HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Fondling suspect faces new charges
Advertiser Staff
A 30-year-old man accused of contacting a 14-year-old boy through the Internet and fondling him now faces more serious sex assault charges of victimizing the youth.
The O'ahu grand jury yesterday added five counts of first-degree sexual assault against Joseph Colasacco of 'Aina Haina. Each count carries a maximum 20-year prison term.
In an initial indictment returned last month, Colasacco was charged with electronic enticement of a child, third-degree sexual assault and promoting pornography to minors. Seven of those charges carry a maximum five-year prison term, and the eighth carries a maximum 10-year term.
Colasacco was arrested last month after he was found by the boy's stepfather pretending to be asleep on the youth's bed, police said.
KALIHI
KUHIO PARK VICTIM IDENTIFIED
A 61-year-old woman stabbed to death Feb. 19 at Kuhio Park Terrace has been identified by the medical examiner's office as Sa Maloiseuga.
Maloiseuga was stabbed in the third-floor apartment of a man, 59, now hospitalized with a stab wound that may be self-inflicted.
Lt. William Kato, head of Honolulu police homicide investigations, said police do not believe a third person is involved in the stabbings.
The injured man was to be arrested for questioning when he is released from the hospital.
MILILANI
PROJECT GRAD RAISING MONEY
The Mililani High School Project Graduation committee will hold a HI 5¢ recycling fundraiser on the school campus upper parking lot on Saturday, as well as on April 1 and May 6.
Volunteers will be there from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. collecting donated HI 5¢ containers. Money redeemed from donations will help fund the class of 2006 Project Graduation, an alcohol-free graduation celebration.
BIG ISLAND
4.0 EARTHQUAKE DOES NO DAMAGE
A magnitude 4.0 earthquake rumbled across parts of the Big Island at 8:57 a.m. yesterday, but there were no reports of damage.
The quake was centered about 2 miles northwest of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory at the Kilauea summit, at a depth of 4 miles, according to observatory scientists. It was felt in Volcano, Glenwood, Papa'ikou and Holualoa.
Four smaller earthquakes were recorded in the same area by 9:30 a.m. yesterday, the largest a magnitude 3.1 event at 8:59 a.m.
The largest earthquake was the first magnitude-4.0 or greater temblor to occur in the Namakani Paio campground area since April 26, 2001, the observatory said.
"These persistent earthquakes, located within the Ka'oiki fault zone of Mauna Loa, are possibly an adjustment to the continuing expansion of the Kilauea summit," said a statement from the observatory.
For more information, see the observatory's Web site, hvo.wr .usgs.gov.
HONOLULU
3 PROPERTY-TAX RELIEF BILLS SIGNED
Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann has signed into law three measures passed by the City Council to offer some property tax relief to residents complaining about skyrocketing tax bills.
Hannemann had indicated the bills offered modest help. He also signed two other unrelated measures on Monday:
KAUA'I
ABANDONED BOAT TO BE TOWED IN
A towing vessel was scheduled to rendezvous late yesterday with an abandoned sailboat drifting toward the northeast Kaua'i coastline.
The 29-foot yacht, with 100 gallons of diesel fuel aboard, had drifted to within 2.5 miles of the island, raising concerns it could run aground and cause a fuel spill. Kaua'i Civil Defense Administrator Mark Marshall said he was monitoring the boat's progress, as were the Coast Guard and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
The sloop Getaway was abandoned Sunday in the channel between O'ahu and Kaua'i.
The boat's owner, an unidentified Maui man, had sent out a distress call at 10 a.m. Sunday after his vessel was dismasted. The man was airlifted off the boat by a Coast Guard helicopter.
At that point, the boat was 35 miles from Kaua'i, but a data marker buoy installed on the boat by the Coast Guard indicated it was drifting increasingly close to Kaua'i.
Coast Guard public affairs officer Jennifer Johnson said yesterday that the sloop continued to drift toward shore by the time the agency learned that its owner had hired a contractor to tow the vessel out of danger.
