By local and wire sources
Missing Puna girl sought
Big Island police are searching for a 17-year-old Puna girl reported as missing since Nov. 29.
Jazmyn Kalaukia Williams is described as being 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighing about 125 pounds with long black 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.
Kaneshiro found
Police Friday morning located 24-year-old Jordan Kaneshiro, who had been reported missing.
He was found unharmed in Hilo, according to the Hawaii Police Department.
Keck astronomer honored
A Keck Observatory astronomer this week won the 2012 Crafoord Prize in Astronomy, an award Keck officials said is almost as prestigious for astronomers as a Nobel Prize.
The University of California at Los Angeles-based Andrea Ghez was honored for her work with the discovery of a super-massive black hole at the center of our galaxy, Keck officials said Friday. Ghez, who holds UCLA’s Lauren B. Leichtman & Arthur E. Levine Chair in Astrophysics and heads UCLA’s Galactic Center Group, will be sharing the prize, and its 4 million Swedish Krona, or $600,000 award, with Reinhard Genzel, scientific director of Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany. Genzel leads a group that has long worked independently to track the same stars at the Galactic Center.
“This is a big one. I’m thrilled,” Ghez said.
Ghez will be the first woman to be awarded this prize in any field in its 30-year history.
For more than 16 years, Ghez and her team have used high-resolution imaging technologies with the twin 10-meter Keck telescopes to explore the center of the Milky Way. By tracking the rapid, small-scale orbits of stars at the Galactic Center, they discovered the presence of a source of tremendous gravity, Keck officials said, adding that’s the best evidence yet that a super-massive black hole exists there.
The Crafoord Prize is an annual award that rotates between the disciplines of astronomy, mathematics, geosciences, biosciences and arthritis research. This year’s honorees came from mathematics and astronomy, fields last recognized in 2008. The prize will be presented by the King of Sweden at an award ceremony held on May 15.
UH, Cornell to study food for mission to Mars
HONOLULU — University of Hawaii and Cornell University researchers are looking for people to participate in study aimed at developing foods that astronauts may eat on a mission to Mars.
The four-month study is designed to simulate the experience astronauts would have living and working on another planet. The study will be conducted on the Big Island of Hawaii next year.
Researchers said in an email Thursday finalists will be evaluated for their powers of taste and smell and their capacity to learn new scientific and culinary skills.
Participants will be paid a $25 daily stipend plus a bonus when they finish the study.
Candidates should be between the ages of 21 and 65.
The application deadline is Feb. 29. More information is available at: manoa.hawaii.edu/hi-seas/.
Fugitive wanted in Hawaii appears in court
HONOLULU — A fugitive who evaded U.S. law enforcement for seven years on allegations of passport fraud appeared in Hawaii federal court.
Fifty-year-old Cynthia Jean Reed was in U.S. Federal court Friday on grand jury charges of making false statements in submitting a passport application in 2004.
Authorities say Reed took a Maui woman’s identity to gain a passport, which she used traveling in Florida, the Virgin Islands, Canada and Mexico.
U.S. State Department investigators worked with authorities in Mexico to locate Reed. She was found in the Mexican resort city of Cabo San Lucas in December.
If convicted, Reed could serve up to 10 years in prison and pay as much as $250,000 in fines.
Reed still faces state charges including forgery and assault on a police officer.
Pacific Fleet gets new leader; admiral retires
PEARL HARBOR, Oahu — The U.S. Pacific Fleet has a new leader.
Adm. Cecil Haney assumed command after a ceremony Friday at Pearl Harbor. The former deputy of the U.S. Strategic Command is taking over from Adm. Patrick Walsh, who is retiring.
The fleet includes 180 ships, nearly 2,000 aircraft and 125,000 sailors, Marines and civilians. The command stretches from the U.S. West Coast to the Indian Ocean.
Haney told about 900 people at the ceremony that he will work with the other military services to support U.S. Pacific Command. He says he will work to enhance “maritime security and freedom of the seas.”
The Pacific Fleet says that Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert praised Walsh for his service and leadership.
Officers sentenced in Afghanistan bribery probe
HONOLULU — A former Army sergeant and a sergeant major who were stationed in Afghanistan have been sentenced to prison for taking a $50,000 bribe in exchange for steering a $1.5 million military contract to a trucking company.
The U.S. Department of Defense said retired Sgt. Charles Finch of Mililani, Oahu, received a 51-month sentence Thursday, and Sgt. Maj. Gary Canteen of Delaware received a 31-month sentence Friday.
The two men pleaded guilty to conspiracy and bribery in August.
Federal prosecutors say Finch and Canteen agreed to accept money from AZ Corporation in return for recommending the company for a contract to transport goods to U.S. soldiers and coalition forces throughout Afghanistan. The bribe was put into a bank account Canteen maintained for a souvenir shop he owned in Hawaii.
The Justice Department says 10 other Army and National Guard officers have been sentenced for similar crimes at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.
Senate confirms DesJardins judicial appointment
HONOLULU — Family law attorney Mimi DesJardins’ appointment to Hawaii’s District Court of the Second Circuit has been unanimously confirmed.
The state Senate confirmed her appointment Friday.
DesJardins, who is licensed to practice law in Hawaii and Washington, has extensive criminal defense experience and previously worked as a deputy prosecuting attorney, deputy public defender and deputy corporation counsel in Maui County.
Sen. Rosalyn Baker says DesJardins has widespread support from Maui’s legal community and is recognized for her intelligence and approachable demeanor.
Testimony supporting the appointment included Maui’s prosecuting attorney, the executive director of Women Helping Women and 21 individuals.
Two people testified in opposition over a custody case currently on appeal.
Honolulu homeless camp cleared under new ordinance
HONOLULU — Honolulu officials have used a new city ordinance prohibiting storing personal items on public property to clear sidewalks of a homeless encampment.
Workers spent Thursday tagging items and removing tents and other belongings near Honolulu’s Iwilei area, a day after issuing 38 notices.
The mayor signed the bill last month despite concerns that the measure would unfairly target the homeless. The ordinance allows officials to tag property that has been left in public areas for more than 24 hours with a notice. From that time, property owners will have 24 hours to remove the items before they are impounded.
City spokeswoman Louise Kim McCoy said 10 truckloads of items were taken away Thursday.
6 killed in Afghanistan were Hawaii-based Marines
HONOLULU — All six Marines killed in the crash of a U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan were based in Hawaii, a Hawaii congresswoman said Friday.
The helicopter crashed Thursday in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand.
U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa of Hawaii, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Friday she’s saddened to hear of the deaths. Her spokeswoman, Ashley Nagaoka Boylan, said the congresswoman was notified Thursday evening that all six were Hawaii-based Marines.
“All who have called Hawaii home are part of our island ohana, and every loss like this touches us deeply,” Hanabusa said in a statement, using the Hawaiian word for family.
A senior U.S. defense official confirmed all six were Marines on condition of anonymity because the U.S. command in Afghanistan had not yet publicly released details.
The official says there is no indication that the helicopter was hit by enemy fire.
Chuck Little, spokesman for Marine Forces Pacific at Camp Smith on Oahu, said he could not provide information about the crash.
The crash, which occurred in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan was the deadliest in Afghanistan since August, when 30 American troops died after a Chinook helicopter was apparently shot down in Wardak province in the center of the country.
The cause of Thursday’s crash is still being investigated, but a statement issued by the NATO international military coalition said there was no enemy activity in the area when it happened.
“The loss of the six U.S. Marines in yesterday’s helicopter crash in Afghanistan comes as tragic news for our island community and our nation,” Hawaii Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono said in a statement. “We owe them and all of our brave servicemen and women a debt of gratitude for their dedication to our country.”
By local and wire sources