The Hawaii State Judiciary has been contacted by members of the public wanting to verify the legitimacy of a voice mail message left by someone purporting to be a court employee. Apparently, the “court employee” says the callee is a
Judiciary warns
of possible scam
The Hawaii State Judiciary has been contacted by members of the public wanting to verify the legitimacy of a voice mail message left by someone purporting to be a court employee. Apparently, the “court employee” says the callee is a respondent in a protective order case. The caller asks the callee to call him or her back to provide additional information.
Because Judiciary employees do not call parties to obtain Social Security numbers and birth dates over the phone, it believes these calls are a scam. Anyone who receives a call from a person claiming to be with the court and asking for a Social Security number and date of birth should be reported to police.
Woman charged for allegedly forging checks
Police arrested a 25-year-old Hilo woman at the Hilo airport Tuesday on multiple theft and forgery charges.
Suzy Cho Chun of Keaau was being investigated in connection with 28 forged checks from her former place of business, according to the Hawaii Police Department. The checks, totaling more than $9,000, were cashed at various financial institutions around the island.
Police investigators received an anonymous tip that Chun, who was off island, would be returning to Hawaii Island Tuesday.
Chun was charged the same day with 29 counts of theft and 28 counts of forgery, according to police. Her bail was set at $89,750. She was also arrested on two counts of revocation of supervised release based on no-bail bench warrants issued by District Court.
She is being held at Hawaii Community Correctional Center pending a preliminary hearing in District Court that was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
School bus driver arrested after crash
LIHUE, Kauai — A 74-year-old Kapaa school bus driver has been arrested on suspicion of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant after crashing into a parked boat.
Lawrence Koth was driving to Kapaa Middle School on Thursday morning when police received reports the bus was swerving, Kauai police said in a news release. As Koth was pulling over for police, he sideswiped a parked boat and trailer, police said.
Four students on the bus were not injured.
His arrest wasn’t related to alcohol, county spokeswoman Sarah Blane said. Koth failed a sobriety test but passed a test of breath that measures blood alcohol, she said. Police were awaiting results of tests for prescription or illegal drugs. He has not been formally charged, Blane said.
Koth, who was released on $250 bail, could not be reached for comment Friday.
The bus was on the fourth stop of its 11-stop route, state Department of Education spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
“The first priority for DOE is the safety and well-being of our students coming to school, on our campus and returning home,” Bill Arakaki, Kauai complex superintendent, told the Garden Island on Thursday.
The department required that the driver be immediately and indefinitely removed from his position, he said, and reinstatement could be considered only after an investigation of the incident and employee background checks and screenings by both the contractor and the department.
Abercrombie orders flags at half-staff for Fukuda
HONOLULU — Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie is ordering flags at state offices and the Hawaii National Guard to fly at half-staff in honor of a former state lawmaker who died last month.
The state plans to mark the death of Rep. Robert Fukuda on Sunday. Fukuda died last month at age 91.
Fukuda was a Japanese interpreter and translator for the U.S. Army during World War II. He was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in 2010 with about 6,000 Japanese-Americans.
Fukuda was a House member in the first state Legislature, then went on to be U.S. attorney in the state.
Abercrombie says Fukuda set a standard for people in public service who followed him.
UH gets $5M Homeland Security training grant
HONOLULU — The University of Hawaii at Manoa is getting a $5 million federal grant to help train first responders to prepare for emergencies.
U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa’s office announced the grant on Friday. The Democrat representing urban Honolulu said in a statement that the grant will help keep residents and visitors safe during natural disasters and other threats.
The grant will fund the university’s National Domestic Preparedness Training Center.
The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for members of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium.
Investors planning
Coco Palms restoration
WAILUA, Kauai — Oahu-based investors are preparing to revive a Hawaii resort made famous by Elvis Presley.
The investors said the Coco Palms Resort property, which has sat in ruins since Hurricane Iniki destroyed the hotel in 1992, is in escrow. They say they’ve already secured demolition permits.
Construction will begin in the first or second quarter of next year if all goes well, Chad Waters, a member of the newly-formed Coco Palms Hui LLC, told The Garden Island newspaper.
Workers from Craig Kawakami Builders gathered for a blessing Thursday before they started removing overgrown weeds on the property’s perimeter to install dust screens.
“This is so exciting,” singer-songwriter Larry Rivera screamed as he walked onto the property, both hands in the air throwing shakas or hang-loose signs. The 83-year-old started his career at Coco Palms in 1951 and worked there for four decades until the hotel closed.
The investors want to rebuild the property as a 2014 version of the original Coco Palms, a venue for the 1961 Presley movie “Blue Hawaii.”
Waters said the 396-room hotel will be rebuilt with the existing square footage. Investors plan to submit building plans in about four to six weeks under an ordinance allowing for the restoration of structures to their pre-Iniki condition, without adhering current stricter health and safety standards.
Waters said it will take between one to two years to deliver a hotel close to what it was like before the hurricane.
Kauai Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr. said Friday that the island has heard of many plans for the property over the years, but this is the first time it’s seen “real action.”
“There is no way to predict what will happen, but it has always been my hope that whatever happens with the property, its historical and cultural significance will be preserved,” Carvalho said in a statement.
County Planning Director Mike Dahilig said the investors have only been issued a demolition permit as of now. Future permit applications will be evaluated in accordance with the law, he said.
By local and wire sources
