O'ahu briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
EAST HONOLULU
School plans parent meeting
Koko Head Elementary School will hold a coffee hour tomorrow for the parents of new and returning students.
The hourlong meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in the school cafeteria.
Parents will learn more about the school and meet other parents. Refreshments will be served.
Koko Head Elementary is at 189 Lunalilo Home Road.
For more information call the school at 397-5811.
School seeks volunteers
Haha'ione Elementary School is looking for volunteers to help in the areas of science, technology and fund-raising.
Volunteers are needed to help teachers in the science lab set up equipment, help students with cleanup, check science supplies and equipment in and out of the lab, share expertise in science with presentations, and help with the science fair in March.
In the area of technology, volunteers are needed to help teachers in the computer lab, help with equipment inventory and maintenance and clean equipment once a semester.
In fund-raising, parents are needed to help by counting money and doing bookkeeping, distributing items to the classrooms, helping with promotions and working fund-raiser events.
For more information call 397-5822.
Mobile city hall services halted
Mobile Satellite City Hall services have been suspended in Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai and Kaimuki until the bus that houses the unit is repaired.
The 40-foot converted bus that is used to bring city services to the communities has a cracked drive shaft, and the part is not available in Hawai'i, said Carol Costa, city spokeswoman.
"We had wished to have it back this week, but the delays in getting the parts from the Mainland are going to keep that mobile down for another two or three weeks," Costa said yesterday.
The mobile unit stops in Waimanalo once a week near Price Busters, three times a week near Foodland in Hawai'i Kai and once a week at the Kaimuki Municipal Parking Lot.
Waimanalo residents can visit the Satellite City Hall in Keolu Village Center, 1090 Keolu Drive, between 7:45 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Hawai'i Kai and Kaimuki people can obtain services at the Ala Moana Center Satellite City Hall from 9 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on Saturday.
WINDWARD
Health center gives to family
The Waimanalo Health Center will present $4,738 in community donations today to the Edna Makali'i family, who lost their home in a June 13 fire.
Makali'i, a Pentecostal minister, was out performing a house blessing for one of her daughters when the fire broke out.
Eight people lived in Makali'i's Hawaiian Homestead house on Nalu Street before it was engulfed in flames.
The fire did an estimated $175,000 damage to the three-bedroom structure and an estimated $80,000 damage to its contents. Three vehicles on the property also were destroyed.
"I know (the donations) don't bring back the house, but at least it will help them get started," said David Kula, financial director at the center.
A year before the fire, the family had completed an extensive restoration and expansion of the home, which was close to 40 years old.
HONOLULU
Man shot in chest in Ala Moana Hotel
A gunman opened fire in the Ala Moana Hotel yesterday and wounded a 28-year-old Pearl City man, police said.
The man was taken to Queen's Medical Center, where he was in serious condition with a gunshot wound to the upper chest.
Police were called to the hotel at 410 Atkinson Drive about 3 a.m. after a man told the parking lot attendant he had been shot. He told police he had gone to a party at the hotel, where he was shot outside one of the rooms.
He said his knock at the door had surprised the gunman, who shot him.
The victim said he did not get a good look at the gunman, and only saw his hand and gun reaching out from the door.
Police reviewed security videotapes and searched the hotel room for evidence.
They later questioned a 36-year-old Pearl City man who had rented a room and said he is not a suspect in the shooting.
Police have classified the case as second-degree attempted murder.
Man found dead in stream murdered
The man who was found floating dead in Nu'uanu Stream on Aug. 1 was murdered, the city medical examiner said.
The man, identified as Benjamin Amarino of Pauahi Street, drowned after being hit on the head, the medical examiner determined.
Firefighters found Amarino's body at 5:48 a.m., in about 3 feet of water 100 yards downstream of the Kukui Street bridge.
LEEWARD
Teen killed in car chase identified
A teenager who died following a high-speed police chase in Waikele on Aug. 1 has been identified as Jeremy Purganan, the city medical examiner said.
Purganan, 17, was at the wheel of a stolen 1992 Honda Civic when he tried to outrun police and crashed on Lumiaina Street, police said.
Purganan was thrown from the car and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Police closed Lumiaina Street near Waikele shopping center for about six hours after the accident.
