Posted on: Thursday, July 15, 2004
O'ahu briefs
Advertiser Staff
HONOLULU
Chinatown loft bill advances
A bill to allow loft space in historic Chinatown passed second reading and a public hearing at the City Council yesterday.
Three residents testified in support of Bill 43, which would allow the upper floors of the area's historic buildings to be renovated as artists' lofts and bring in new residents to spur economic vitality in the area.
Currently, city rules allow multifamily use of buildings in the district, but don't provide for a single-family dwelling above a business.
The bill would also provide an exemption from city parking requirements of 1› stalls per unit for property owners who build lofts because adding individual parking spaces in Chinatown is not feasible.
But Councilman Rod Tam said he wants to make sure some type of parking is made available to residents utilizing city parking lots because street parking is limited.
The bill now returns to the Council Zoning Committee for a third reading before a final reading tentatively scheduled for Aug. 11.
Emergency plan teachers sought
The Community Emergency Response Team Program is seeking volunteers to teach groups in the public and private sector in emergency preparedness.
Training will be provided.
If interested, contact the O'ahu Civil Defense Agency at 523-4121.
Trial awaits judge's ruling
The attempted-murder trial of Shane Mark will resume this afternoon after proceedings were halted yesterday because of a possible conflict of interest.
The matter came up yesterday morning as Mark's jury trial was to resume before Circuit Judge Karen Ahn. The question about a potential conflict of interest forced Ahn to delay the trial until she could rule on the matter today.
Details of the conflict were not available.
Should Ahn allow the trial to continue, the prosecution is expected to call at least two more witnesses this afternoon before resting its case.
Mark is accused of pointing a gun at police officer Calvin Sung on March 4, 2003. Last December, Mark was convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting of Sung's partner, officer Glen Gaspar, but no verdict was reached on the attempted-murder charge.
WINDWARD
Panel to discuss juvenile justice
The Hawai'i Juvenile Justice Project, intended to raise awareness statewide about what juveniles face when they break the law and to make improvements to the juvenile justice system, will host a free community meeting from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at KEY Project, 47-200 Waihe'e Road.
The project was formed last fall in response to overcrowding and other system-wide problems at the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility.
The project expects to identify problems in the system by the end of the year and create legislation to deal with them. This is the third of seven meetings statewide.
Panelists include John Reppun, KEY Project; Jack Sullivan, citizens liaison committee member; and Paul Coronel and Rafael Enriquez, Hawai'i Foster Youth Coalition.
To attend, respond by Monday by calling 522-5906.
