Posted on: Thursday, January 20, 2005
HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Motorcycle crash kills 17-year-old
Advertiser Staff
A 17-year-old Kapolei boy was killed Tuesday when he lost control of the motorcycle he was operating about 6:45 p.m. on the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station.
Police traffic investigators said Markief K. Lessane was speeding down Boomer Street on a 2003 Honda motorcycle, braked hard when he realized the street ends in a cul-de-sac, and was thrown from the motorcycle, which plowed through a chain link fence and came to rest in the driveway of a vacant house.
Lessane was taken to St. Francis Medical Center-West with severe internal injuries and was pronounced dead. Traffic investigators had not determined if alcohol was involved in the crash. They said he was wearing a helmet.
The motorcyclist was the fourth traffic fatality on O'ahu so far this year compared to six during the same period last year.
Police arrested a 16-year-old Mililani boy who allegedly pulled a stocking mask over his face, barged into a classroom at Pearl City High School about 7:45 a.m. and punched a 32-year-old teacher in the head on Tuesday.
Police said several witnesses saw the boy remove the mask as he was leaving the classroom and recognized him.
Police officers who were responding to the call found the boy and arrested him for suspicion of second-degree assault.
U.S. Rep. Ed Case said he will visit Hawai'i National Guard soldiers at Fort Polk, La., Sunday through Tuesday to see how well-equipped and trained they are before deploying to Iraq.
Case, D-Hawai'i, last month began looking into concerns of some family members who said the soldiers were not adequately prepared with items like cold weather gear and the training they received in the desert Southwest for the yearlong mission to Iraq.
"More than 3,300 Guard and Reserve soldiers from Hawai'i will be deployed from Fort Polk, which has a long history of training U.S. combat troops and is the final stop in a months-long training process for our soldiers bound for Iraq," Case said. "... I will ask the soldiers themselves and the Army for a final assessment of their overall readiness."
WAILUKU, Maui — Maui police yesterday presented a civilian medal of valor to Carol Beadle, who came to the aid of a shark attack victim off East Moloka'i on Oct. 9.
Beadle paddled her kayak out to spearfisherman Davy Sanada, who suffered severe wounds to his left shoulder, after hearing his cries for help. She assisted Sanada, 34, until he was able to walk in shallow water to the rock wall of Kupeke Fishpond and wait for help.
The medal citation noted Beadle's "outstanding bravery" and willingness to risk her life to help Sanada.
LAHAINA, Maui — Maui author Brandon Wilson will read from his book, "Yak Butter Blues: A Tibetan Trek of Faith," at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Lahaina Public Library. Wilson and his wife, Cheryl, survived sandstorms, hunger, blizzards and other perils as they walked along an ancient pilgrimage trail from Lhasa, Tibet, to Katmandu, Nepal. Information on his book can be found on the Web at www.yakbutterblues.com.
WAILUKU, Maui — Battalion Chief Alan Cordeiro has been promoted to the rank of assistant chief with the Maui County Department of Fire Control. Cordeiro, 51, has been with the department for 29 years. He will serve as assistant chief of the Fire Rescue Operation Division.
Kahuku.org, a student e-commerce site, will sell tickets for the Turtle Bay Championship Golf Tournament Jan. 28, 29 and 30 at Palmer Course at the Turtle Bay Resort, as a means to raise funds for the Ko'olauloa Education Alliance Corp., which initiated Kahuku.org. Tournament sponsor Turtle Bay Championship has agreed to give the organization, which helps youth transition from school to work, 50 percent of the tickets the Kahuku.org sells, said MaryAnne Long, with Kahuku.org.
Golf greats Arnold Palmer will join a lineup of well-known golfers including Hale Irwin, who will be defending his title.
The tickets are $10 a day or $20 for three days of the tournament.
Tickets can be purchased at kahuku.org/public/golf/turtlebay1.html or at the Kahuku.org store located at Kahuku High and Intermediate School.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is encouraging the public to attend a community meeting today regarding commercial kayak activities at Makua beach on the Wai'anae Coast.
DLNR wants to hear from community residents before considering an expansion of any kayaking activities in the area.
The meeting is at 6 p.m. at the Wai'anae District Park Multi-Purpose Building at 85-601 Farrington Hwy.
Fifth-grader Ryan Mayeda of Mililani Mauka Elementary and Jared Chun, a sixth-grader at Mililani Middle School, won top honors in a Mililani Town anti-drug slogan and logo contest sponsored by McDonalds of Mililani in collaboration with the Mililani Town anti-drug committee and Neighborhood Security Program.
Mayeda won for the slogan, "Drug user, you're a loser," while Chun was the logo winner. Each received a United States Savings Bond.
John Gerrior, vice president of Citigroup Asset Management Co., will be the guest speaker at the American Business Women's Association 'Onipa'a Chapter monthly meeting tonight at Gyotaku Japanese Restaurant, 1824 South King St.
Women interested in joining the association are welcomed to attend.
The meeting begins at 6 p.m. For information, call Julie Dugan at 259-6051.
Boy arrested in attack on teacher
Rep. Case visiting Hawai'i soldiers
Rescuer awarded medal of valor
Author to read about Tibet trek
Assistant chief is fire veteran
Student Web site sells golf tickets
Meeting on kayak businesses
Students win for anti-drug work
Citigroup official will be speaker
