Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Wednesday, July 1, 1998

Hanauma Bay to be closed Tuesdays

Officials will close Hanauma Bay all day on Tuesdays beginning Aug. 4.

City Parks Director Bill Balfour said a notice is expected to run in the newspaper this weekend.

Officials say the once-a-week closure will allow the reef ecosystem some respite from trampling and disruption by thousands of visitors a day. It will also make cleanups and improvements easier.

The Tuesday closures will allow the nature preserve to open all day on Wednesdays again. The bay has been shut down for half a day on Wednesdays the past several years.

Administrative rules dealing with the Tuesday closure and other issues were first proposed a year ago.

Three get promotions, awards from Army

Lt. Col. Wally Walters has been named commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Honolulu district.

He replaces Lt. Col. Ralph Graves, who has been promoted and is leaving for assignment with the Army's assistant chief of staff for installation management in Washington, D.C.

Walters is currently a planner for the U.S. Pacific Command.

At Tripler Army Medical Center, Brig. Gen. Nancy Adams, the installation's commander, recently received her second star.

She is the first woman to command Tripler and the first nurse to command a medical center.

Suga named interim schools superintendent

For Alfred Suga, retirement will have to wait again -- at least for another two months.

Suga, assistant superintendent of the Department of Education's business services, today begins his first day as interim schools superintendent until Hawaii's new superintendent arrives and selects his own team.

"I'm excited," said Suga, who looks forward to providing support to new Superintendent Paul LeMahieu's initiatives. "My hope is an orderly transition in carrying out his proposals."

The Board of Education last night unanimously voted for Suga's appointment following a teleconference with LeMahieu.

The board also approved the appointment of Caroline Spencer, director of the public libraries branch, as interim state librarian. After 16 years as head of Hawaii's public libraries, Bart Kane's last day was yesterday.

Pearl workers to start earlier

Beginning July 6, nearly all of Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard's 4,000 workers will begin work a half-hour earlier with the first shift starting at 6:30 a.m.

The second shift will begin at 2:30 p.m., and the third shift at 10:30 p.m.

The change is to improve the quality of work life and enhance productivity, the Navy said. The new hours also apply to the shipyard's 800 uniformed personnel.

Teens boost clothing drive

The Salvation Army is getting a boost from teens in its annual school supplies and clothing drive for Windward Oahu families in need.

The Windward Mall Teen Board, along with Windward Mall management, is helping the organization expand its annual drive in hopes of reaching 400 families. Last year's efforts within Salvation Army locations served Leeward families on a smaller scale.

Those wishing to receive donations from this year's drive must complete an application by July 10. Applications may be filed at the Salvation Army Kaneohe Corps, located at 45-175 Waikalua Road in Kaneohe, between 9 a.m. and noon weekdays.

Recipients will be selected on the basis of financial need.

Donations may be made at The Giving Bus at Windward Mall between July 17 and Aug. 1.

Please call the Kaneohe Corps for details at 235-1408.

See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

Airport bust yields $500,000 in cocaine, 'ice'

Cocaine and crystal methamphetamine seized at Honolulu Airport yesterday were valued at $500,000, making the seizure one of the largest ever at the airport, said Sidney Hayakawa, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent.

The drugs consisted of 8.8 pounds of cocaine and 4.9 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, also known as 'ice,' according to an affidavit by DEA agent Michael Among.

Federal agents and police also arrested six suspects but said a ringleader known to them only as "Big Boy" is still at large.

Finding both cocaine and crystal methamphetamine in the same shipment is unique, Hayakawa said. And the seizure shows an increased trend toward shipments of crystal methamphetamine -- the end product in clandestine laboratory processing -- rather than simple methamphetamine, an intermediate product.

"It could be the cooks are taking it one step further (on the mainland)," Hayakawa said. "We haven't had a lab (in Hawaii) for some time."

Agents said they discovered the shipment when they stopped suspect Bobby Steve Chalk as he picked up a suitcase following a flight from Los Angeles yesterday morning. Chalk was identified as suspicious using DEA techniques, Hayakawa said, providing no details.

Waipahu man accused of sex assault, kidnap

Police yesterday charged a Waipahu man in connection with the sexual assault of a female friend. Petero Mino, 34, was charged with first-degree sexual assault, third-degree sexual assault and kidnapping, police said.

Mino entered the woman's home on Monday morning and allegedly assaulted her, police said.

Hotel guest robbed of clothes and cash

KAILUA-KONA -- Police are looking for three men, two of them carrying guns, who robbed a man at the Kona Seaside Hotel yesterday, they said.

Victim Stephen Foreman, 24, of Kailua-Kona, said he answered a knock at his door at 2:30 a.m. and was confronted by the men.

The three then left with a bag of clothes and cash. Foreman declined medical attention.

In other news . . .

Police are searching for a man who shot a pellet gun and damaged two cars, a window of a home and a McDonald's restaurant this morning in the Pearl Harbor area. The man fired the rounds from his car and fled near Kukila Street about 2 p.m., police said. The Foster Village McDonald's was hit about 20 minutes later.

Police last night arrested a Kaneohe man for allegedly firing a handgun at Sandy Beach. The weapon was later found to be stolen in 1979.

Witnesses saw the man, 20, fire the pistol into the air about 8:55 p.m., police said. Officers recovered the weapon and arrested the suspect about an hour later. He was booked for firearms violations, first-degree reckless endangerment and detaining stolen property, police said.

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