The Honolulu Advertiser from Honolulu, Hawaii • 3

More Hawaii news inside: Drug test challenge A1 4 Obituaries Matsunaga back D12 ru The Honolulu Advertiser Tuesday, August 1, 1989 A-3 awann Land along Marmion St. sold to corporation Street sold 9 HonoVu Marmlonv; jSHreetJ million, then backed off this year when Councilman Neil Abercrombie proposed a lease or other long-term arrangement instead. Fasi backed Abercrombie's idea, saying sale of the street would result in big profit to the developer and the city should get as much out of the deal as possible. DeVille said Asa Properties reached an agreement some time ago to acquire Marmion Street at a price set by the city. The buy would have relieved taxpayers of the burden having to rebuild the street to bring it up to current city standards while significantly increasing tax revenues, he said.

But when the Fasi administration "reneged" on the sale, it became clear that Asa should sell the land, deVille said. Said Fasi: "He's a liar. He had the deal closed before that." The mayor said he knew that was true because the Japanese buyer had come in to see him earlier to discuss Marmion Street. "Twigg-Smith and his people are a bunch of liars," Fasi said. DeVille responded: "Not true.

We entered this deal after the mayor reneged on the proposal. We can prove it with documents. I'm sorry he continues to name-call but I guess that's his style. We're not going to get caught up in that." DeVille also said the land sale presents "a second chance for the city to get rid of Marmion Street and not repeat its mistake with Curtis Street a missed opportunity for the city." Curtis Street runs one block between Kapiolani and Kawaia-hao and was left intact as a city street while both sides were developed for the Royal Capitol Plaza and Pacific Park Plaza. Abercrombie said the Marmion sale showed that "The Advertiser had a deal in the works all along.

There's no question about that." The sale, he said, "makes it all the more tragic and reprehensible what Twigg-Smith and deVille did to the banyan tree," referring to a tree on the property that Asa Properties chopped up. "The new owners might have wanted to make the tree a centerpiece in their development," said Abercrombie, who asked the Prosecutor's Office to look into possible charges against Asa Properties over the tree. Abercrombie said he would be happy to sit down with the new owner "to work something out on a fair and equitable basis" for the disposal of Marmion Street. Jiro Fujimaki, president of MM Hawaii and Motoi Kosan U.S.A., said his company is pleased to have the opportunity to develop the property. "Although we still are considering various options, we are committed to building the kind of quality project Motoi Kosan has done in the past.

We intend to be responsive to government and community concerns, and comply with all legal requirements." Motoi Kosan U.S.A. has been involved in Hawaii since 1987. It bought the Kaheka Professional Center in September 1988. It also is developing an eight-story officecondominium project on Ena Road in Waiki-ki. The Kakaako property currently houses commercial and light industrial businesses.

All leases expire at the end of the year, and tenants have been notified those leases won't be renewed. By William Kresnak Government Bureau Asa Properties Inc. announced yesterday it has sold the land it owned on either side of Kakaako's Marmion Street, a city-owned lane that has been the focus of a dispute between Advertiser President Thurston Twigg-Smith and Mayor Frank Fasi. The 105,325 square feet of land were sold for an undisclosed price to MM Hawaii Investment a Hawaii firm whose principal owner is Motoi Kosan U.S.A. a subsidiary of a Japanese company, said Asa President Paul deVille.

Twigg-Smith is president of Persis Corp. and The Advertiser. The newspaper and Asa Properties are Persis subsidiaries. Asa Properties wanted to buy Marmion Street to consolidate its parcels for develop- Wffi'WS' House services Friday for Senate President Richard Wong and House Speaker Daniel Kihano. Kotani, appointed to the House by Waihee in 1987 and re-elected without opposition in 1988, represented the 44th Dist.

(Pearl City-Pacific Palisades). Family services for the well-liked lawmaker are scheduled Monday evening at Hosoi Mortuary. Waihee's office said it is too early to speculate on who might be appointed to replace his home breaking-and-entering as a crime against property," Koki said. "It's much more, it's really dangerous. It could be one of the most dangerous crimes, if you happen to be there." Koki said he will ask fellow lawmakers to increase the penalties for breaking-and-entering to a more serious level, with specific jail time penalties.

Police, however, have not said whether they think Kotani was murdered by a burglar. by Jerry Burris Kotani Kotani in the 44th District seat. Okamura, a close friend of the slain lawmaker, said he hopes Waihee chooses someone with Kotani's political philosophy. He was known as a thoughtful, progressive, activist legislator. "This is really a loss," Okamura said.

Advertiser Staff Writer Suzanne Tswei contributed to this report. Sen. Stan Koki "It's really dangerous" wertif photo by Ron Jett i vLI' S-iy remained cordoned off. Witnesses at the scene said yesterday that Kotani appeared to have been severely beaten, particularly on the head. Police say Kotani appears to have been murdered, but have said little about the circumstances of his death.

Doors of the House chamber will open Friday at 1 p.m. and a memorial service will begin at 3 p.m. Among those scheduled to speak are Gov. John Waihee, burglary in found leaning against the wall of the very bedroom in which he was sleeping. It was a pick handle, apparently brought into the house by the intruder.

Koki, a first-term Republican, said he felt a combination of fury and fear: Fury that someone had come into his house and fear that he had slept unaware while someone wandered around the house armed with what could easily be a murderous weapon. "We have to stop treating "I want to make sure Hawaii is as independent as it can be from fossil fuel," said Sen. Richard Matsuura, D-2nd Dist. (downtown Hilo-Waiakea). Matsuura is chairman of the Committee on Agriculture.

Energy and Ocean Resources. "To sacrifice five acres of land to generate 100 megawatts is a reasonable use of forest land," he said. "If we didn't have that (geothermal) resource, I wouldn't be promoting to clear forest land. There's always a give and take." Both Price and Gov. John Waihee have said they anticipate lawsuits to halt geothermal development Advertiser photo by Carl Vlti Two hurt in freak accident Two tourists were injured yesterday when this forklift tipped over near the Manoa Surfrider Hotel about 1 1 :25 a.m.

Police said the forklift was hoisting bags of cement, which went flying onto the sidewalk and struck a man and woman. Police did not identify the victims, but said they were not seriously injured. The operator of the forklift was not injured. Activists protest geothermal project forest-clearing AdvtrtlMf gnpMo by Ortg Taylor ment. The Fasi administration agreed to sell the lane for $1.6 1 A i 'K3 OS SI WW against the Pele Defense Fund," state Attorney General Warren Price said yesterday.

The state has won geothermal development cases in the Hawaii Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, he said. At yesterday's demonstration, Randy Hayes, national director for the San Francisco-based Rainforest Action Network said, "We want to call to the public's attention that America's last lowland tropical forest is being destroyed for an unclean fuel that is not necessarily going to solve Hawaii's dependence on oil." About 20 people chanted "Geothermal stinks!" and held Waipio Interchange Waipio Interchange Walnia (VI Gentry -v vk-s. 1 North 1 IJkeeSt Kamehameha Hwy. AoDMr graphic Dj twt Vowa tion Department spokeswoman.

Usually, the federal government pays 90 percent of the cost of building interstate freeways and the state contributes the remaining 10 percent explained Chris Kara, a transpor tation department spokesman. 6ahu Ramps I A lopen By Jerry Burris Xiiertiner Piilitict Editor Formal memorial services for state Rep. Roland Kotani will be held at 3 p.m. Friday in the House chambers of the state Capitol, Democratic Majority Leader Tom Okamura said yesterday. Kotani, 35, was found slain Friday at his home in Pearl City.

Police yesterday continued to comb the duplex home, which Koki recalls Windward state Sen. Stan Koki says his "stomach turned over" when he read the news that Rep. Roland Kotani had been murdered at his home earlier this week. The same thing, he said, could have happened to him. Koki said he awoke one morning in June to discover someone had entered his Kane-ohe home during the night and had stolen a number of things, including money and jewelry.

But what was truly frightening, Koki said, was what he "Save Hawaii forests" signs to the view of rush-hour traffic going past the corner of Punchbowl and Halekauwila. "We're losing our peace of mind, our lifestyle, our culture when we lose the forest Also, we don't believe Pele should be dug into and used for electricity," said Dr. Emmett Aluli, of the defense fund. The demonstration was also aimed at pressuring the state to think twice about supporting geothermal projects, said Aluli. "Let them start looking at whether geothermal energy is worth it," he said.

At least one member of the state Legislature thinks it is. 2 opens government paid the $7.2 million total for building the interchange; the state didn't have to contribute any of its funds for the project, Kali said. The land and some money was donated by Gentry Companies and Castle and Cooke Inc. Castle and Cooke's contribution of 14.3 acres of land and $745,000 for the interchange was a condition set by the City Council when it granted zoning for the Ridge, a project of 325 single-family homes now under construction in Mililani Town, according to Wally Miyahira, senior vice president of Oceanic Properties, a division of Castle and Cooke. Linda Fritz McKenzie, chairwoman of the MililaniWaipio Neighborhood Board, said, "It will probably take some traffic away from the Mililani on-ramp (to H-2)." However, "the real problem is the heavy traffic on the (H-l) freeway, and that won't be remedied until we have better exits downtown and more people using alternative transportation car pooling and wM N'lv, list Local members of a national environmental group yesterday demonstrated in front of the downtown federal building to support the Pele Defense Fund's efforts to halt the clearing of forest land for geothermal projects.

Last week federal Judge Alan Kay dismissed a suit brought by the defense fund trying to stop geothermal development near Kilauea Volcano. Kay ruled the suit was barred by the state's sovereign immunity under the 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. "The decision marks yet another victory for the state Opponents of geothermal development on the Big Island, including state Sen. Steve Cobb, right, demonstrate at the federal building yesterday.

Waipio Interchange to Witness may be in trouble herself By Patti Killelea-Almonte AJtertiter Staff UWfcr Residents of Waipio Gentry may find the commute to Honolulu a little easier with yesterday's opening of the new Waipio Interchange, which allows drivers to get on and off the H-2 freeway in both directions. Previously, Waipio commuters had to get to the H-l via Kamehameha Highway, which also accommodated drivers from the Seaview and Crest-view communities and from Mi-hlani. Traffic was so congested that often "just getting out of the community onto Kamehameha Highway took 30 minutes," according to Bob Heffernan, general manager of the Gentry Waipio Community Association. "It's something people in Waipio have been looking for for a long time," he said. This marks the first time the state has used donated land valued at more than $3 million as its share of a federal-state road project according to Marilvn K'i.

TVanmvwta- By James Dooley Advtrtiter Staff Writer A witness testifying in federal court on behalf of reputed Japanese organized crime figure Hitohiro Nishikawa cut her testimony short yesterday after being notified she may be the subject of a related federal criminal investigation. The incident occurred during a hearing on whether Nishikawa, 61, should be allowed to return to Japan while a visa fraud charge is pending against him here. Nishikawa is accused of failing to disclose a lengthy criminal record in Japan when he applied for a visa to enter this country in 1988. In addition, he is under investigation for allegedly bribing a U.S. Customs inspector and allegedly offering a $10,000 bribe to a Honolulu police officer.

Testifying as a witness for Nishikawa yesterday was Michiko Kingyo, a Waikiki restaurant employee who said she is an acquaintance of Nishikawa and his wife. Kingyo said she has served as an unpaid officer of a Hawaii corporation Nishikawa formed last year. Kingyo said yesterday that a household employee of Nishikawa's here, identified only by the last name of Mochizuki, provided information against Nishikawa to the police and threatened to "get" the defendant for failing to pay him his wages for a three-month period last year. When defense attorney Walter Horie began questioning Kingyo about a "customs inspector" who frequents the restaurant where she works. Deputy U.S.

Attorney Michael Burke advised Judge David Ezra that Kingyo "may be a subject of a criminal inquiry by the United States." Kingyo then said that she would like to consult an attorney before continuing her testimony. Ezra continued the hearing until 1:30 p.m. today. Nishikawa, free on $200,000 bail, has asked the court for permission to return to Japan before his scheduled trial here Aug. 22.

The government has not disputed Nishikawa's claim that he retired from Japanese organized crime in 1971, but has alleged that he failed to disclose a lengthy previous criminal record In Japan when he entered the country last year. And prosecutors allege that Nishikawa has maintained relations with the yakuza since then and is under investigation for the alleged bribery offenses here last year. i-.