Hawai'i briefs

Advertiser Staff

Parents issued warning after early morning attack

A school custodian who heard the screams of a teen-age girl on the campus of Kauluwela Elementary School rushed to the scene yesterday and frightened off the girl's attacker.

The girl, 13, was walking through the campus en route to her own school, at about 6:35 a.m. yesterday. She was grabbed by a man and pulled into the hallway of a building housing first- and fifth-grade classrooms, a school spokesperson said.

The custodian heard her screaming and ran to the scene, and the suspect fled in a black pickup truck that was parked at the Kauluwela Place back entrance.

The girl continued on to school, said Kauluwela principal Gwen Lee; police have declined to say which one she girl attends. She later was taken to Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children, where she was treated and released.

Lee added that a school bulletin will warn parents and students to avoid the campus in the early hours. The school is ringed with apartment buildings, and strangers often cut through the campus, Lee said.

Eve work shifts full for state

It may make him seem like Scrooge to some, but Gov. Ben Cayetano is once again requiring state employees to put in a full day at work on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

In years past, Hawai'i governors often granted state workers half-days of paid leave on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

Given the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 and the loss of jobs in Hawai'i after the attacks, it would not be "advisable or appropriate" to grant the leaves this year, according to a memo from Davis Yogi, director of the Department of Human Resources Development.

Bird-theft suspect held

Punky, Angel and the rest of Irwin Wantman's exotic birds are all home.

Police on Monday arrested Wantman's 50-year-old housekeeper in connection with the theft of the birds.

Five birds, set free, were recovered by the Hawaiian Humane Society. One bird was sold and one was given away to people who since have returned them.

Moped rider hurt in crash

A man was critically injured last night after his moped was struck by a car in Nanakuli.

The accident occurred at Farrington Highway and Princess Kahanu Avenue shortly before 9 p.m.

The man was flown by an Army medevac helicopter to The Queen's Medical Center, where he was in critical condition last night.