Former school clerk enters plea in theft
A former clerk at Ka Waihona o ka Na‘auao Public Charter School has pleaded no contest to second-degree theft for stealing $19,750 from the school.
Christine K.S. Atisanoe was charged with taking the money between Jan. 6, 2010, and March 2, 2012, the state attorney general’s office said in a news release Monday. The crime is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Atisanoe, 34, was responsible for collecting and depositing payments from students and parents made to the school for school meals, the A+ program, excursions and other activities. She worked as an office clerk for four years and resigned in May 2012 to take care of her grandmother.
The school conducted an audit that found Atisanoe kept cash payments to pay her utility and credit card bills. Sentencing was scheduled for July 15.
Meeting scheduled on proposed tower
Stakeholders, supporters and opponents of a second 350-foot condominium-hotel tower on Kuhio Avenue are being asked to attend an open, informal meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday hosted by City Council Zoning Chairman Ikaika Anderson in the City Council’s second-floor committee room at Honolulu Hale.
PACREP2 LLC wants a variance from the city allowing it to build a 39-story, 350-foot building at 2139 Kuhio Ave., 50 feet taller than is allowed in the Waikiki Special Design District.
Anderson’s committee deferred a vote on the request until Thursday to see whether height and other objections raised by the community can be addressed.
Police identify male victim, 55, of fatal accident
Maui police have identified the 55-year-old Makawao man killed when the motorcycle he was driving collided with a car Saturday on Baldwin Avenue near Kee Road as William K. Lyon.
Police said a 69-year-old man driving south on Baldwin Avenue in a 2008 Nissan Versa crossed left of center just before 1 p.m., colliding head-on with a 2013 Kawasaki motorcycle headed north.
Lyon was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where he died. The Nissan driver, also a Makawao man, was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center with minor injuries.
Lyon is Maui County’s second traffic fatality this year, compared with one at the same time last year.
County proposes exploratory well in West Maui
Maui County is proposing to drill an exploratory groundwater well in West Maui to develop a potential new water source to meet future demand in rapidly growing Lahaina and nearby areas.
The well would be on an abandoned pineapple field owned by Maui Land & Pineapple Co., the Maui News reported. A draft environmental assessment says it would pump 1.44 million gallons of water from Honolua Aquifer daily.
The county may convert it into a permanent production well if the water meets quality standards.
The proposed project is meant to supplement the water from the Mahina Surface Water Treatment Facility, which draws water from streams. It services parts of Lahaina, Napili, Wahikuli and Kahana with an average of 2.4 million gallons daily but has difficulty meeting needs amid reduced rainfall.
