MPD veteran advances rank
WAILUKU - Maui Police Department veteran Gregg Okamoto has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
Okamoto, who joined the department in 1997, was an officer in the Molokai, Lahaina and Wailuku patrol districts. He also worked as school resource officer for Maui High School and was a member of the police SPEED team. After being promoted to sergeant, he worked in the Communications Sec-tion, Molokai Patrol District, Criminal Investigation Division and Domestic Violence Unit.
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Okamoto
He is an instructor for physical training and firearms and a member of the Special Response Team.
Okamoto and his wife have three sons. His parents are George and June Okamoto of Kahului.
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AAA: Gas prices drop 17 cents
HONOLULU - Gas prices for unleaded regular in Wailuku dipped to $4.54 cents a gallon for the week ending Thursday, down 17 cents from the previous week, AAA Hawaii Weekend Gas Watch reported.
That price is 34 cents lower than last month but still 17 cents higher than last year.
Wailuku's price was still higher than the $4.15 cents a gallon in Honolulu and the $4.22 cents a gallon in Hilo.
The state average price dropped to $4.24, which is 5 cents lower than last week, 24 cents lower than last month and 21 cents more than a year ago.
AAA Hawaii Weekend Gas Watch is a weekly snapshot of gas prices. Prices are derived from fleet vehicle credit card transactions at more than 100,000 stations around the country and are the combined averages of the last card swipe of the previous day.
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English to attend Pacific forum
HONOLULU - State Sen. J. Kalani English is attending the Club de Madrid Asia Pacific Forum "Building a More Resilient Pacific in the 21st Century World Order" in Papeete, Tahiti.
The forum is aimed at identifying and discussing strategies to promote greater socioeconomic development in the Pacific.
Club de Madrid is the world's largest forum of former heads of state and government. Leaders, policymakers and scholars will address geopolitical, socioeconomic and environmental issues.
"Hawaii and other communities in the Pacific cannot sit idly by and watch the world evolve around us," said English, chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation and International Affairs. "Hawaii's unique geographical position, history, and diverse ethnic and cultural ties with others in the Pacific have played pivotal roles in the shaping of our socioeconomic position in the world."
English, a Democrat, represents East Maui, Molokai and Lanai.
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Crews rescue paddle boarder
An 18-year-old Hilo woman was airlifted to shore after windy conditions kept her from paddling in Thursday afternoon off Ukumehame Beach, a fire official said.
Lahaina firefighters, a Kahului fire rescue crew aboard the Fire Department's Air One helicopter and an ocean safety officer aboard a personal watercraft responded to the 2:24 p.m. call that two stand-up paddle boarders were in distress about 500 yards offshore.
Rescue personnel aboard the helicopter brought the woman to shore while the ocean safety officer transported her board and paddle to the beach. The other paddler, a 22-year-old Wailuku man, declined to be airlifted or towed and paddled in on his own.
Neither the man nor the woman required medical attention.
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Two arrested in stabbing case
Two men were arrested on assault charges after officers found that a man had been stabbed in the chest when police responded to a report of a large fight in Haliimaile on Tuesday night.
The victim, a 31-year-old Haliimaile man, was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where he was treated for a 2-inch laceration to his left nipple, officials said. He was later released from the hospital.
Police arrested Orlando Martin, 24, and Salperino Delos Santos, 28, both of Haliimaile, after witnesses pointed them out as the assailants, police said.
Police said Martin, who had a butterfly knife, was released after posting $5,000 bail on a second-degree assault charge. Delos Santos, who had a bat, was released after posting $10,000 bail on two counts of second-degree assault, according to police records.
Police were called to the fight on Hiilani Street at 10:50 p.m. Tuesday.
The men involved in the fight reportedly had been drinking beer and kava after a softball game when two brothers reported being assaulted, with one brother being stabbed, police said.
