The city will appeal an arbitrator's decision to award state prison guards and Honolulu paramedics an 11 percent pay hike. The raises would cover July 1, 1995, until June 30, 1999. The 2,500 prison guards and 170 paramedics are members of the United Public Workers Unit 10, all paid by the state. City intends to appeal
hike in UPW pay"We feel the arbitrator went beyond his purview and dealt with non-negotiable items," city spokeswoman Carol Costa said. "We feel it wasn't a good decision."
City Corporation Counsel David Arakawa said the city's appeal is based on a dispute dealing with changes in pay classifications.
UPW leader Gary Rodrigues said the arbitrator sided with the union because the state and the four counties failed to come up with a unified bargaining position. He said it is the first time he has seen the counties dictate to the state what it can do with its employees.
Arakawa said the reason for the impasse between the state and the counties was that the city failed to convince the city to take a stand requiring city paramedics to be subject to mandatory drug-testing.
Arakawa said it's puzzling why the arbitrator's decision would subject Unit 10 corrections officers to drug-testing but not paramedics.
Teachers and others interested in providing strong arts education in Hawaii schools are invited to participate in a free interactive national teleconference. National teleconference on
arts planned for Dec. 1"Arts Literacy for a Changing America" will be offered 2:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at nine teleconference sites statewide.
U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley and Bill Ivey, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will lead the discussion on topics including the importance of arts literacy, ways to determine if schools are enabling students to achieve high standards in the arts, and strategies to integrate arts assessments into school improvement plans.
Seating at the teleconference sites is limited. To register, call Elaine Zinn at the State Foundation for Culture and the Arts at 586-0768 or e-mail the Hawaii Alliance for Arts Education at haae@aloha.net before Nov. 20.
Sites in Hawaii include:
University of Hawaii-Manoa, Kuykendall 201;
Judge rules against parents of autistic boy
A federal court judge has denied a Pauoa School parents' request for a temporary restraining order against the Department of Education for failing to provide appropriate education for their autistic son.U.S. Judge Susan Mollway yesterday denied the motion on the grounds that a pending administrative hearing on Dec. 9 would address the parents' concerns.
The boy, 12, has been tutored at home since Sept. 1. His parents, identified only by Bert N. and Jo Ann N., want him back in school but don't believe the special-education class he was put in at Pauoa School for the past two years was helping him, said their attorney, Stanley Levin.
The parents' motion said the boy has been denied an education because of his disabilities. It said they are seeking no more for their son than what the law requires the state to provide.
Arthritis group honors five Hawaii 'heroes'
Five Hawaii "arthritis heroes" will be honored at the Arthritis Foundation's 50th anniversary celebration tomorrow at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.The foundation will recognize the late Billie Beamer, Lori Odell, Dr. James McKoy, Dr. Linda Rasmussen and Sid Fernandez.
Activities also will include a silent auction, casino and dancing.
The dinner and awards presentation will begin at 7 p.m., after a cocktail reception and the auction. Tickets are $100 each. For more information, call 235-3636.
CORRECTIONS
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Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffMan allegedly threatens landlord with shotgun
First-degree terroristic threatening charges are pending against a man, 43, arrested yesterday at his North Kukui Street residence for being armed with a sawed-off, double-barrel shotgun.Police said the man, on drugs, allegedly threatened his landlord, who had confronted him earlier over strange behavior.
Man in black grabs girl while robbing house
A 10-year-old Aiea girl escaped unharmed from an encounter yesterday with an intruder.The girl returned from school about 2:40 p.m. to find a masked man dressed entirely in black and armed with a gun, in the kitchen of her Kaonohi Street home. The man grabbed and threatened her but she managed to break free and run to a neighbor's home.
The intruder fled the scene and is still at large.
Police are investigating the case as a first-degree robbery.
Check-cashing firm in Wahiawa robbed
Two armed men today robbed a Wahiawa check-cashing business after forcing an employee to open a safe. The robbery of Hawaii Catalog Sales at 1680 Wilikina Dr. near Kemoo Farm, was reported at 8:30 a.m.Police Lt. Clifford Takesono of the robbery detail said two men -- one armed with a gun, the other with a knife -- accosted a woman as she was opening the store. They fled with an undisclosed amount of cash, he said.
Fall of 3-foot rock shuts Kamehameha Hwy. lane
A boulder with a diameter of about 3 feet fell onto Kamehameha Highway today, forcing police to close one northbound lane near the offramp to Mililani.The boulder rolled down onto the right shoulder of the roadway at about 8:30 a.m. and created a hazardous condition for motorists approaching a blind curve just past Roosevelt Bridge, police said.
State road crews were dispatched to remove the boulder.
13-year-old accused of pointing knife at girl
Police yesterday arrested a student at Niu Valley Intermediate School for allegedly pointing a switchblade knife at his former girlfriend.The boy, 13, was booked as a juvenile for first-degree terroristic threatening. The girl, 12, was not injured. The incident was reported at 7:45 a.m.
Makaha man fired rifle at neighbor, police say
Police say gunshots were fired last night as a feud between two men in Makaha erupted into violence.Police will seek to charge a 52-year-old Manaku Street resident with attempted second-degree murder for allegedly firing four to five rifle shots at his neighbor.
The shots were fired from close range, but the victim escaped injury because the shooter was intoxicated, police said. The bullets, however, caused damage to the victim's house.
Police responded to the incident at 10:40 p.m. According to police, the victim heard gunshots and went outside to investigate.
When the suspect, who was standing in his own yard, saw his neighbor approaching, he allegedly yelled at him, pointed the rifle, then fired as the victim approached, police said.
Boy struck by van dies; driver not charged
HILO -- A 7-year-old boy who darted onto the Keaau-Pahoa Highway Tuesday and was struck by a van, died the following day at Queen's Hospital, police said.The boy's name is still being withheld pending notification of next of kin, police said.
Witnesses said the boy ran onto the road about 6:15 p.m. in front of a van driven by a Paradise Park man, 32. No charges were filed.
His death was the Big Island's 36th traffic fatality of the year.
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