Man pleads guilty to threatening Biden
A man who told authorities that he had been trained as an assassin and programmed to kill President Barack Obama pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Thursday to sending an email to the White House website threatening to kill Vice President Joe Biden.
Justin Alan Woodward, 29, faces a maximum five-year prison term when he is sentenced in January. He was arrested last year at Honolulu Airport.
He told U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard L. Puglisi that he is taking three kinds of medication for schizophrenia.
The U.S. Secret Service said Woodward sent the threatening email in June 2011 from Thailand.
Woodward told authorities he moved overseas in 2008 because the mind control he had been experiencing was very strong, and he felt he could not be trusted around Obama and Biden.
He said he joined the Marine Corps in 2002 but was medically discharged two years later because he had bipolar disorder.
Lawmaker being treated for pneumonia
State Rep. Clift Tsuji said Wednesday that he has been hospitalized with pneumonia but is expected to make a full recovery.
Tsuji (D, Hilo-Glenwood) is chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.
"I am grateful for everyone’s kindness and well wishes during my illness," he said in a statement. "I am receiving excellent care at Hilo Medical Center and look forward to being back 100 percent very soon."
Governor’s communications chief to quit
Jim Boersema, Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s communications director, will leave the post at the end of September.
Boersema, hired after a staff shakeup last year, said he had made a one-year commitment to help the governor organize his communications team and message.
The veteran public relations adviser said he would focus on his work with Unity House, a nonprofit labor group.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
County alters traffic pattern
Kauai County has made major changes to the traffic pattern near Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School in Lihue in response to concerns about pedestrian safety.
The most significant change is the conversion of the Nuhou Road and Kaneka Street junction to a three-way stop, the county announced Thursday. Drivers traveling in either direction on Nuhou Road must now come to a complete stop.
Northbound motorists on Kaneka Street must also come to a complete stop at the crosswalk just before the junction, and at the crosswalk at the junction.
Repair scam targets seniors
Hawaii County police said they have received complaints about unlicensed contractors who appear to be soliciting elderly citizens to hire them for residential projects and repairs.
Wednesday, an 87-year-old man told police he was approached by a couple who offered to power-wash his roof. After they agreed on a price, the woman from the couple said she needed to go into the victim’s house to shut the windows to prevent water from entering. After the couple left without completing the job, the victim discovered several valuables were missing from his house.
Police ask that anyone who may have been victimized in such a scam call the police nonemergency line at 935-3311 or file a complaint at a police station. Consumers may also contact the state Regulated Industries Complaints Office at 587-3222 in Honolulu or hawaii.gov/dcca/rico.
