Neighbor Island briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Grand jury indicts couple
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — The state tax office has filed multiple charges against Stephen and Ashlet Girald, the principals of the trucking firm Kaua'i Freight Service.
A grand jury indictment cites the two for a range of charges involving the tax years 1998 through 2000, including failing to file public service company returns, failing to file general excise tax returns, failing to file withholding tax returns, failing to pay to the state withheld employee payroll taxes and falsifying business records.
Both were released on their own recognizance pending arraignment.
The Giralds were not responding to questions. Their attorney, Stephen Pingree, is out of town.
Deputy state attorney general Rick Damerville said the case should serve as a warning to employers who withhold tax from employees' pay and then fail to transmit it to the state.
"There's a lot of employers who have not been turning over their withholding taxes, who should. This is not a free loan to the company. It's a trust obligation imposed by state law. It's a crime not to pay it over, and if it's over $300, it's a felony," Damerville said.
Man allegedly stabs wife in leg
PUKALANI, Maui — A 52-year-old Maui man was charged with first-degree assault yesterday after he allegedly stabbed his wife in the right thigh.
The woman lost a significant amount of blood and was being treated at Maui Memorial Medical Center, said police Lt. Glenn Cuomo.
The stabbing occurred Tuesday evening during an argument at the couple's house on Haulani Street in Pukalani, Cuomo said.
Kaua'i consumer attitudes studied
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Kaua'i County and a University of Hawai'i research group are conducting an Internet survey of Kaua'i consumer attitudes as part of a larger effort to assess conditions in the island's economy.
An earlier survey of business conditions will be compared with the consumer responses to gain a clearer picture, but officials concede a voluntary online survey will not give an accurate picture of how the larger community thinks.
"If we had a significant number of responses, I think we would feel confident that it was telling us what at least people who use the Internet are saying," said Byron Gangnes of the UH Department of Economics Economic Research Organization.
The organization is conducting the survey for the county Office of Economic Development, which is paying for the work.
The survey can be taken anonymously, or consumers can leave their name and e-mail address to get a report on how the responses add up. The survey is at www.uherosurveys.hawaii.edu.
Further surveys will be taken later and used to determine any changes over time in residents' attitudes about the economy.
Group fund-raiser nets $144,000
LAHAINA, Maui — The Soroptimist International of West Maui, a volunteer service organization for women in business, management and other professions, concluded its Whale Mania Maui fund-raiser last week with the auction of 30 humpback whale sculptures for a total of $144,000.
At the auction banquet held at the Maui Tropical Plantation March 15, artist Michael Orr received the People's Choice Award for his sculpture adorned with hundreds of individually hand-blown pieces of cobalt-blue glass.
The 7-foot-tall fiberglass whales were embellished by artists such as Wyland, Robert Lyn Nelson and Guy Buffet and were on display in public places across the island for several months.
Half the proceeds will go to each artwork sponsor's charity of choice and the rest will go to local causes benefiting children, art, education and the environment.
