BRIEFS
Man arrested after shooting in Kapolei
Advertiser Staff
Police last night arrested a man after a shooting involving an off-duty police officer at the Kapolei Shopping Center.
No one was hurt, ambulance personnel said.
The owner of T Spot Hideaway Cigar & Lounge, who did not want to give his name, said the suspect had been drinking in the bar and was asked to leave after becoming belligerent.
He left but returned in a car with four other men. The suspect got into a scuffle with an off-duty officer in the bar. Another man brought a sawed-off shotgun into the bar, the suspect took it and fired several shots, a witness said.
Police arrested the man for investigation of attempted murder.
Akaka bill provision signed into law
President Bush yesterday signed legislation creating the Office of Native Hawaiian Relations, the first part of the long-stalled Akaka bill.
Gov. Linda Lingle called the establishment of the Office of Native Hawaiian Relations within the U.S. Department of the Interior a "good and important first step" toward the passage of the bill, which would grant Native Hawaiians federal recognition as a political body.
Lingle said the creation of the office will be a good springboard for her February trip to Washington to lobby for the Akaka bill.
She said she plans to spend more time with Republican senators than on her other trips and also plans to meet with at least a half-dozen U.S. senators. State Attorney General Mark Bennett and Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Chairman Micah Kane will accompany her.
Six nominated for Circuit Court judge
The state's chief labor negotiator is among a list of six nominees for a Circuit Court judge position on the Big Island.
Gov. Linda Lingle is seeking public comments on the nominees: state chief negotiator Ted Hong, Harry Freitas, Glenn Hara, Joseph Kamelamela, Diana Van De Car and Big Island District Court Judge Terence Yoshioka.
Lingle has less than 30 days to make her selection from the list, which was sent to her from the Judicial Selection Commission.
Diesel spill closes section of freeway
A diesel-fuel spill yesterday closed a section of H-1 Freeway's eastbound lanes between the Makakilo on-ramp and the Grace Pacific Corp. basalt quarry at about 11:30 a.m.
Fire Department spokesman Capt. Emmit Kane said about 100 gallons of fuel spilled onto the roadway from a flatbed truck's ruptured fuel tank. Police closed all but one lane to motorists during the cleanup, Kane said.
Suspect arrested in sports betting
Police said they seized an undisclosed amount of money and gambling records and arrested a 57-year-old man on suspicion of running a sports betting operation in an apartment in Mo'ili'ili.
The man, described by police narcotics/vice Capt. Kevin Lima as a "midlevel player," was booked on suspicion of first-degree possession of gambling records, a felony offense, and 12 misdemeanor counts of second-degree promotion of gambling. He was released pending possible indictment.
Lima said police seized a "significant" amount of money in the 9 p.m. raid on a 10th-floor unit at the Marco Polo, 2333 Kapi'olani Blvd.
The raid stems from an undercover operation looking into "6-5" betting.
"Ideally, we want to dismantle the (gambling) house but it certainly does disrupt his operation," Lima said.
