Neighbor Island briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
BIG ISLAND
O'ahu driver killed in Big Island crash
SOUTH KOHALA, Hawai'i — A 30-year-old Waimanalo man was killed Sunday when his rented pickup truck crossed the center line and hit a semi-tractor trailer pulling a load on Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway near the entrance to Hapuna State Park.
The O'ahu man was identified by police as Eric H. Beyer. The tractor-trailer driver, a 46-year-old of Honoka'a resident, was not injured.
Police said the rented 2000 Ford pickup truck was headed to Kohala when it drifted over the center line and hit the rear axle of the bigger truck at about 8 a.m.
Fugitive charged after car crash
A 28-year-old fugitive who crashed his car in front of the Honolulu Police Department on Thursday morning has been charged with escape and drug offenses, police said.
A car driven by Dwayne R. Medeiros of Salt Lake crashed at about 7:30 a.m. into a light pole in front of the police station, 801 S. Beretania St., then slammed into the main steps of the building.
Medeiros has been charged with second-degree escape and promoting dangerous drugs, police said. His bail was set at $20,000.
Public safety officials said he has a history of drug offenses and had failed to return to the Laumaka Work Furlough Center on March 12, where he could have been granted parole a week ago.
UH-Hilo plans business seminars
HILO, Hawai'i — The University of Hawai'i-Hilo School of Business in cooperation with the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism will hold two seminars on "The ABCs of Outsourcing."
The sessions for business owners and managers will be held 5:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 4, in Kanaka'ole Hall Room 112 at UHH and 8:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 7, in the Discovery Room of the Royal Kona Resort in Kailua-Kona.
The program will be conducted by UH-Hilo professor Harry Hennessey, who teaches courses in strategic management and human resource management.
Each workshop costs $25. The registration deadline is Sunday. Call (808) 974-7400.
Big Isle exceeds United Way goal
HILO, Hawai'i — The Hawai'i Island United Way has eclipsed its 2001 goal, raising $1.33 million in donations and pledges in a campaign that started last summer.
"I am just so grateful to the people of the Big Island for believing in themselves," said campaign chairman Dwayne Miyashiro.
As the campaign nears it final day Saturday, United Way officials report they are $730 ahead of their goal. The success ensures the 33 member nonprofit agencies will receive 100 percent of their 2001 allocation.
Miyashiro, Big Island manager for Verizon Hawai'i, said many volunteers contributed to the effort, allowing the United Way to meet its fund-raising goal for the third consecutive year.
MAUI
489 called Maui CrimeStoppers
WAILUKU, Maui — Maui CrimeStoppers reported that it received 489 calls last year and paid out $3,275 in rewards for information that resulted in 12 arrests and the recovery of $86,900 in stolen property.
Tipsters who call the Maui CrimeStoppers number — 242-6966 — are given a code number and remain anonymous. The Crime Stoppers reward fund is supported by local businesses.
Group to celebrate children's month
The Maui Chapter of the National Association for the Education of Young Children is planning several April events in observance of Month of the Young Child.
The chapter's annual Children's Fair will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 7 at the Maui Mall in Kahului. A children's book exchange will be held from 10 a.m. to noon April 21, at the Kihei Public Library, with story time at 10:30 a.m.
The observance will continue May 3-5, when Good Beginnings Maui County presents Gloria DeGaetano's training on "Healthy Development of Young Children in the Media Age'' at Lihikai School in Kahului and at Maui Community College. Call (808) 242-1608.
Land stewards can get tax break
KIHEI, Maui — Landowners can learn how to reduce their taxes while protecting open space, wildlife habitat, and historic and cultural sites at a free April 3 workshop.
John and Maile Bay, stewardship consultants with Pacific Islands Land Institute, will discuss how private land trusts can help property owners interested in land stewardship.
Sponsored by the Maui Coastal Land Trust, the event will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the meeting room of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, 726 S. Kihei Road.
Group protesting Navy use of sonar
WAILUKU, Maui — "The Whales are Calling,'' an event to rally opposition to the Navy's plan to deploy low-frequency active sonar, will be held at 6:30 p.m. April 11 at Unity Church, 483 S. High St.
"We want to let people know about the very serious threat the Navy sonar system poses to whales and dolphins,'' said organizer Vivienne Verdon-Roe.
The proposal involves using active sonar as part of the Navy's submarine defense tracking program. Active sonar, towed behind a ship, is designed to detect submarines too quiet to be found with passive sonar systems, according to the Navy.
Verdon-Roe and many other ocean environmentalists say the sonar is unnecessary. It will "blast one of the loudest man-made sounds throughout 80 percent of the world's oceans,'' harming marine mammals, she said.
