Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff
Hilo officer's trial postponed
HILO, Hawai'i — The murder trial of former police detective Albert Pacheco has been delayed until Nov. 4.
Pacheco, 45, who resigned from the Big Island police force in February, is accused of shooting his estranged wife, Cathalene Pacheco, 42, numerous times after ramming her car near their Waikoloa Village home Jan. 4.
His trial was set for last Monday, but Judge Greg Nakamura agreed to a new date since Pacheco recently received a new court-appointed attorney, Stanton Oshiro of Hilo, after his prior lawyer had to bow out because of a conflict of interest.
Pacheco has been held at several correctional facilities since his arrest, and information on where he is currently confined was not immediately available. Deputy Prosecutor Michael Udovic said prosecutors are not informed of the movements of defendants in custody.
Pathologists study bones from Insiko
Pathologists with the Honolulu Medical Examiner's office and the U.S. Army's Central Identification Laboratory-Hawai'i examined the human bones found inside the burned refueling tanker Insiko 1907 after deciding they did not pose any hazardous materials threat.
The examination Thursday found enough dental remains to use in any comparison of dental records belonging to a crewman killed when the ship caught fire in March, said Susan Siu, lead investigator for the medical examiner.
The bones are thought to belong to Gi Hui Nian of the People's Republic of China. Consulate officials in Los Angeles told the medical examiner's office that dental records are not common in China but said they would contact the man's wife to see if she had any, Siu said.
Officials were initially worried about hazardous materials because the fire had released chemicals into the ship's interior and the engine room where the bones were found contained six feet of oily water.
Lingle raises $100,000 in N.Y.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Linda Lingle raised about $100,000 at last month's New York fund-raiser of which former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was host, a Lingle campaign official said yesterday.
That amount met the campaign's goal and matches the amount raised at a Giuliani event for Lingle during her 1998 campaign for governor.
Lingle campaign chairman Bob Awana said the campaign also mailed out a fund-raising letter this week from Giuliani to about 75,000 Lingle supporters, an effort campaign officials hope will net another $100,000 in new contributions.
The letter compares Hawai'i to New York City when Giuliani was first elected mayor and touts Lingle as the cure for the state's problems. Awana said the mailing was the largest for the campaign so far this year, costing about $30,000.
Lingle said her campaign has budgeted to spend about $5 million, and that about 20 percent of that money would likely come from sources outside Hawai'i. She has also held fund-raising events in Connecticut, Arizona and several cities in California.
Other candidates for governor are Republican John Carroll and Democrats D.G. "Andy" Anderson, Ed Case and Jeremy Harris.
15,000 expected for DARE Day
More than 15,000 fifth- and sixth-grade students from across O'ahu will participate in the ninth annual DARE Day on Tuesday at Aloha Stadium.
The event starts at 9 a.m. and culminates 17 weeks of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) taught by police and military officers to students who will take a pledge to live drug- and alcohol-free.
Entertainment will be provided by Forte, and skydivers will drop into the stadium carrying the U.S., Hawai'i and DARE flags. The theme of DARE Day is "Dreams Come True If You Believe."
DARE is a joint project of the Honolulu Police Department, Hawai'i State Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Defense.
