Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff
Free credit help workshops slated
People who have been affected by the economic hardships in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks can get some free consumer credit help at workshops beginning today.
Volunteer Legal Services Hawai'i is sponsoring the workshops this month in cooperation with the state judiciary, Hawai'i State Bar Association, Hawai'i community colleges, volunteer attorneys, paralegals, credit counseling professionals and others.
Executive director Judy Sobin said the sessions are set up to help people before they face financial crises such as the loss of their house because of late mortgage payments.
For more information, call 528-7046 on O'ahu and (800) 839-5200 on Neighbor Islands. Other workshops will be held on Maui, in Windward O'ahu, in Hilo, on Kaua'i and in Ewa in the coming weeks.
State offers video conferencing
The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations has launched a program to help job seekers connect with employers, using the World Wide Web and video conferencing techniques.
In addition to linking job hunters with employers through the Hawai'i Job Bank Web site, the state's Workforce Development Division has begun a video conferencing system for interviews and recruitment. Some employers have already conducted such video conference interviews with people on the Neighbor Islands.
Job seekers can look for local or Mainland work on the Hawai'i Job Bank Web site, as well as submit resumes and find information on other related services. The Web site is web0.dlir.state.hi.us
Employers or job seekers may call 586-8700 for more information.
HPD sets up terrorism hotline
The Honolulu Police Department has set up a telephone number to take calls from anyone who has information on acts of terrorism.
The number is CALL-HPD, or 225-5473. Calls also can be made to the FBI at 566-4300.
Police Chief Lee Donohue said the special number was created as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and on the Pentagon.
"We are all cognizant of the potential dangers facing our country, state and county, and we encourage the public to provide us with any information on potential terrorist attacks or activity and report any suspicious activity to HPD," Donohue said.
Community members should continue to call 911 for emergencies or to report suspicious activity.
Man arrested after highway collision
A 48-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after his pickup truck collided with an empty Chevron tanker Thursday night near Waimanalo.
The collision occurred on Kalaniana'ole Highway, 327 feet north of Flamingo Street, at 11:30 p.m.
Police said the pickup truck was heading toward Waimanalo when it crossed the center line and hit the Chevron tanker.
The driver of the pickup, a 48-year-old man, was taken to the Queen's Medical Center in serious condition. The 53-year-old driver of the Chevron tanker was not seriously injured, police said.
The fire department's hazardous material unit responded and several families in the area were evacuated until the gas tanker was removed, police said.
Florida man missing off Kona
Big Island police are searching for a Florida man reported missing Wednesday near the Keahole Natural Energy Laboratory in North Kona.
At 7:08 p.m. Wednesday, police received a call that Michael Wallis, 49, of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla, was missing from a flycasting trip. The victim's wife, Susan, said her husband went fishing at 6:30 a.m. and had not returned to their hotel room by 1 p.m.
Marine accused of sexual assault
A 20-year-old Kane'ohe Marine private has been charged with first-degree sexual assault. He is accused of having sex on at least two occasions with a young girl, including once in his barracks at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i.
Pvt. Benjamin C. Swift was arrested at the Marine base on Thursday and turned over to
Honolulu police. He is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
According to a police affidavit filed yesterday in District Court by arresting officer Sandi Fujitani, the girl told Naval Criminal Investigative Services on Sept. 20 that she had sex with Swift on Aug. 18 in a vehicle parked at Foster Village Park and again in his barracks on Aug. 26, three days before her 13th birthday.
The girl's father and aunt had confronted Swift and the girl on Aug. 26, leading to a complaint being filed by the parent.
Man arrested in assault case
A 49-year-old man who allegedly attacked another man with a brick in Makiki last month was arrested Thursday afternoon.
Police said the assailant and another man got into an argument on Sept. 21 at 1460 South Beretania Street.
The assailant, who police said was pan-handling from passersby, struck the 50-year-old man in the head with a brick. The man was cut on his head and the assailant fled.
Yesterday, the man saw his assailant in the same area and called police who arrested the man on suspicion of second-degree assault.
Army sergeant pleads guilty
A 31-year-old Army staff sergeant, who has been in Hawai'i for about a year, pleaded guilty to multiple sexual offenses involving a girl under the age of 16 and was sentenced Thursday by a military court to six years in prison.
Dane A. Rasmussen, who has spent 12 1/2 years in the Army, is being held at the Ford Island Naval Brig pending transfer to a Mainland prison. Rasmussen was charged with three counts of indecent acts, two counts of oral sodomy, one count of indecent liberties and one count of sexual exploitation with a child. The offenses, which occurred between February and May of this year, involved the same girl.
In addition to the prison term, Rasmussen was dishonorably discharged, reduced in rank to the lowest enlisted grade and stripped of all pay and allowances.
