Hawaii

HONOLULU — More than 1,000 Aloha Airlines employees and their families took their concerns to the state Capitol on Friday as their company waits in bankruptcy for buyers.

They sought support from motorists outside the Capitol as well as lawmakers inside. While their signs and outfits were colorful, they were concerned about what could be grey skies and turbulent times ahead for Aloha Airlines, which is bankrupt and for sale.

Illinois Isaacs has been an accounting clerk in the finance department at Aloha for 18 years. (Read the full post about ‘Aloha Employees Urge Lawmakers’ For Support’…)

HONOLULU — A plan that could lead to closing some public schools through a new commission is gaining support at the state Capitol, where legislators said they are frustrated by a lack of action by the school system leaders.

Wailupe Valley School, tucked behind Aina Haina in an aging neighborhood, that currently has only 88 students.

“It’s a really good school because it’s a small school, so there’s a lot of attention for the kids,” parent and Wailupe Valley School alumnus Ross Watanabe said.

Principal Jean Hartman said she’d like to have more kids, but few people outside the valley know about the school.

“We’re not on the main track, and people don’t drive by us and know that we are up here,” Hartman said. (Read the full post about ‘Proposed Commission Could Close Smaller Schools’…)

HONOLULU — The Hawaiian Humane Society said it wants to take over the unused part of the state’s Animal Quarantine Station to develop a second animal shelter, and lawmakers said they are considering a bill that may make it happen.

KITV’s Denby Fawcett reported that the Hawaiian Humane Society has been trying for three years to set up a shelter in West Oahu.

It said with more people and their pets moving west it makes sense.

“The community would be able to come and utilize our services much more conveniently if we were more close to them,” Humane Society Executive Director Pamela Burns said.

The Humane Society said it wants to lease 5 acres that the AQS no longer needs.

With more lenient quarantine rules, only about 250 animals are at the quarantine station each day compared to nearly 1,700 when the station was more heavily used.

The Humane Society said if it can lease the Halawa acres, it would set up a dog park for animals to play in.

Leeward residents could come closer to home to find their lost pets.

The Humane Society said West Oahu residents would be more likely to adopt abandoned animals if they could be brought out to the Halawa facility, which is close to where they live.

The Humane Society said that when the state selects a renter for the unused quarantine acres, it hopes to be seriously considered.

“It is not just about money. (Read the full post about ‘Humane Society Wants Quarantine Station Land’…)

HONOLULU — Police arrested a 41-year-old Pearl City man on charges he repeatedly sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl.

The man befriended the girl, then assaulted her, police said. The alleged assaults happened in November.

Police said the girl recently reported the incident to police and identified the man in a photographic lineup.

The man faces 15 counts of first- and second-degree sexual assaults.

WAIKANE VALLEY, Hawaii — Police arrested four people when they raided a suspected chop shop in Waikane Valley on Friday morning.

Complaints from the community played a big part in the bust, police said.

Police raided the home on Waikane Valley Road at about 6 a.m.

They served a search warrant that was issued after a detective said he saw stolen property in plain view in the yard of the home.

“When we served the search warrant, we found stolen auto parts, recovered one vehicle for defaced serial number, and subsequent to that search warrant, there were also several drug arrests made,” Lt. (Read the full post about ‘HPD Arrests 4 In Suspected Waikane Chop Shop’…)

LOS ANGELES — Sixth-grade teacher Deidre Sexton watched in disbelief as a student was struck by his mother during a parent-teacher conference. Steve Klein recalled a mother who threatened to pull her ninth-grade son out of school and have him sell fruit on the freeway. Other teachers recount the times parents have tried to bully and intimidate them.

Parent-teacher conferences are a time-honored school tradition, but for many teachers they are also trying, emotionally wrought encounters. These days, the sessions are taking on a new look as schools contend with assertive or no-show parents as well as higher academic stakes that can cause tensions.

Some teachers are providing soft lighting and candles to set a friendly atmosphere.

(Read the full post about ‘Parent-teacher talks change’…)

Four Hawai’i middle school students will compete this May in Colorado in the MathCounts National Competition.

Hawai’i’s team is Mark Seu of Waiakea Intermediate, Naoki Shigeta of Washington Middle, Daron Lee of Highlands Intermediate and William Chen of Punahou.

Waiakea Intermediate teacher Arlene Cabalce-Yamakawa will be their coach.

This year’s state competition was held at Kamehameha Schools on March 8. Waiakea Intermediate defeated defending champion Washington Middle for first place. This was the second year in a row that a public school won the competition.

Punahou School placed second, Washington Middle third and ‘Iolani School fourth.

For more information, visit www.mathcounts.org.

SCIENCE FAIR NEXT WEEK AT BLAISDELL

The Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair will be held Wednesday from 8 a.m.

(Read the full post about ‘Students going to math contest’…)

Youth volunteerism is surging as high school and college students use the Internet to mobilize quickly and nationally.

More than 22,000 nonprofit groups have signed up to rally supporters on the teen-and-young-adult site MySpace since it began in 2004, says Jeff Berman, the site’s executive vice president for marketing. He says more young people are engaged in activism online and their creativity in using the Internet to do good works is “off the charts.”

Groups also have sprung up on Facebook, another social-networking site used by millions of students, to urge youth to fight global warming, help Hurricane Katrina victims, seek world peace or protest events such as charges brought against six black teens for beating a white classmate in Jena, La.

“Activism is at a very high level among college students, probably more than in the last 10 to 20 years,” says Robert Rhoads, who teaches a class on the history of student activism at the University of California, Los Angeles.

(Read the full post about ‘Internet fosters rise in youth volunteerism’…)

Police are investigating an alleged sexual assault of a girl residing at the Pai’olu Kaiaulu emergency transitional shelter in Wai’anae around midday Monday.

“An allegation was made, and it has been turned over to the proper authorities for investigation,” said Darryl Vincent, site director for U.S. Vets Hawai’i, which operates the state facility.

Vincent would not elaborate, but indicated that more information would be available today.

Shelter resident Alice Greenwood said the alleged attack involved a 9-year-old girl.

(Read the full post about ‘Girl allegedly assaulted at Wai’anae shelter’…)

www.HonoluluAdvertiser.com, Hawai’i’s No. 1 news site, gets an eye-catching new look today, with more interactive features that allow you to create your own blogs, post comments on every story and submit your own news and photos.

Of course, we will continue to provide breaking news around the clock as well as provocative blogs, community information on www.myadvertiser.com and the best in news, business, sports, entertainment, lifestyle and opinion. But you’ll also find an easier-to-use video player, a searchable calendar database with extra event listings, and more photo galleries.

The site goes live at 2 p.m. today. For more details, please see Page B6 of today’s paper.

(Read the full post about ‘To our readers’…)