Hirono named to seat on Environment, Public Works Hirono named to seat on Environment, Public Works ADVERTISING HONOLULU — U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono has a new committee assignment. The Hawaii Democrat says she’s taking a temporary seat on the Environment
Hirono named to seat on Environment, Public Works
HONOLULU — U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono has a new committee assignment.
The Hawaii Democrat says she’s taking a temporary seat on the Environment and Public Works Committee.
Hirono was picked to replace New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who died June 3.
Hirono will be on the committee until October.
The committee oversees legislation affecting clean water, clean air and other environmental resources.
Hirono says in an announcement that climate change, water management and traffic congestion are important issues for tourism, agriculture and other businesses critical to the nation’s only island state.
Labor Department funds dislocated worker training
HONOLULU — The U.S. Department of Labor says Hawaii is in line for nearly $1.8 million in federal grant money to train dislocated workers.
The department says the money for Hawaii is part of $58 million in funding to 30 states for expanded training for dislocated workers to acquire industry-recognized credentials in new careers.
The grants will pay for on-the-job training, customized training, apprenticeships and other means to train workers.
States could apply for the money in May.
The department says states were asked to focus on efforts to train workers unemployed for at least 27 weeks and those who were nearly through their eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits.
Dislocated workers include people out of work because of the closure of an office or a plant.
Hawaii man found guilty in Pa. professor’s death
HONOLULU — A Hawaii man who confessed to killing a visiting University of Pittsburgh professor in 1996 was found guilty of second-degree murder on Wednesday.
Judge Richard Perkins convicted Jason Lee McCormick of killing Robert Henderson, a 51-year-old guest lecturer at the University of Hawaii.
Henderson’s nude, decomposed body was found in his Waikiki condo five days after he was last seen leaving campus. He had been strangled, prosecutors said.
Perkins heard a stipulated facts trial that ended in September, where the prosecution and defense agreed to let the judge render a decision based on police reports, mental health evaluations and McCormick’s statements.
McCormick’s lawyer, Michael Green, said he’s disappointed but not shocked by the verdict. He said the decision at least brings closure for a crime McCormick has lived with for many years.
“This was never a not guilty,” Green said. “It was either going to be murder or manslaughter.”
“Even though he was angry, he acted with intent to kill,” Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Darrell Wong said.
The case remained unsolved until 2008 when McCormick confessed while he was being treated at a psychiatric facility. He later went to police and confessed again, Green said.
“As years went by, he had a problem living with himself,” Green said.
Hawaii House speaker: Caucus to talk gay marriage
HONOLULU — Hawaii House Speaker Joseph Souki says he will meet with fellow Democrat lawmakers to discuss the ramifications of the Supreme Court’s rulings on gay marriage.
Souki said Wednesday he expects the caucus will decide together how they want to proceed.
Meanwhile, supporters of gay marriage quickly put together a rally at the Hawaii Capitol during afternoon rush hour to push lawmakers to go beyond a civil union law already in place.
The twin rulings issued Wednesday extended federal recognition to same-sex marriages in states where they are legal, and cleared the way for same-sex marriages to resume in California.
Hawaii’s law allows same-sex and opposite-sex couples to enter into unions with the same state rights and responsibilities as traditional marriage without the title of marriage.
Man seriously injured in Big Island waterfall jump
HILO — A 37-year-old man was seriously injured when he jumped down an 80-foot waterfall.
Hilo authorities say Samson Perez, who is also known as Samson Moses Kahumokuthe, jumped Monday morning off Rainbow Falls above Hilo.
Fire captain Joe Farias says emergency responders found Perez on the banks of the Wailuku River waving and calling for help.
The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports Perez is the son of Grammy-award winning slack-key guitarist Moses Kahumoku,
Capt. Richard Sherlock of Hilo Patrol Division says Perez lost feeling to the lower portion of his body. He underwent surgery Tuesday in Honolulu.
Witnesses told police Perez jumped on purpose but was not intending to hurt himself.
Hilo-based space center getting NASA Kennedy help
HILO — A Hilo-based space research and education center is enlisting the expertise of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Kennedy will provide research project assistance to the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems, or PISCES, under a new agreement.
PISCES Executive Director Rob Kelso told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald the center will reimburse NASA for the help it receives.
Kelso says PISCES wants to develop printing technology that can make use of the island’s lava rock, which is similar to rock on the moon and Mars.
The former NASA flight director says future space explorers are going to need to make tools out of the materials around them.
The agreement replaces a similar contract PISCES had with NASA’s Ames Research Center.
Man sentenced to 20 years in fatal shooting
HONOLULU — A 23-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the shooting death of a friend.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports Chad Duran had been charged with murder but pleaded guilty in March to manslaughter in a deal with prosecutors for the death of Christopher Medeiros at his Makaha apartment,
Prosecutors say Duran had rummaged through the belongings of Medeiros and his roommates and on Sept. 12 met with Medeiros to apologize. He was armed with a handgun.
Defense attorney Richard Hoke says Medeiros accepted the apology but that another person argued with Duran, who pulled out the handgun.
During a struggle over the gun, Medeiros tried to intervene and the gun fired, striking Medeiros in the face.
Duran apologized to Medeiros’ family at sentencing Tuesday.
