Honolulu Star-Bulletin from Honolulu, Hawaii • 3

NEWSWATCH Ex-user takes anti-drug plea to prison A-4 City, state at odds over corporation yard A-5 Slipped foot blamed for girl's death A-7 Thursday, August 3, 1989 Star-Bulletin Isles' scat belt use hits cSMims hign There has been a significant Increase in seat belt use in Hawaii during the past six months, reports the state Department of Transportation. A study by the department and the University of Hawaii found that 78.3 percent of Hawaii's motor- ists were using their seat belts in June. In January, seat belt use here was 71.5 percent. The June figure is an all-time high for Hawaii and one of the highest use rates in the nation, said Ed Hirata, director of the transportation department. Oahu's compliance with the mandatory seat belt Limit widen! tig of Kaheldli, residents urge law naa ui.s (jciiem.

maul vuuiu; use mic maa 74 percent, Hawaii County was 73.6 percent and Kauai Crmntv uas fiftQ nprrpnt. Proposed I Kahekili JV Interchange Hygienic Nr Store xf-S'i A Kamehameha; Hwy. I I "Studies show that seat belts save lives and reduce injuries to motorists," he said. "Our goal is to lead the nation in seat belt use, and we are on our way." Air Force jet sounds derm, lands OK An Air Force EC135J aircraft landed without worked hard to secure the rural category agricultural land designation for Windward Oahu, Ahuimanu resident Ed Stevens said. "To widen the highway further will be to aim a transportation arrow toward those country districts.

Widening will induce urban growth," Stevens said. The state transportation department favors widening Kahekili for its full length to the Kamehameha Highway intersection In Kahaluu, said Dexter Eji of Park Engineering. The planning contractor's spokesman described several alternative plans for expanding the capacity of the key Windward commuter route. Eji said the state also favors building a full interchange at Kahekili and Likelike highways, which would eliminate the bottleneck caused by stop and turn signals there. That complete interchange plan would cost $29.9 million and would require acquiring six lots and parts of 15 others, Eji said.

It would also mean They want extra lanes from Likelike Highway to Haiku Road but not beyond there By Mary Adamski Star-Bulletin Extra lanes should be added to Kahe-kili Highway but only from Likelike Highway to Haiku Road, Windward residents said last night. "If they widen as far as the Hygienic Store (near the intersection of Kameha-meha Highway), it will be the beginning of the end of country," said Jacqueline Chong, one of nearly two dozen speakers at a state Department of Transportation public hearing. About 75 people attended the Kaneo-he meeting. "The Koolauloa Neighborhood Board and Kahaluu Neighborhood Board incident at Honolulu Airport's reef runway about 1:30 p.m. yesterday after declaring a precautionary in-flight emergency.

relocating seven households, he said. Improvements in the intersection without a graded interchange would cost $11.9 million. Widening the highway to four lanes as far as Haiku Road would cost an additional $8.3 million, he said. Extending it to Kamehameha High- The jot, similar to a Boeing 707 aircraft, was returning from March Air Force Base in Riverside, on a routine mission, said Sgt. Peggy Haug, a Hickam spokeswoman.

Twenty-nine people were aboard the aircraft, which is assigned to the 9th Airborne Command Control Squadron at Hickam. No injuries were reported. After the plane left March Air Force Base about 7:30 a.m. Hawaii time, crews there discovered a piece of rubber. As a precaution, the in-flight emergency was sounded as the jet neared Honolulu.

Damage was limited to a blown tire and a small piece knocked off a plane flap, Haug said. Reported by Star-Bulletin staff Firefighter helps to restock Blood Bank 4 sLr-UW NEWSMAKER aUH if way would add $14.3 million to the cost, three-fourths of which would be federal funds, Eji said. The state owns a 120-f oot-wide right of way along the highway. "Where highways go, development follows," said John Reppun of the Kahaluu Neighborhood Board, echoing other speakers' calls for widening no further than Haiku Road. Robert Hlivak, a resident of the Ka-punahala area, where the interchange is planned, opposed a proposal that the present entrance to Castle Hills subdivision from Likelike Highway be closed and a new connector route be opened through his subdivision.

"I suggest you go back to the drawing board and find another alternative," he said. The state transportation department has prepared a draft environmental impact statement for the proposed project. Public comment will be taken through Aug. 21 by the director, 889 Punchbowl Honolulu 96813. Fasi favors more homes, fewer hotels He says those who work in hotels need a place to live By Jeanne Marian) Star-Bulletin Stop building hotels and start building affordable housing.

That was Mayor Frank Fasi's suggestion to get Hawaii on track in solving the housing crisis. "We've got enough hotels right now," Fasi said. "Let's get the important things like water, sewers, traffic and other improvements. Let's build affordable homes so our people can afford to live here and work in those hotels." Fasi called for the moratorium on hotel construction during a news conference yesterday where he also responded to Gov. John Waihee's offer to let the city develop one of eight planned villages at the Kapolei housing development.

Elroy Chun, executive vice president of the Building Industry Association of Hawaii, today said, "I can understand the mayor's frustration at the apparent slowness in housing approvals. We have to work for facilities in our community and housing is a serious one." Chun, who represents housing, light Ninomiya's the best in isle TV v. 3 r-w-i. Joanne Ninomiya, a leader in Japanese television programming in Hawaii, is the new Hawaii Television Broadcaster of the Year. She was awarded the honor by the Hawaii Association of Broadcasters at the Turtle Bay Hotel recently.

"I didn't know why I had to go to Turtle Bay that night, it was a complete surprise," she said. As president of JN Productions, she has been responsible for providing KHNL and Oceanic Cable channel 17 ith a large selection of Japanese entertainment during Name: Joanne Ninomlya Age: 48 Position: President of JN Productions Education: Roosevelt High School; University ot Hawaii; Keio University in Tokyo Hobbies: Shopping, watching television By Craig T. Koinw, Star-Bulletin Honolulu firefighter recruit Jeffrey Stringert ond Other recruits give blood at the Blood Bonk of Hawaii in Kalihi yesterday with the help of registered nurse Joan Nishida. Developers reject proposal to launch rockets from isles the past few years. She started as an announcer at radio station KZOO before working at KIKU (now KHNL) as a 5 program coordinator.

She was general manager of the station from 1969 to 1980. After leaving KlKl) in 1981, she began doing i television production through her own company and bought air time on cable television for programs. In two years, JN Productions sales grew from $250,000 to $450,000. In 1986, KHNL was under new management and Ninomiya returned to the station. She now provides programming for a six-hour block of time on Sundays, all the major sumo tournaments and a Japanese newscast every weekday morning at 6:30.

She said Japanese programming has become very competitive in Honolulu in recent years, with four channels now showing Japanese shows. Because of that, she tries to bring in quality shows to lure viewers. So far, she said, she has been able to get the shows she wants. "Whenever I ask, we can get the latest, and we're bringing in (Japan) news via satellite every morning." Ninomiya also has been an innovator both in bringing sumo matches to television and getting subtitles for the shows. She believes the popularity of sumo in Hawaii is due largely to this.

She said when the new management at KHNL brought her back to the station in 1986, Rick Blangiardi and Jim Leahey were making KHNL I more sports-oriented. They asked her to make the sumo matches more understandable for the local viewers by providing English subtitles to describe 1 the sumo techniques. Kelson Jacinto, Star-Bulletin where it is, what size it is," Chidiac said. No objections were heard from Cape Canaveral, the third potential launch site for a huge "space truck" called the Advanced Launch System. Proponents say the ALS is needed to boost space station and strategic defense initiative components into orbit.

The ALS is envisioned by Pentagon planners as a family of large rockets capable of lifting up to 220,000 pounds of cargo into Earth's orbit on a cheaper, more reliable basis than either space shuttles or current unmanned rockets. Col. Jack Wormington, head of the joint NASA-Air Force project, said about $200 million per year is being spent on research that could lead to a first flight by 1998 and production models by 2000. Each ALS model would be built around a liquid oxygen-liquid hydrogen core vehicle, with booster rockets strapped on according to cargo requirements. Plans call for from 10 to 25 flights annually from one or two sites, depending upon final design decisions.

Kennedy Space Center, Vandenberg Air Force Base, and an undeveloped site on the island of Hawaii are under consideration. tem program was followed within 48 hours by an article in the July 18, 1989, Honolulu Star-Bulletin on the Army's tentative plans to base an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile battery somewhere in Hawaii," Hayward wrote. "The peaceful, international uses of the proposed space-launching facility for commercial and scientific satellites are the cornerstone of the state's initiative," Hayward's letter said in part. "Other endeavors such as ALS and ASAT programs must be officially coordinated with the governor, lest they jeopardize not only each other, but the state's plans as well." Spreyer and Charles Camille Chidiac, a Honolulu developer of luxury resorts who also testified Tuesday, said Air Force plans for ALS caught state officials by surprise. Chidiac said his firm plans to develop a "Hawaiian Riviera" on 21,000 acres that could be negatively affected by a nearby rocket complex.

"It depends on The state says two military ventures may jeopardize its plans Gannett News Service WASHINGTON Real estate developers, not environmentalists, objected at a public hearing Tuesday to Air Force and NASA plans to launch giant rockets from sites in Hawaii and California. Frederick Spreyer, representing Hawaii's Department of Business and Economic Development, read into the record a letter from Adm. Thomas Hayward, a special adviser to Gov. John Waihee, noting that the state is already in delicate negotiations to build a commercial space complex on Hawaii's southeast coast. "News of the Advanced Launch Sys CORRECTIONS Familiar tale with an unusual, tragic ending commercial and resort developers, said it may be unfair to impose a ban on projects already approved.

Fasi said Waihee should urge the Legislature to push a ban on hotel construction, and that a City Council resolution urging counties to cut resort zoning would also help. Waihee is out of town, but he has said in earlier interviews that the state and the city should work together to build more affordable homes. Clem Judd, executive director of the Hawaii Hotel Association, said the moratorium would be unfair. "I know there's a need for housing," Judd said. "But why should only the hotel industry bear the burden.

If you're going to stop economic development then you have to stop it at all levels and that just wouldn't be feasible." Fasi said Waihee has turned the affordable housing issue into a political game. He said that Kapolei was originally a city project and that the state agreed to work with the city in developing the "second city" in Ewa, but later excluded the city by using the Legislature to bypass the city permit process. Fasi yesterday released copies of a letter he sent to Waihee, asking him to stop putting up barriers and to start working with the city to make affordable housing a reality. He said he also invited the governor to sit down and discuss Hawaii's housing issue, but has yet to receive a reply. "We've had a very confusing situation at Kapolei right from the start," Fasi said.

"We're not sure what he wants. I'm a little disturbed that this has taken a political turn. It's just rank politics and that's unfortunate. We want to work with the governor but he has to stay around long enough to know what's going on in this state." At Waihee's urging, the state Land Use Commission reclassified the 269-acre parcel of farmland in Central Oahu for the city's Kipapa Ridge Estates, provided the administration win approval from the City Council But Waihee later said he would prefer to see the site preserved as open space or be used as a park. "Central Oahu needs a Central Park," Waihee said in his letter to City Council Chairman Arnold Morgado.

Fasi said the Kipapa Ridge plan contains a 42-acre district park and a 45-acre, nine-hole golf course. The 269-acre 'central' park which you propose would cost the taxpayers $70 million while blocking affordable housing," Fasi said in his letter to Waihee. The state put up yet another barrier to affordable housing by forcing the city to upgrade sewage treatment that is more than adesate, Fasi said A Kokua Line column on Tuesday incorrectly 'identified the church membership of Bernard who was cited in a "Mahalo" brief for helping a motorist change a flat tire. Moody is a member of Calvary Chapel of Honolulu, not Harris Methodist Church. The former Wao Kele Puna property on the Big Island, part of which is the site of a proposed geothermal project, was improperly identified in a Star-Bulletin story Tuesday as a natural area reserve.

The former state property I lost that status in 1987 following transfer of the land to the Campbell Estate. Service canceled Star-Bulietin staff The memorial service Monday at Hosoi Mortuary for Rep. Roland Kotani has been cancelled, according to House Majority Leader Tom Okamura, who is acting as a family spokesman. The kotani family decided to hold private services, he said. CORKY'S HAWAII I Ift and accepted her role as wife and mother.

"The anger can be so tremendous because of the (husband's) new sidekick," Kato said. "She's given up her best years and now the guy picks up someone younger. She feels cheated because the other woman is going to enjoy the fruits of her sacrifices." The early stages of divorce, Kato feels, are very unstable. "There is always potential for violence," Kato said, "but the one thing I noticed in the Kotani case that I've never seen before in any one of my clients is the premeditation (factor)." Yim agrees. "I've seen clients say or do some weird things while the divorce is occurring," Yim said, "but not go out and buy a hammer, gloves and Magnum.

It's puzzling to me, given her (Imura-Kotani's) kind of background. I'm not a psychologist but it just doesn't fit. There's something missing here." University of Hawaii professor Juanita Liu, who serves on the advisory board of the Waikiki Community Center's family violence program, says a lot of local women will put on a good face to hide their emotions. "You cannot tell by appearances what is going on inside and the results can be tragic," she said. "That's why it's essential to get support, proper support, from people who have been through this kind of Two divorce lawyers try to understand the Kotani slaying By Rod Ohira Slar-Bulietin Grace Imura-Kotani learned in February that her husband, state Rep.

Roland Kotani, wanted to end their 10-year marriage. There was talk of another woman. The scenario is a familiar one for Honolulu divorce attorneys like Craig Vim and Bert Kato. But what made this one unusual is the way it ended. Imura-Kotani took her own life Tuesday morning after confessing to killing her husband last Friday in the Pearl City home they once shared.

Yim and Kato, both of whom handle a high volume of divorce cases, were asked for their opinion in an attempt to understand what Imura-Kotani might have been feeling during this emotional period. Yim said that outside of the death of a close loved one, divorce can be the second most traumatic experience in a person's life. It is particularly tough on women in Imura-Kotani's age group. She was 35 when she shot herself in police sta- tion bathroom after confessing to beating her husband to death with a hammer. "In a jilted situation, when the husband drops the bombshell, it can be totally devastating," Yim said.

"Some learn to adjust and some snap. Others just deal with it going the other way (alcohol and drug use). You can never tell what's going to happen. "A lot of it involves their self-image, which is suddenly totally destroyed. It's an emotional thing and what's scary (from an attorney's viewpoint) is that very few flags pop up to give you a read that the client might be volatile.

If there is a read, you try to defuse the bomb by recommending a counselor." A typical case, Kato said, may involve a 40-year-old Asian woman who has made big sacrifices former husband we've FOUND THE SNAG.