Hawai'i County police are asking for the public's help in identifying the people responsible for vandalizing the new courthouse being built in Hilo.

South Hilo police officers discovered the damage at 7:10 a.m. yesterday.

Police said the intruders gained illegal entry to the property at 777 Kilauea Ave. and vandalized numerous walls by defacing them with ink markers, dumping carpet glue and sand throughout the building, and spreading white grease on three large-screen televisions. Damage was estimated at $25,000.

The case is being investigated as first-degree criminal property damage, a Class B felony, and second-degree burglary, a Class C felony.

Anyone with information on the suspects can call police officer Jo Aoki at 808-961-2200 or Big Island CrimeStoppers, 808-961-8300 in Hilo or 808-329-8181 in Kona.

POLICE: ISLE MAN KILLED IN THAILAND

Police in Thailand say a man from Hawai'i has died after an Australian man allegedly shot him during a quarrel.

Capt. Somsak Phanthong said 46-year-old Gary Poretsky was allegedly shot three times by 65-year-old William Douglas during an argument inside a restaurant in the northern city of Chiang Mai on Saturday morning.

Witnesses told police both men appeared drunk. Phanthong says Poretsky suffered gunshots to his face and chest.

According to police, Douglas admitted to the slaying and is being held on charges of murder.

UH ATHLETE FACING ASSAULT CHARGES

Authorities have charged a University of Hawai'i football player with felony assault stemming from two alleged incidents involving his girlfriend on Friday and March 11.

Keenan Jones, 22, a reserve defensive back, was released on $15,000 bail.

"He will be suspended indefinitely until the formal investigation is completed," UH football coach Greg McMackin said through a spokesman.

Jones was charged Saturday with second-degree assault and unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle. His girlfriend told police he reached into her car Friday and choked her when she tried to collect $300 he allegedly owed her for ordering pay-per-view movies on her TV.

Police also charged Jones with second-degree assault for an alleged March 11 incident in which Jones is said to have shoved his girlfriend and slammed a door on her foot, breaking two toes.

MISSING WWII AIRMAN IDENTIFIED

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office yesterday announced that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

He is 2nd Lt. Arthur F. Eastman, U.S. Army Air Forces, of East Orange, N.J. He will be buried in September in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

On Aug. 18, 1944, Eastman departed the airdrome at Finschhafen, New Guinea, on a test flight of his F-5E-2 aircraft but never returned. Subsequent searches failed to locate Eastman or his aircraft.

Authorities later investigated a crash site in Morobe province near Koilil Village, New Guinea.

DHHL TO MARK NEW HEADQUARTERS

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Kapolei Homestead Association will celebrate Prince Kuhio Day tomorrow with a daylong dedication of Hale Kalaniana'ole, DHHL's new headquarters in Kapolei.

The day will begin at 9 a.m. with a 1.1-mile-long procession from Kapolei High School along Kapolei Parkway to Hale Kalaniana'ole. Participants will include the Royal Hawaiian Band, Kapolei High School Band and other units.

The formal dedication ceremony begins at 10:30 a.m. and will include a "lei" of hula dancers who will surround the building. Musical entertainment, island craft displays and exhibits as well as an art contest will run through 4:30 p.m.

DHHL is the first state agency to move its headquarters to Kapolei. Employees are not expected to actually move in until next month.

The two-story, 50,000-square-foot building lies near the eastern edge of Kapolei, near the western border of 'Ewa Villages. It sits across Kapolei Parkway near Kapolei Middle School and across the upcoming Ka Makana Alii shopping complex, expected to be one of the state's largest shopping centers.

MARINES, SAILORS RETURN FROM IRAQ

One hundred Marines and sailors returned to Hawai'i yesterday from a seven-month deployment to Iraq.

The members of Combat Logistics Battalion 4, Combat Service Support Group 3, arrived at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kane'ohe Bay at 5 p.m., said base spokesman 1st Lt. Binford Strickland.

SEWER PROJECT TO BE DISCUSSED

The city will hold an informational meeting tonight to discuss a $16.9 million sewer repair project for Wilhelmina Rise.

The project is expected to start in April and last about 30 months.

Crews will replace about 600 feet of sewer line, and repair an additional 40,000 feet of line over the course of the project.

The meeting will start at 7 p.m. at Lili'uokalani Elementary School at 3633 Wai'alae Ave.

BEACH CLEANUP IN LA'IE SCHEDULED

Volunteers are being sought for a cleanup at Kokololio Beach in La'ie from 2:45 to 5:15 p.m. Sunday.

Marine debris and driftwood will be removed from the coastline to protect marine birds and animals and make the area safer for beachgoers.

Bags, gloves and water will be provided.

For more information, call the Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawaii by Saturday at 393-2168 or 554-2902 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

WATER CUTBACKS URGED ON MAUI

Strong trade winds in the past week brought showers to the windward watersheds of Maui, but water use continued to edge upward, prompting another appeal for caution by county water director Jeff Eng, The Maui News reported.

"We would like to remind all of our customers in the Central and South Maui areas that they remain on the 10 percent voluntary cutback restriction that was declared back on Aug. 23, 2007," Eng said.

A drought warning and mandatory cutback ordered for consumers on the Upcountry system was lifted in January. But the rainfall slowed after early February and the watershed is again showing stress from below-normal rain.

TWO MEN CHARGED WITH BURGLARIES

Two men were charged yesterday with burglarizing two seafood establishments on March 16.

Keola Acasia, 18, and Raymond Gonsalves Jr., 27, are each accused of two counts of first-degree burglary. Both were allegedly identified by video surveillance at the burglarized locations, police said, and were arrested Saturday at Nu'uanu Avenue and North Nimitz Highway at 11 p.m.

Both have initial appearances scheduled today at District Court.