Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
HONOLULU
Lingle to host holiday event
Gov. Linda Lingle will host a Christmas open house for the people of Hawai'i from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m Sunday at Washington Place, 320 S. Beretania St.
Holiday entertainment, a visit by Santa Claus and treats for the keiki are planned. A donation of canned goods for the Hawai'i Foodbank is welcomed, but not required.
Enter through the Beretania Street gate. Free public parking is available in the Department of Health parking lot on Miller Street.
EAST HONOLULU
Fisherman's body recovered
The body of a 74-year-old man who was reported missing last night was recovered yesterday about 500 yards offshore of Kahala Beach. The man regularly fished in the area.
He was reported missing Tuesday night by family when he failed to return at 6:30 p.m. Firefighters searched from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. and resumed searching at 7 a.m. yesterday. The body was spotted offshore by the Fire Department's helicopter shortly before 8 a.m., HFD Capt. Richard Soo said.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Judge refuses bail reduction
WAILUKU, Maui — A Maui judge yesterday declined to reduce the $500,000 bail for a Napili man charged with attempted murder for a Dec. 4 shooting.
Second Circuit Judge Joel August has set a March 3 trial date for Christopher K. Espiritu, 48, who also is charged with three firearm offenses. He is accused of shooting acquaintance Christine Dietz, 44, in the face at her Mahinahina apartment. The woman is recovering at a hospital in Honolulu.
Police found Espiritu a few hours after the shooting, lying in a pineapple field near the Kapalua-West Maui Airport with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the chest. He was arrested after his release from Maui Memorial Medical Center.
Camera flash alerts rescuers
WAILUKU, Maui — Two hikers stranded in '?ao Valley overnight used the flash on their camera to signal a rescue helicopter yesterday.
The two Wailuku women, sisters ages 36 and 32, began their hike Tuesday at 11 a.m. and when they didn't return home, their father called authorities around 8:15 p.m., said Assistant Fire Chief Greg Chong Kee.
The Fire Department helicopter searched Tuesday night without luck, and went out again at first light yesterday, he said. Just before 6:30 a.m., the hikers were spotted when they set off their camera flash several times.
Kaua'i planning official to quit
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Kaua'i Planning Director Dee Crowell will leave his post in February after 10 years on the job.
Crowell, an architect, served as deputy planning director for six months in 1993 before being named to the top spot. He said he expects to remain on the island.
