Hawaii state House Speaker Calvin Say to step down
Hawaii state House Speaker Calvin Say to step down
HONOLULU — House Speaker Calvin Say says he plans to resign his leadership post on the first day of Hawaii’s new legislative session in mid-January.
Say said Thursday he is endorsing House Finance Committee Chairman Marcus Oshiro to succeed him.
Say announced his decision after former House Speaker Joe Souki said last month he had the votes to reclaim his post.
Souki says he has the support of 23 Democrats and seven Republicans to take back the speaker position.
Oshiro says he believes the 21 Democrats who supported Say will back him.
He plans on working to win support of Democrats currently backing Souki. Oshiro believes some of them are concerned about forming a coalition with Republicans.
Oshiro says he’s opposed to legalizing gambling and raising the general excise tax, unlike Souki.
Marshals: Soldier arrested as he returned home
HONOLULU — The U.S. Marshals Service says it arrested an Army soldier who had just returned to Hawaii from deployment overseas.
Thirty-seven-year-old Shane Sanders was arrested without incident around 12:40 a.m. Thursday at the passenger terminal at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The Marshals say Sanders was returning from a deployment to Afghanistan, and arrested on a warrant out of Henry County, Ga., for alleged child molestation.
The alleged incident occurred in 2005 but Deputy Marshal Donna Diaz said the allegations only recently came to light. The warrant was issued in October.
Sanders will face extradition to Georgia.
Person on Maui tests positive for dengue fever
WAILUKU, Maui — The state health department reports that a person on Maui who traveled to another country has developed dengue fever.
The Department of Health told the Maui News that there have been no additional cases.
Agency spokeswoman Janice Okubo says the health department became aware that a person had tested positive for dengue after being contacted by that person’s doctor. Health department officials talked to people in neighboring areas this week and turned up no additional cases. But, they said, it is possible more cases will turn up.
The disease is transmitted through mosquitoes. Dengue fever is not deadly but causes high fever and a rash.
The last major outbreak on Maui occurred in 2001-02 with more than 100 suspected cases.