Briefs 01-06

Missing Puna teen sought

Big Island police are seeking public assistance in locating a 14-year-old Puna girl missing since October.

Shyla Sakurai-Rilveria is described as being 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighing about 130 pounds with long brown hair and brown eyes, according to the Hawaii Police Department.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts should call the department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311. Those who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 329-8181 in Kona or 961-8300 in Hilo. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.

State revenue forecast to rise 11.5%

HONOLULU — Gov. Neil Abercrombie says the Council on Revenues is forecasting state revenue to grow 11.5 percent during the fiscal year ending this June.

The forecast is lower than the 14.5 percent increase the council predicted earlier.

Abercrombie says the core of the administration’s supplemental budget remains solid due to strong management practices and $85 million in savings realized over the last year.

The governor says he will work with the Legislature to “move forward on a positive track.”

Hawaii’s new Legislative session is scheduled to begin in about two weeks.

The council prepares state government revenue estimates for each fiscal year. Its members are economists and financial experts appointed by the governor and leaders of the state House and Senate.

Hawaii Farmers Union recognized by national union

HONOLULU — The Hawaii Farmers Union, which represents small family farmers in the islands, has been recognized as a subdivision of the National Farmers Union.

The national union said Wednesday its board recently voted to approve the move.

National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson says his organization is pleased with the Hawaii group’s hard work and looks forward to working with them to help it grow.

The organization says the Hawaii Farmers Union will continue to advocate for policies that benefit family farmers and ensure the people of Hawaii have more access to locally grown and organic produce.

The Hawaii Farmers Union has more than 300 members. Many also belong to the Hawaii Farm Bureau, the Hawaii Aquaculture and Aquaponics Association and other local, farm associations.

Coral disease resurfaces in Oahu reefs

HONOLULU — Scientists have discovered a new outbreak of coral disease hitting reefs in Oahu.

A team at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology said Thursday nearly 200 colonies of coral in Kaneohe Bay are being threatened by a strain of the disease.

A scientific rapid response team is documenting the outbreak. Residents trained in identifying reef threats are being asked to report any signs of the disease.

The disease, known as Montipora White Syndrome, was first seen in reefs in the area nearly two years ago. The disease is believed to be caused by infectious bacteria and only affects rice coral. Surveys found more than 100 colonies of rice coral died during the first outbreak.

No patients left at 2 bankrupt Oahu hospitals

HONOLULU — Hawaii Medical Center no longer has any patients and most of its nearly 1,000 employees will lose their jobs by the weekend.

Chief Executive Officer Maria Kostylo says the last few patients were transferred to area hospitals and long-term care facilities late Wednesday. Administrative departments of the Liliha and Ewa hospitals will remain open to oversee winding down of business operations.

Kostylo says a “significant majority” of the employees will be laid-off by this weekend.

In recent weeks, officials have been discharging or transferring about 100 patients. The closures were announced after a deal to sell the bankrupt hospitals fell through.

Governor’s homelessness coordinator resigns

Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s coordinator on homelessness has stepped down after just one year on the job.

The governor said in a statement Thursday that Marc Alexander has resigned to attend to personal matters. The governor didn’t provide further explanation, except to say the resignation is effective Friday.

Alexander was previously vicar general of the Catholic Church in Hawaii, where he oversaw 1,300 employees. He left the priesthood to join the administration last January.

Abercrombie said Alexander has done “outstanding work” bringing together leaders throughout the community. He said Alexander’s work to end homelessness will continue.

“I am pleased that Marc accomplished the coordination aspect of what is now a movement to end homelessness,” the governor said.

Alexander said it was “an honor” to work with the governor. He said there’s no quick fix to end homelessness.

“We have established short-term and long-term goals and we are making a positive difference in the lives of individuals who need help,” he said in a statement issued by the governor’s office.

Alexander led the administration’s 90-day plan to address homelessness introduced six months after the governor was inaugurated. The administration saw the plan, announced in May, as a way to jumpstart homeless initiatives.

The effort focused on initiative to provide mental health services to the homeless, helping people move into housing, and other ways for the state, county, and social service organizations to tackle homelessness in the short-term.

They also made a point of urging churches and others who feed homeless in public parks not to do so, arguing that such efforts give homeless an incentive to stay where they are.

The plan was announced six months before President Barack Obama hosted a major international conference — the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum — in Waikiki in November.

Abercrombie said then the timing wasn’t deliberate, but instead a “happy coincidence.”

Maui police computer analyst arrested

WAILUKU, Maui — A computer analyst for the Maui Police Department has been arrested for allegedly impersonating an officer and other crimes.

Maui police say Charles Barrett was charged with second-degree unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, harassment, reckless driving and second-degree impersonating a law enforcement officer.

The arrest stems from a May 2010 confrontation between Barrett and a motorist.

The 49-year-old has been employed by the department as an information systems analyst since May 2001.

He turned himself in at the Wailuku police station and was released Tuesday. A court date is scheduled for Feb. 6.

He could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

Hawaii bankruptcy filings declined in 2011

HONOLULU — Hawaii bankruptcy cases in 2011 fell for the first time in five years.

Data from U.S. Bankruptcy Court show there were 3,325 cases filed during the year, down 15.9 percent from 2010.

The decline comes after double-digit increases in every year since 2007. Hawaii’s bankruptcy filings fell steadily throughout the year.

According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, bankruptcy filings nationwide in 2011 were down 12 percent from 2010.

Credit reporting agency TransUnion says average credit card debt in Hawaii has declined from a peak of about $6,000 in mid-2009 to about $4,800 in mid-2011 and is expected to continue to decrease.

Blessing for Honolulu ‘workforce’ apartments

HONOLULU — Kamehameha Schools is beginning construction of Honolulu rental apartments that will be priced affordably for median-income workers.

Kamehameha Schools officials say the 54 studio- and 1-bedroom apartments in Kakaako on Ala Moana Boulevard will be the first “workforce housing” rental project to be built in urban Honolulu in the last decade.

A blessing is scheduled for Thursday morning. Kamehameha’s commercial real estate division is to provide an update on its 15-year master-planned Kakaako development project.

Kauai man gets 10 years for defrauding investors

HONOLULU — A 60-year-old Kauai man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $12 million in restitution for defrauding investors in what prosecutors say was a Ponzi scheme.

Federal prosecutors say David Ruskjer was sentenced Thursday after being convicted in September of 22 counts of money laundering, 12 counts of mail fraud and other charges

During his trial, prosecutors said Ruskjer collected millions in dollars from about 140 clients by guaranteeing minimum returns by investing options he said he managed.

Prosecutors say what Ruskjer really did was pay earlier clients with money he collected from later clients. Meanwhile, he bought himself a condo, car and motorcycle while losing money on investments.

Latest suspicious Hawaiian monk seal death probed

HONOLULU — Federal and state authorities are investigating the latest suspicious death of an endangered Hawaiian monk seal — this time on Kauai.

The 2-to-3-year-old male was found on the northeastern coast of the island, said Jeff Walters, the Hawaiian monk seal recovery coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A necropsy indicated the seal died under suspicious circumstances, Walters said. Authorities believe foul play was involved. Walters declined to disclose further details so the investigation wouldn’t be compromised.

The news follows the death of three monk seals on Molokai in recent weeks. Two died under suspicious circumstances. Officials don’t know what killed the third seal, but they are investigating.

“This was not how I hoped the New Year would start,” William Aila, the head of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, said in a statement.

Hawaiian monk seals are found only in the Hawaiian Islands and are critically endangered. There are only about 1,100 remaining and the population is declining 4 percent per year. Scientists predict the species could disappear in 50 to 100 years at this rate.

It’s a federal and state crime to kill or harm one of the animals. In 2010, the state increased the penalties for hurting one of the mammals, making it a felony, after three of them were found killed on Kauai and Molokai.

Under the revised state law, those found guilty face up to $50,000 in fines and five years in prison.

NOAA is asking anyone with information on the deaths to call the agency’s office of law enforcement at 1-800-853-1964.

By local and wire sources