Hawaii

HONOLULU — A 19-year-old man accused of a home invasion in Aliamanu made his first appearance in court in connection with the case on Friday.

Kevin Khamsouk is charged with robbery, kidnapping and burglary.

He was among five masked suspects who entered the house on Hulakui Drive earlier this month, police said.

Timothy Lapitan, 19, was shot and critically injured.

Two other males arrested in the case are teenagers.

Nick Nicholas, 19, who is in custody on other charges, may be connected to the case as well, authorities said.

Khamsouk’s bail was set at $250,000. His preliminary hearing will be held on Wednesday.

HONOLULU — A former volleyball coach will spend time behind bars for having sex with an underage student.

Darin Yoshinaka admitted that he had two sexual encounters with a 13-year-old girl, who was a student at Maryknoll School when he was a volleyball coach there.

Yoshinaka made a deal with prosecutors and the judge to plead guilty to lesser sex assault charges. That was done to ensure a conviction and to spare the victim from having to testify in public, prosecutors said.

At sentencing, the girl’s mother tearfully lashed out at Yoshinaka.

“You have put my family through hell, and I could call you every name in the book, go over there and slam you against the floor, but that wouldn’t take away what you did to my daughter,” the victim’s mother said.

The victim’s mother also said her daughter showed a lot of courage by coming forward with her story. (Read the full post about ‘Maryknoll Coach Sent To Prison For Sex Assault Of Girl, 13′…)

HONOLULU — A Salt Lake man pleaded guilty this week to child pornography charges involving two children who were friends of his family.

Kaulana Hirakawa, 24, sexually assaulted and took pictures of children who were 5 and 8, prosecutors said. He had earlier admitted to sexually assaulting the two boys and a third brother from a period from November 2004 to January 2007.

Prosecutors said Hirakawa, a 2001 Moanalua High School graduate, sent pictures of one of the minors through the Internet to others. (Read the full post about ‘Salt Lake Man Pleads Guilty To Child Porn’…)

DENVER — Among the 85,000 Sen. Barack Obama supporters at the finale of the Democratic National Convention was Hawaii’s delegation.

KITV’s cameras were allowed on the convention floor to capture their excitement.

It was a powerful, emotional moment at Invesco Field.

KITV’s Shawn Ching caught up with the Hawaii delegation immediately after Obama’s speech. The representatives said they were blown away.

“It’s the dream you never would have dreamed. It means so much to all of us from Hawaii, but really to America and the world,” supporter Chuck Freedman said.

“Oh it was history! I’ve never experienced anything like this. This was an amazing night. (Read the full post about ‘Hawaii Delegation Celebrates Obama’s Night’…)

HONOLULU — Gold medal winning Olympic decathlete Bryan Clay arrived back in Hawaii late Thursday night.

Cheers and lei from fans, family and friends greeted Clay at the Honolulu International Airport. He is home after a long time away.

“It feels good to be back home. I’ve been looking forward to getting back here and celebrating with my family and of course all my friends and stuff,” Clay said.

He won the Olympics in Beijing. It was the first time in 20 years that an American captured gold in the decathlon. With his success in Beijing, he’s now the 12th U.S. decathlete to bring home the gold to our country.

The Kaneohe boy earned the title of “world’s greatest athlete” in dominating fashion in Beijing a week ago. (Read the full post about ‘Clay Arrives Home After Olympic Gold’…)

‘Disaster Movie’ (PG-13)

“Disaster Movie” is aptly named. The movie is a disaster. It’s a mish-mash of pratfalls, gross-outs, little people, glam models, bad costumes and lame jokes.

The production had a lot of promise. Promoted as a movie made by the filmmaking team behind the hits “Date Movie” and “Epic Movie,” the spoof was supposed to poke holes and fun at the disaster movie genre.

The trailer for the film also showed that it would spoof some of the most recent movies playing at the Cineplex, including “Sex and the City,” “Wanted,” “High School Musical” and the multitude of action movies with superheroes, “Hancock,” “Hellboy,” “Incredible Hulk” and “The Dark Knight.”

“Disaster Movie” tries to have some semblance of a plot. (Read the full post about ‘Review: ‘Disaster Movie’ Disastrous’…)

‘Traitor’ (PG-13)(out of four)

Samir is a practicing Muslim, and he is intimately involved in the ongoing war on terrorism. But while he’s certainly standing in the middle of it all, we can’t exactly tell what side he’s fighting for.

Is Samir a bomb designer, aiding Islamist extremists in devising an attack on America — a bone-chilling scheme in which 50 bombs will be detonated simultaneously across the country? Or is he a double-agent: an American hero who has infiltrated the enemy ranks and has ascended the chain of command in hopes of keeping us safe?

Samir’s motives are a point of debate, but his religion is not. (Read the full post about ‘Review: ‘Traitor’ Provocative Thriller’…)

Country music legend Dolly Parton is alive and well — and joking about the recent rumors of her death by congestive heart failure.

“I did about have a heart attack when I found out I was dead,” Parton joked with a Nashville television. “But I am feeling better than ever.”

Parton’s “death” was a hot search on Google last week after her purported death was reportedly announced over loudspeakers at a high school football game. The rumor of her death, supposedly at a Tennessee hospital, was eventually reported on by Fox News.

The singer, 62, is currently at work on the fall Broadway musical production of “9 to 5.” Based on the hit 1980s film of the same name that starred Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, the musical “9 to 5″ will feature songs written by the country performer.

Parton is also preparing for the next leg of her “Backwoods Barbie” concert tour. (Read the full post about ‘Dolly Parton Laughs Off Death Rumors’…)

LOS ANGELES — Police said former teen star Mackenzie Phillips has been arrested on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance after she allegedly was found carrying drugs at Los Angeles International Airport.

Airport police Sgt. Jim Holcomb said Phillips, the co-star of the late 1970s sitcom “One Day At a Time,” was arrested Wednesday.

Holcomb said that the 48-year-old Phillips was heading to New York when she failed to pass a security screening and a secondary search turned up a small amount of cocaine and heroin in her possession.

Phillips is the daughter of John Phillips, founder of The Mamas and the Papas pop group. (Read the full post about ‘’70s Sitcom Star Accused Of Drug Possession’…)

SYDNEY, Australia — The skeletons in Snoop Dogg’s closet are about to be rattled.

The Australian government says it’s going to do a thorough character assessment before deciding whether to issue Snoop a visa for a concert tour later this year.

The assessment will include an investigation into his criminal history.

Snoop Dogg, whose given name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus, applied for a visa in June and the department carried out a preliminary assessment.

But Australian officials said that they’re going to do a full assessment of his character.

Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube plan an Australian tour in October. (Read the full post about ‘Aussie Officials To Investigate Snoop Dogg’…)