers saved by lifeguards and the fire department to
|> >pay for their rescue if they disobeyed warnings about dangerous conditions.
|> >But should tourists pay? Some might vacation elsewhere after
|> >they learned they'd have to pay to be rescued.
|>
|> This is a good bill, and YES, tourists should pay for thier rescues if they
|> disobey warnings. There are similar bills being introduced in several states
|> now. I don't think this will ward of tourists... it MAY even make them more
|> sensible. It may make the local daredevils more sensible too.
|>
|> Rescue efforts are expensive and the costs fall on the taxpayers. Why should
|> they have to pay?
Maybe it will also stifle ego's rather than to have them humbled
(more like punished) by Mother nature. It's definitely for the good.
Allan Chen
Silicon Graphics Inc.
Mountain View, CA
all...@sgi.com
Swartz
someone) post from time to time what's happening (perhaps reporting
what the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has to say when you call their
volcano hotline)? I'm very interested in knowing about changes in
Kilauea's eruptions.
John
--
*JOHN SWARTZ--The MITRE Corp., Bedford, MA - John_...@iegate.mitre.org *
* "Every time I look in the mirror, all these lines on my face getting *
* clearer . . . The past is gone." - S. Tyler, J. Perry *
Bob Cunningham
No effects from the LA earthquake in Hawaii. The Red Cross is asking
for, and getting local donations for LA earthquake victims, tho.
Unemployment "insurance" taxes will to up about 50% next year. The state's
fund is low on money due to increased claims, and will tax businesses more.
The curent average is about 1% of a company's taxable payroll (but varies
widely in different industries).
Oahu. Surf: north shore 4-6 feet, south shore 1-2 feet.
Several north shore beaches were closed after a number of rescues over
the weekend in the high surf, then reopened yesterday. But north
shore lifeguards were still busy with 18 rescueds yesterday as
so many folks flocked to the newly-reopened beaches on the holiday.
Marie Beltran and her family were evicted from Mokuleia Beach by about
20 armed state officers yesterday. The Hawaiian family had been
holding out (supported by Ka Lahui Hawaii) for almost five months
against the state, which has been trying to clear the area of long-time
"campers". She's free on $130 bail (collected by Ka Lahui) on charges
of contempt of court on warrants involving traffic violations. Her
husband remains in jail on a probation violation.
A man (with 9 other felony cases already pending against him) was
arrested for stealing a microwave oven from the Salvation Army.
The Black Orchid restaurant is closing for renovation, will re-open as
the World Cafe with a billiards-in-the-bar motif.
Maui. A Coast Guard helicoper lifted five Maui residents off a swamped
43' outrigger sailboat 13 miles off Maui's south shore.
--
Bob Cunningham
b...@soest.hawaii.edu
School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology, University of Hawaii
Bob Cunningham
Ousted state senate president James Aki has finally agreed not to make
a fuss by trying to open tomorrow's state senate session, as long as
he's allowed to speak before Norman Mizuguchi, selected as the new
senate president in a closed-door Democratic caucus several months
ago, is formally elected.
Stae Consumer Advocate Charles Totto says that instead of the $50
million rate increase GTE Hawaiian Tel is requesting from the state
PUC, the company should cut rates by $30 million or so. Largest
difference would be in the 10.9% profit Hawaiian Tel wants to make.
Totto says they should only earn an 8.9%, and include in that figure
profits and sales (e.g., Yellow Pages sales) now going to Hawaiian
Tell's parent company, GTE.
Insurance companies say that losses from the LA quake will increase
property insurance rates nationwide, including Hawaii where rates
have already gone up (and property insurance is a lot harder to get)
as a result of Hurricane Iniki.
Last week Jim Manke was Governor Waihee's Director of Information,
this week he's Director of Public Affairs for the University of Hawaii.
The ex-KGMB news director made $65,000 as state information director;
his new salary hasn't been disclosed. Critics wonder whether this is
the start of a migration of Waihee appointees to high-paying UH
posts as the Waihee administration ends.
Oahu. Surf: north shore 3-6 feet, south shore 0-2 feet. Weather: rainy.
Fist Hawaiian Bank's Liliha branch was robbed yesterday in the first
bank robbery of the year. He's probably the same person who committed
two other bank robberies towards the end of last year.
Popular teacher Lena Kanemori (several grades, GTE, computer) led a
majority of Enchanted Lake Elementary teachers in a sucessful effort to
remove principal A. Lawrence Gaddis. Now she's being transferred away
from Enchanged Lake by the state Dept. of Education. Gaddis, a very
unpopular principal who was difficult to work for, was transferred to
Enchanged Lake from Kohala High School in 1990 when hundreds of
community members signed a petition voicing concerns with his
leadership there. On Jan 1, he was assigned to the DOE's Office of
Information and Technology (a promotion). Kanemori is going either to
Benjamin Parker or Kaneohe elementary schools for the rest of the year;
afterwards she'l be designated an "unassigned teacher". A lot of
students and parents are upset, believing its wrong to transfer
Kanemori for speaking out. Some think it's appropriate, saying
"teachers and their union should not be allowed to run our schools."
About 200 people camped in a line (some for three days) to qualify
for 61 new fee-simple condominium units at Salt Lake. How they knew
to be there is a mystery. Developers are prohibited by law from
"leaking" information in advance about new sales. For the next
increment (200 units), the same developers (Shuler Homes) will go
to a lottery instead.
Maui. Carol Hartley and Gina Baldwin, who operate the Tiger Lily clothing
store, travel to Los Angeles 4-5 times on buying trips. In 1992,
they managed to get to LA just in time for the riots, last year when
the big brush fires hit, and yes, they were in LA when the earthquake
hit. Some local folks are beginning to ask them when they're going
to LA the next time...to know when not to travel to LA.
Big Island [sort of]. Blues musician Taj Mahal appeared on the "Late Show
with David Letterman" Monday night wearing a suit sewn for him by Big Island
marijuana advocates...made entirely out of hemp.
Greg Furumoto
Bob Cunningham <b...@kahala.soest.hawaii.edu> wrote:
>[Synopsis of Honolulu Advertiser stories of interest]
>
>store, travel to Los Angeles 4-5 times on buying trips. In 1992,
>they managed to get to LA just in time for the riots, last year when
>the big brush fires hit, and yes, they were in LA when the earthquake
>hit. Some local folks are beginning to ask them when they're going
>to LA the next time...to know when not to travel to LA.
Heck, tell them to STAY HOME! Besides, the air is better at home.
Are they bringing lava rocks with them to LA or something?
I'd hate to think Pele had a grudge against LA since everybody else already
seems to....
Aloha
Greg
Bob Cunningham
The Royal Garden subdivision. It was between the active vents and the sea.
Essentially all the homes that were destroyed were in this one subdivision
(plus a few older ones in the area that predated the subdivision). Royal
Gardens was virtually wiped out. Verrrry slowly.
---
Bob Cunningham
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees say they have nothing to hide
when it comes to how they spend their $7,200 annual discretionary
allowances even though some of the expenses appear highly
questionable. They pointed out that they are required by law to
disclose their espenses, while state legislators get to keep secret how
they spend their individual $5,000 allowances.
Oahu. Surf: north shore 3-6 feet, south shore 0-2 feet. Weather: cloudy
and cool.
In the worse single-car accident in Oahu history, a Plymouth van pluged
40 feet off a cliff from Farrington Highway just before dawn yesterday
morning, killing 5 people and burning the bodies beyond recognition.
The victims appeared to be young adults or teen-agers, at least two
male (autopsies will be needed to determine the genders of the
others). The van was registered to a McCully family, who told police
that a son, 22 had borrowed it Thurday, and hasn't been seen since. He
was last seen with a 17-year-old Punchbowl youth who didn't return home
last night.
"All we heard was the roaring sound of the plane, the smoke at Pearl
Harbor. Then the military personnel came...we lost everything--our
home, busines. We really struggled at the time..we didn't have enough
food to eat, no money." That's how Masao Uyeda, now 67, describes what
happened over 50 years ago. He's one of 164 individuals who will now get a
letter of apology and a check for $20,000, the US Justice Department's
Office of Redress Administration said yesteday. The decision affects 7
people were were relocated from Thompson Corner, 21 from McGrew Camp,
and 136 from Puuloa who were all evicted from their homes primarily
because they were of Japanese ancestry right after the 1941 attack on
Pearl Harbor. At the same time, the Commission declared 91 people from Iwilei
ineligible for redress because the wartime evacuation orders mandated
the eviction of "all persons" in that area, not just those of Japanese
ancestry. A decision on another 100 people from Waiau is still pending.
Since being established a couple of years ago, the Commission has redressed
approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans and resident aliens who were
uprooted and interned during the war both on the mainland and in Hawaii.
Russel Blair, a state legislator for 19 years who stepped down in November
after his district was reapportioned from Oahu to Maui, is now working
as a deputy city prosecutor, andling mostly District Court traffic cases.
--
Francis Asis
>In the worse single-car accident in Oahu history, a Plymouth van pluged
>40 feet off a cliff from Farrington Highway just before dawn yesterday
>morning, killing 5 people and burning the bodies beyond recognition.
>The victims appeared to be young adults or teen-agers, at least two
>male (autopsies will be needed to determine the genders of the
>others). The van was registered to a McCully family, who told police
>that a son, 22 had borrowed it Thurday, and hasn't been seen since. He
>was last seen with a 17-year-old Punchbowl youth who didn't return home
>last night.
When I read this story, the first thing I could think of was that 1) the
group has probably never gone to that side of the island before, 2) they
must have been drunk (or at least not focused on the road) and 3), never
realized the things that can happen to people out on that side of the island
in the middle of the night. Strange stuff how the car just burst into
flames!!!!
~~~~~~~~~ Francis
=====================================================
| Fra...@colossus.ics.hawaii.edu |
-----------------------------------------------------
| The opinions which I express are my own and are not |
| to be considered a refection of my employer or the |
| institution I work for. |
=====================================================
Bob Cunningham
The state legislature opened yesterday. The state senate opening
session was marked by demonstrators and rancorous debate ad Norman Mizuguchi
was officialy elected senate president by a 14-8 vote. The 8 votes against
him were for Sen. Ann Kobayashi, and apparently unexpected by Mizuguchi
who said the roles of his 8 opponents "would be re-evaluated." Meanwhile
about 50 Ka Lahui members protested in front of the state capitol, then
went over to and demanded entrance to the Senate chambers, even though
all seats were full. They were allowed in after shouting, "We want in"
enough times.
Issues facing the legislature this year include:
How to increase funding for education without raising taxes too much.
Cutting back the state budget, probably including job cuts.
Promoting the slumping tourism industry.
Easing red tape and taxes for small businesses.
Land use reform as a lot of land goes out of sugar and pineapple.
Land/condominium fee issues.
Mandatory sentencing and other legal issues.
Gun control (requested by the state attorney general & police chiefs).
Hawaiian Sovereignty issues.
Same-sex marriages.
Trying not to raise taxes too much in an election year.
Hawaii residents left holding Air Hawaii ticket books are finally being
paid back, at about $.40 on the dollar. The airline sold 2,700 ticket
books locally for about $1,400 each (and an additional 9,100 books in
California for $1,200 each, raising a total of about $3.8 million in
advance ticket sales) before beginning Hawaii-west coast flights on
November 22, 1985. Then they went bankrupt in Feburary 1986, about 8
years ago. It was later determined that the founding investors only
put about $615,000 into the airline themselves.
Oahu. Surf: north shore 3-6 feet, south shore 0-3 feet. Weather: rainy,
cold.
The government of China is a new investor in island real estate,
financing a $118 million Ala Moana condominium project, the Nauru
Tower, phase 2 (phase one was financed by Nauru, a tiny island nation
rich from phosphate royalties, but deciding it didn't want to commit
too much of the nation's trusts funds, turned to the Chinese government
for funding of the second phase).
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the forced transfer of
Enchanted Lake Elementary School teacher Lena Kanemori to another
school, at request of HSTA (the state teacher's union). Kenemori lead
a group of students, parents, and other teachers to oust unpopular
principal A. Lawrence Gaddis. Then the state DOE transfered her to
allow the school "to move forward in a positive manner." [or, as
punishment, depending upon your point of view].
The Kaimuki branch of the American Savings Bank was robbed yesterday,
the 2nd bank robbery of the year. But this time police caught the
robber, while he was trying to make his getaway as a passenger on
a city bus.
Local broacasting executive B. Casey Stangl, formally general manager
of KGU (AM), is buying that station and KTSS-FM from financial guru
Charles J. Givens of Florida. No format changes planned; all employees
will be retained; FCC approval pending.
It's okay to play cards at the Honolulu International Airport now.
The Honolulu Liquor Commission just removed a ban on card-playing
at the airport bars and restaurants.
Big Island. The US Drug Enforcement Administration is sending a second
helicoper from Atlanta to hilo for the marijuana eradication program.
Bob Cunningham
OHA Trustee Samuel Kealoha Jr. used discretionary funds last week to
post $1,500 bail for a man accused of probation violations--picked up
in a state effort to remove squatters on north shore beaches. In effect,
using state funds to bail out a person arrested by the state.
It turns out that each of the 9 Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees gets
a $7,200 in discretionary fund allowance. That they can spend as they
like to help develop a "broader understanding of Hawaiian issues". An
accounting of the funds shows most of the money being spent for
probably-useful things, but also shows some of it going towards political
contributions and fund-raisers, to pay parking tickets, and to buy
flowers for funerals of friends.
Among the proposals to upgrade public education and help teachers become
more effective that state senate president Norman Miziguchi is proposing
would be to give each teacher a credit card to buy classroom
supplies on a discretionary basis.
Meanwhile, the state legislature is getting organized. Gov. John
Waihee's annual State of the State address, originally schedule for
Monday, has been postponed until next Thursday. His mother, Mary Purdy
Waihee, died Tuesday on the Big Island. Malama Soloman is senate
majority leader. Senator Ann Kobaashi probably would have become
senate vice president if she hadn't opposed Miziguchi's election as
senate president. Lehua Fernandes Salling from Kauai, will quite
likely become senate vice president instead.
Hawaii's largest tour wholesaler, Pleasant Hawaiian HOlidays, is
shifting most of its business away from the regularly-scheduled
airlines to American Trans Air, a charter airlines. This involves
roughly 1,000 clients/day, or at least 200,000 people a year.
Oahu. Surf: north shore 3-6 feet, south shore 0-2 feet. Weather: cloudy
and cool.
Victor Jarret, 76, the sole mainland delegate to the state's
Hawaiian Sovereignty Advisory Commission, died after collapsing during
a commission meeting in Kaneohe Wednesday night. He's the 2nd commission
member to die since it was formed lst summer.
A Waikiki hotel housekeeper was arrested yesterday, accused of burglaries
in rooms at the hotel where he worked since August.
Honolulu police officer Russel P. Fanning was arrested Saturday, arraigned
Tuesday, on charges of stealing drugs from the evidence room of the Honolulu
Police Department. He was on suspension pending reckless driving and other
traffic charges, and faces indictement for some other drug charges.
The Hilton Hawaiian Village has made more than $526,000 in leasing its
shorside pier to Atlantis Submarines over the last year or so. Curiously,
the area is actually owned by the state, which leases it "exclusively" to
Hilton for only a few thousand/month.
Bob Cunningham
Sharp competition and slumping tourism has brought down the price of
Waikiki hotel rooms. It's now easy to get a room for less than $100 a
night, and if you shop around, it can be possible to get a room for
less than $70 a night.
Federal regulators just gave all of the local banks a relatively clean
bill of health in regards to discrimination in lending, but only
American Savings, Bank of Hawaii, First Nationwide, and Territorial
Savings were ranked "outstanding". The others, including Bank of
America, First Hawaiian, and Central Pacific Bank were ranked
"satisfactory", nothing that: First Hawaiian could do a better job of
serving residents of low- and moderate-income areas; Pioneer Federal
(acquired by First Hawaiian last August) didn't have some minorities
applying for loans at the rate they should, and denied loans to
minorities at a somewhat greater rate; Bank of America Hawaii, which
has been criticized by community groups in conjunction with their
buyout of Liberty Bank has "weak lending" in lower income areas.
Oahu. Surf: north shore 2-4 feet, south shore flat to 1 foot. Weather,
cool, cloudy and rainy.
HPD is getting newer, nicer motorscooters, a GO-4 model made in Canada,
to replace its aging 60 Cushman scooters. About half are used in
Waikiki, the remainder mostly downtown. About the same price as
the Cusmans, just over $18,000 each. In heavy traffic, they're a lot
more maneuverable than regular cars.
The number of violent crimes on the UH Manoa campus is increasing. As
a result, additional private security guards, trained by campus security,
are being hired for the dormitories.
A 17-year-old boy was injured critically when he tumbled from the
bed of a pickup truck in Kailua late Saturday night.
Shykelly Hawela, 17, of Enchanged lake has been charged as an adult in
connection with a clubbing and kicking attack that crippled a man at
Kailua Beach park on Sept 3. Four others were arrested and charged in
the case months ago.
Maui. Daniel A. Drinko, 38, was found dead after apparently driving
his pickup off of a 500' cliff at Kahakuloa. Drinko, paralyzed
on the left side, had to be rescued five times over a period of
a couple of weeks last month by the Coast Guard when he had difficulty
maneuvering his 32' sailboat.
-SLM-
>for, and getting local donations for LA earthquake victims, tho.
Many thanks for your generous aloha spirit in helping te's
out LA (well, it's really The Valley that was hit ore.
hardest). Considering Hawaii's own troubles (Iniki & es
the economy), your contributions are a tribute to
what we, as a race, should aspire to -- that sense of
community with your fellow human beings in times of
need (did that make sense?! Well, I think you know
what I mean...).
To all of you in Hawaii (kama'ainas, etc. *8^D ), I
salute you & send you my sincerest thanks!
-SLM-
Bob Cunningham
A special state senate investigating committee, headed up by Milton
Holt will be investigating insurance rates and availability becaue of
what Holt says are atrocious premium increases and unfair treatment.
Funded at about $200,000. Meanwhile, about $100,000 in funding for
Richard's Matsuura's committee's investigations into state government
waste is in doubt.
State health director John Lewin says small businesses need relief from
skyrocketing health insurance costs, and workers should pay more, at
least double the present legal ceiling of 1.5% of gross wages. And
that businesses should be required to offer health insurance to their
workers' families [most do, though it isn't yet required by law].
Local community groups critized the federal Offic of Thrift
Supervision's satisfactory ratings of several local banks, saying it's
"very easy to get a satisfactory rating," and that lumping Asians and
Pacific islanders together in the minority statistics glossed over
bank's poor lending records, especially with Filipinos and Hawaiians.
Oahu. Surf: south shore 0-1 foot, other shores 1-3 feet. Weather: cloudy
and rainy, hopefully partly sunny tomorrow.
Kitaro Kuwamoto, 91, awoke to find himself surrounded by the flames of
his burning house yesterday afternoon. He was rescued by two passing
Hawaiian Electric Company employees (Warren Seo and Norman Tsutsumi)
who kicked through two locked front doors "too hot to touch" to pull
him from the blaze before firefighters arrived. He's in critical
condition at Straub.
The five charred bodies found in a burned-out van that went off a Wainae
Coast cliff early Friday have still not been positively identified, though
dental and full-body X-rays have been taken and will be compared with
medical records of the most likely people (4 probables, the Police still
have no leads on the 5th person). All five victims were males in
their mid-to-late teens, according to the city Medican Examiner.
Police are investigating several employees of Sam's Club discount store
who allegedly bought more than $4,000 of merchandise from the store
using checks and checkbooks they found left behind in shopping carts.
Maui. The Hawaii Disaster Medical Assistance Team (consisting
primarily of medical professionals from Maui), and a number of
civil engineers from Oahu are in Los Angeles "for as long as it takes"
to help out in the disaster recovery there. DMAT is a disaster
response team, organized by the US PUblic Health Service after the
1988 near-disaster on Maui when an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737
lost part of the top of its fuselage in flight. The team assited
in Florda after Hurrican Andrew, and on Kauai after Hurrican Iniki.
The Aloha United Way has also released some of its reserve funds
to help earthquake victims in Los Angeles.
Kauai. The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund is representing a dozen
community and environmental groups with a petition to the FAA to
restrict noisy helicopter flights. The FAA currently imposes no firm
restrictions, but helicopter tour operators have agreed on a "Fly
Neighborly" program to come no closer than 1,500' to any dwelling.
North shore residents still call what they have to endure "helicoper
hell".
Bob Cunningham
A new round of air fare specials was just triggered by TWA, matched by
American, United and others. If you buy before Friday and complete
travel before March 15, it'll cost $298 round trip to LA compared with
the "standard" 48-hour advance discounted $362 round-trip fare. Round
trips with Chicago and New York similarly discounted.
Meanwhile, JAS (Japan Air System, Japan's 3rd largest airline) is dropping
service to Honolulu as of June 1 to reduce losses. This continues the
trend of US and Japanese airlines reducing the number of their flights
to the islands.
Oahu. Surf: north shore 2-4 feet, south shore 0-1 foot. Weather: sunny,
occasional showers.
A bill before the City Council would force utilities to move overhead
transmission lines underground. HECO, HawTel, and Oceanic CAblevision
have all voiced opposition. HECO and Hawtel predict customers could
end up paying about $250 more each month for electric and phone service
if they were forced to move all their existing overhead lines underground.
A British tourst tumbled to his death from a cliff on the side of Diamond
Head yesterday.
The Oahu grand jury charged Kathrine Casillas, 16 with 2nd degree
murder and conspiracy in the death of her husban's former girlfriend,
Holly Potter, 17, whose nude body was found floating off the Wainai
Coast on November 21. Kathrine is the youngest female in Hawaii
history to be indicted for murder, and will be tried as an adult. Her
husband, Joe Casilas, 22, has also been charged.
Kinau Wilder, 91, died in her sleep yesterday at her Aina Haina home.
Society matriarch, author, actress, and friend of the entertainment
community. She acted in an innumerable community theatre plays
starting in the 1920s and appeared on "Hawaii Five-O" and "Magnum, P.I"
(though she didn't make her debut with the Honolulu City Ballet until
she was 73). She bankrolled her son's (Wilder McVay) entertainment
businesses, including the Duke Kanhanamoku nightclub. Many local
entertainers got their early breaks through her support (e.g., Don Ho,
Marlene Sai, Ed Kenny, the Aliis, Society of Seven). Active even in
later life, she took up para-sailing on her 83rd birthday. She is
survived by two sunds, two granddaughters, and five
great-grandchildren. Ashes to be scattered offshore of the Outrigger
Canoe Club next Tuesday. In lieu of flowers, she requested donations
be made to Diamond Head Theatre.
The Honolulu Power Plant, downtown on Nimitz Highway, has been
providing power to downtown Honolulu for exactly 100 years as of
yesterday. It's scheduled to stay in operation until 2004. The
original electric power plant was a hydroelectric plant on Nuuanu
Stream set up in 1888 by Charles Wilson. But when the stream ran low,
so did electricity. Hawaiian Electric Company, organized in 1891
originally operated a dynamo until winning the franchise to provide
city-wide electricity, at which point they bought the land near
downtown and built the permanent downtown plant. Hawaiian Electric
originally paid $53,000 for the land, now tax-asessed at $150,992,000
for the land, $1,866,00 for the buildings.
riz...@csvax1.ucc.ie
-SLM-
Hawaii lately. Bob's "local news" was dated
22 Jan 1994 & I just got it today! Does
ANYBODY have news about the EQ? Did I ima- ob Cunningham) writes:
gine hearing the report on the radio?
-SLM-
David Morgan
I am in Honolulu. I post by way of Hawaii FYI, UHCARL, INFOSLUG,
and a freenet. I don't know what has happened to all the posters
from the University of Hawaii who have the GOOD connections to the
Internet.
...
I slept through the earthquake. It was listed as 5.2 in the latest
edition of the newspaper. People in high rise buildings definitely
felt the quake (on Oahu).
--
--------------------------David W. Morgan------------------------
| ai...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA Honolulu, Hawaii |
| It's hard to live in Paradise, but somebody's gotta do it! |
|_______________________________________________________________|
Maren Purves
>
>
>I am in Honolulu. I post by way of Hawaii FYI, UHCARL, INFOSLUG,
>and a freenet. I don't know what has happened to all the posters
>from the University of Hawaii who have the GOOD connections to the
>Internet.
>I slept through the earthquake. It was listed as 5.2 in the latest
>edition of the newspaper. People in high rise buildings definitely
>felt the quake (on Oahu).
>--
>--------------------------David W. Morgan------------------------
>| ai...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA Honolulu, Hawaii |
>| It's hard to live in Paradise, but somebody's gotta do it! |
>|_______________________________________________________________|
Ok, I use my mainland (Pasadena) account, as none of the posts coming
from anywhere on hawaii.edu seem to get out (same is true for Bob
Cunningham's post that he was going to be away for a week, the news
is really sporadic, but the reason for it didn't get out either it
seems)
Earthquake:
12:03 (or so) HST on Tuesday morning, 5.2 on the Richter Scale, epicenter
about Apua Point, 36 km (or 20 miles according to other information) deep,
probably a settling quake. Only very minor damage. Friend of mine who lives
closer says there were some noticeable aftershocks but I slept through
those.
To whoever is responsible for our newsfeed: we don't get out !!!
ma...@poliahu.submm.caltech.edu
(= ma...@tacos.caltech.edu = ma...@jach.hawaii.edu, in Hilo)