Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff
Aki jury takes weekend break
The jury in the Christopher Aki murder trial deliberated for about five hours yesterday but left for the weekend without reaching a verdict.
Jurors are scheduled to resume deliberations at 9:30 a.m. Monday. The case was turned over to them Wednesday afternoon.
Aki, 21, is accused of beating 11-year-old Kahealani "Kahea" Indreginal to death on Dec. 10, 2002.
When he took the stand in his own defense last week, Aki claimed the girl was killed by her uncle after Aki took her to a park at the top of 'Aiea Heights to confront the uncle about touching the girl inappropriately.
Aki said he falsely confessed to killing the girl because her uncle threatened to kill him and his entire family if he told the truth about what happened.
Likelike lanes to be closed for work
Both Kane'ohe-bound lanes of Likelike Highway between Valley View Drive and the Burmeister Overpass will be closed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow while work crews install a movable steel gate system.
In addition, the Kane'ohe-bound lanes of Likelike will be closed from Sunday through Friday nights from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. for roadway reconstruction and paving work.
Also, from Monday through Friday, one Honolulu-bound lane of Likelike will be closed from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and one Kane'ohe-bound lane will be closed from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. for improvements. Those lane closures will also take place from the vicinity of the Wilson Tunnel to Burmeister Overpass.
Healthy food talk at UH Monday
Dr. Terry Shintani will talk at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa about how to "Eat More, Weigh Less On the Good Carbohydrate Diet."
Shintani will speak from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday in the Queen Liliu'okalani Center for Student Services Room 412. The cost for the event is $12, or $9 for students.
Organizers say Shintani will talk about healthy food concepts and that samples will be provided. Shintani is the author of eight books on the "Eat More, Weigh Less" diet.
It is part of the UH Breaking Bread While Building Community Speaker Series. For more information, call 956-7927.
Escapee back in police custody
A man who was declared an escapee Wednesday after failing to return to the Laumaka Work Furlough Program facility surrendered to police Thursday night. Charlie Esera, 37, turned himself in at the main police station at 9:15 p.m.
A second Laumaka escapee remains at large. Gordon Morse, 32, failed to return to the facility April 30.
Tip leads to arrest of wanted man
HILO, Hawai'i — Acting on a tip, Puna police yesterday arrested a 45-year-old man who walked away from a Hilo courtroom Monday after receiving a five-year prison term.
Officers got a call at 1:05 p.m. that a man fitting the description of Ronald J. Soares had caused a disturbance at Pahoa High School, then left the campus, crossing the street and entering a residential property. Police found Soares hiding in bushes in the back yard.
Soares, a Hawaiian Beaches resident, was reported as an escapee Monday after walking away from Hilo Circuit Court after his resentencing for unlawful imprisonment and abuse of a family or household member.
Judge Terence Yoshioka had ordered Soares to wait for a sheriff's deputy to take him into custody, but he left when the bailiff stepped outside the courtroom to seek a deputy.
Man extradited in 1997 theft
A 38-year-old man indicted in May 1997 on charges of stealing more than $65,000 from KOKUA Nurses accounts was arraigned yesterday in Circuit Court after being extradited from Chicago.
Kenneth Hopkins did not enter a plea and will appear in court again, said Jim Fulton of the Prosecutor's Office.
Hopkins' bail is $100,000.
Kaua'i group seeks home-tax rollback
A citizens group has filed petitions to place a residential property tax rollback for Kaua'i County on the Nov. 2 ballot.
If approved by voters, the measure would roll back property taxes on owner-occupied homes belonging to Kaua'i residents to fiscal 1999 levels. It then allows for an annual increase of no more than 2 percent in tax bills.
A group called Ohana Kauai filed petitions containing more than 2,300 signatures. That is more than the 1,870 signatures required, or 5 percent of the county registered voters at the last general election.
Kaua'i has not had an initiative on the county ballot for 20 years.
Since Kaua'i's real-estate boom began in late 1998, property tax collections by the county have increased by about 50 percent as a result of increasing property values.
The County Council already has passed an across-the-board tax cut of 20 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation. That reduction still would leave Kaua'i County with 24.5 percent more property tax revenue in fiscal 2005 than it is receiving this year.
Mayor Bryan Baptiste has suggested some additional tax relief.
Baptiste and the County Council have appointed a Tax Task Force that is preparing a proposal that would drastically alter the way property is valued for tax purposes.
Kalaupapa gets dialysis service
Kalaupapa residents last week welcomed back kidney dialysis service to the settlement on Moloka'i for Hansen's disease patients.
Dialysis service was discontinued at Kalaupapa six years ago and residents had lobbied to bring it back to avoid having to travel to Kaunakakai or Honolulu for treatments.
9 students receive scholarships
Nine Hawai'i high school seniors have each received $1,500 scholarships from USA Funds, a guarantor of education loans.
The recipients are Megan Sakamoto ('Aiea), Christopher Lee (Castle), Jeanette Padilla (Campbell), Danielle Salantes (Leilehua), Leona Wright (Nanakuli), Melody Ababa (McKinley), Sheena Fuertes (Radford), Nicholas Smith (Wai'anae) and Alvin Marquez (Waipahu).
