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A4 — Tuesday, August 24, 2010 — THE MAUI NEWS
Honolulu to
take stored
garbage
Suit filed in traffic fatality,
transfer of business interest
WAILUKU — Dennis
“Tab” Slusser, who is scheduled to be tried next month for
first-degree negligent homicide
in a car wreck, has also been
sued in 2nd Circuit Court.
The civil suit alleges he
caused the wrongful death of
Patricia Leengrow in 2008 and,
11 days later, fraudulently
transferred his interest in his
business to escape claims from
Leengrow’s family.
The civil suit was filed by
Leengrow’s husband, Aquinas
Figirmap, and her parents and
children.
On Nov. 5, 2008, Patricia
Leengrow was driving on
Honoapiilani Highway, about
10 p.m., when a sport utility vehicle coming in the other direction allegedly crossed the centerline and hit her car.
Miriam Momi
Jacintho, 65
The driver of the SUV,
Slusser, was taken to the hospital, treated and released. Leengrow was taken to the hospital,
where she died four hours later
from loss of blood, according to
the complaint filed for her survivors by attorney Anthony
Ranken.
Besides wrongful death, the
suit alleges “survival action”
and claims damages for the pain
and suffering she experienced
during those four hours.
The suit states that Slusser
had been overserved alcohol at
one or more taverns before the
wreck; it does not identify them.
It also claims that on Nov.
14, 2008, Slusser transferred
his ownership of For Shear Hair
Design and Beauty Supply in
Lahaina to Sina Ahia-Talbot,
“not for consideration or fair-
OBITUARIES
Miriam Momi Jacintho,
65, of Kula, Maui, passed
away on August 13, 2010, at
Maui Memorial Medical
Center.
Visitation will be held
from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon,
on Saturday, August 28,
2010, at St. Anthony Catholic
Church; Mass will begin in
12:00 noon; Burial will follow Mass, at 1:30 p.m., at
Holy Ghost Cemetery in Kula.
Ballard Family Mortuary
is assisting with the arrangements.
Miriam was born on July
25, 1945, in Honolulu. She is
predeceased by her Sons,
Ronald Jacintho, Jr., Jaron
Jacintho; Survived by her
Husband, Ronald Jacintho;
Son, Matthew Jacintho;
Daughter, Mirissa Fernandez;
Daughter-In-Law,
Jamie
Jacintho; Brother, Lou (Debbie) McKee; Grandchildren,
Natasha Jacintho, Chance
Jacintho, Healani Fernandez,
Ronald Keahi Jacintho, Kapua Fernandez, Seth Fernandez, and Jayla Grace Fernandez.
She was the Vice-President at Rojac Trucking.
****************************
Ballard Family Mortuary
440 Ala Makani St., Kahului
****************************
Margharita
Sauceda, 63
Margharita Sauceda, 63,
of Kahului, Maui, passed
away on August 21, 2010, at
Maui Memorial Medical
Center.
Visitation will be held
from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
on Friday, August 27, 2010,
at Ballard Family Mortuary;
Service 11:00 a.m.; Burial
12:30 p.m. at Valley Isle Memorial Park in Haiku.
Ballard Family Mortuary
is assisting with the arrangements.
Margharita was born on
September 26, 1946, in Indianapolis, Indiana. She is survived by her Companion,
Jose
Sandoval;
Sons,
Leonard Sauceda, Jr., Steven
Sauceda, Ruben Sauceda;
Daughters, Diana Sauceda,
Debra Sauceda, Salena
Sauceda; Brothers, Ruben
Gonzales, Robert Gonzales,
Serfino Gonzales, Rudy Gonzales, Eugene Gonzales; Sisters, Alice Poncio, Janie
Lawrence, Minnie Guerrera,
Mary Lou Gonzales; 9
Grandchildren; and 3 Great Grandchildren.
She was a retired Casino
Hostess.
****************************
Ballard Family Mortuary
440 Ala Makani St., Kahului
****************************
■ Obituaries are published by The Maui News as a
paid ad. Obituaries must be submitted in writing,
usually through a mortuary. Individuals may submit
obituaries with proof of death. Fax 242-6389 or write
to: Obituaries, The Maui News, 100 Mahalani St.,
Wailuku 96793. Include a contact name and daytime
phone number. For more information, call 242-6333.
HENRY P. ANTONIUS JR.
Henry P. Antonius Jr. better known as Hank
or “H.T.D.”, 67 of Boston, Thailand and Maui
passed away on August 2, 2010 in Bangkok
Hospital.
A celebration of his life will be held on
Saturday, August 28, 2010 at 12:00 p.m. in
the Kalama Park Pavilion closest to the
playground.
Hank was born on April 2, 1943 in Boston,
Massachusetts. He is survived by his mother
Margo Watson, his beloved girlfriend
Lamphueng Doenphimai, his ex wife and
good friend Caroline Bradley, his daughter
Lisa Antonius, Son Marus Antonius. He is
also survived by his daughter in law Melissa
Antonius, his grandchildren Brandon and
Justin Antonius and Nikaela and Jordan El
Kary and his extended Family of Fellowship.
A memorial web site is set up at:
http://maui_hank_antonius.forevermissed.com
He was a retired Entrepreneur, Adventurer
and World Traveler.
Antonius Family
31 E. Waiko Road
Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii 96793
In Memoriam Notices
are a way for families to write their own
remembrances of their loved ones and to
announce funeral services.
For more information, call The Maui News
Classified Advertising Department
at 242-6333.
market value.”
Ahia-Talbot died in March
and the business is now managed by her daughter.
Department of Commerce
and Consumer Affairs records
still list Dennis “Tab” Slusser as
registrant for For Shear Hair
Design, a 2007 entry; but an
older, expired trade name registration, from 1995, lists AhiaTalbot as the original holder of
the For Shear trade name.
The suit alleges that the
change in ownership violated
the state fraudulent transfer
statute because it was “only for
the purpose” of avoiding claims
from the plaintiffs at a time
when the defendants — AhiaTalbot is named along with unnamed taverns as defendants —
knew the plaintiffs were their
creditors.
Elections
Continued from Page A1
‘‘While professing unity,
he’s practiced the politics of division, exploiting rather than
healing differences of race, origin and economic status,’’
Case added, referring in part to
a much-criticized flier that
Hannemann’s
campaign
mailed recently and for which
Hannemann apologized at the
top of Friday’s debate.
Case’s remarks generated a
stern response from Hannemann spokeswoman Carolyn
Tanaka.
‘‘This is negative campaigning at its worst,’’ she said.
‘‘Case’s hateful e-mail assassinates the character of Mufi
Hannemann with accusations
that are completely devoid of
any facts.’’
Abercrombie, she added,
‘‘has consistently accused us
of negative campaigning yet he
accepts the endorsement and
apparently condones the negative messages being sent out by
Ed Case.’’
Asked for a response, Case
said in a statement, ‘‘Hannemann’s character to lead is a
central issue because we want
leaders we can trust; that’s fair
game in any campaign.’’
Abercrombie has lauded
Case’s endorsement. On Monday, he dismissed Hannemann’s complaints, saying in a
statement, ‘‘Ed Case is an independent person and free to
speak his mind.’’
In a statewide survey of 425
likely Democratic primary voters that was released Sunday,
Abercrombie was favored by
49 percent and Hannemann by
44 percent.
The poll’s margin of error
was 4.8 percentage points. It
was conducted Aug. 10
through Aug. 17 by Ward Research for the Honolulu StarAdvertiser and Hawaii News
Now.
The winner of the Democratic primary will face the
likely Republican nominee, Lt.
Gov. James ‘‘Duke’’ Aiona.
Other findings from the
same poll found former state
Democratic Party Chairman
Brian Schatz favored by 27
percent of those questioned
about the Democratic lieutenant governor contest.
State Sen. Norman Sakamoto of Salt Lake was favored by
21 percent; former Sens.
Robert Bunda and Gary Hooser had 11 percent and 10 percent, respectively; and state
Reps. Lyla Berg, of Hahaione
Valley, and John Riki Karamatsu, of Waipahu, were favored by 7 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
Only a plurality is needed to
win the Democratic primary.
The winner will face the victor
of the GOP primary between
Rep. Lynn Finnegan of Mapunapuna and Honolulu
lawyer Adrienne King.
By HERBERT A. SAMPLE
The Associated Press
The Maui News / AMANDA COWAN photo
Rachael Berta appears Monday in 2nd Circuit Court
Trial
dle, whom she later found out
was the murder suspect, Berta.
During cross-examination,
Sloper asked Bonacorsi if
Berta appeared confused when
she was arrested.
“At the time, she appeared a
little upset and angry,” Bonacorsi said.
During further questioning
by Sloper, Bonacorsi agreed
with Sloper that around 12
minutes after Berta was arrested, she became confused.
Bonacorsi said she also
thought that Berta was upset in
the processing room at the
Wailuku Police Station.
During re-examination by
Mendes, Bonacorsi said Berta
cursed at arresting officers, using pejorative terms to refer to
them.
When asked by Mendes if
Berta was passive and confused at the police station,
Bonacorsi said, “(Berta) continued to ask how John was
and what was going to happen
to her.”
Bonacorsi said she did not
see any bizarre behavior by
Berta and in her police report
she did not check off boxes to
say Berta was incoherent or
was suffering from any pain or
injury.
Sloper asked Bonacorsi if
she felt that being called names
was loud and obnoxious, to
which she replied “yes.”
But he noted that Bonacorsi
did not write in her report that
Berta was loud and obnoxious.
Sloper is being assisted by
attorney Byron Fujieda.
Mendes is being assisted by
Deputy Prosecutor Emlyn Higa.
The trial resumes at 10 a.m.
today.
Continued from Page A1
finger on the glass from the
photo frame that held the photo
of Shaniyo’s ex-girlfriend,
Mendes said.
“Rachael was angry at John
for leaving her,” Mendes
added.
Mendes said Berta used her
cellular phone and sent a text
message to someone saying, “I
am going to kill him.”
Mendes said Berta thrust a
kitchen knife into Shaniyo’s
abdominal area and then pulled
the knife out.
After
Berta
stabbed
Shaniyo, he lost blood rapidly
but was strong enough to go to
the kitchen floor, where he collapsed.
Mendes added that Shaniyo
crawled to a door and unlocked
it but someone or something
caused the door to be pushed
down on him.
Shaniyo had scratches on his
left arm consistent with being
pulled from the door.
When police showed up,
Shaniyo said the responsible
person was his girlfriend, and
spelled out her last name, “BE-R-T-A,” Mendes said.
“This was not self-defense,”
she said, adding it also wasn’t a
case of mental disturbance.
“The credible evidence will
show this was murder.”
The prosecution’s first witness, police officer Christina
Bonacorsi of the Wailuku Patrol Division testified Monday
that she arrested Berta at Kahului Union Church around an
hour and a half after the officer
initially responded to the stabbing at 107 West Kauai St. in
Kahului.
Bonacorsi, who was responding to a call from dispatch to go to the church, said
she saw three women in the
courtyard area of the church ■ Melissa Tanji
and two women seemed to be can be reached
consoling a woman in the mid- at [email protected].
ON THE CAMPAIGN
Kokua Carnival to
benefit Elle Cochran
WAIKAPU — Friends of
Elle Cochran is holding a
Kokua Carnival on Sept. 4 at
the Maui Tropical Plantation.
The event from 11 a.m. to 6
p.m. will feature entertainment
by Brother Noland and Tony
C. (Conjugacion) and will include food booths, a beer garden, pony rides, bouncy castles, children’s entertainment, a
crafts fair, educational booths
and a farmer’s market.
Admission is free. Proceeds
from food and amusement
sales will benefit Cochran’s
campaign for the Maui County
Council’s West Maui seat.
For information, visit
www.electelle.com or contact
TRAIL
Maui Tropical Plantation at
244-7643.
***
■ On the Campaign Trail is
a public service for candidates to publicize fundraisers, public appearances and
other campaign-related
events. Announcements
must be submitted at least
one week in advance of the
event and should include a
contact name and number.
Announcements may be
dropped off at The Maui
News building in Wailuku,
mailed to “Campaign Trail,”
Editorial Department, 100
Mahalani St., Wailuku
96793, faxed to 242-9087,
or e-mailed to
[email protected].
For more information, call
242-6343.
Fish regulations meeting Wednesday
KAHULUI — A meeting to
discuss possible regulations for
certain marine species including parrotfish, goatfish and
jacks will be held at 6 p.m.
Wednesday in the Maui Waena
Intermediate School cafeteria.
Department of Land and
Natural Resources Division of
Aquatic Resources staff will
present the department’s regulated species rule proposals for
Maui and Lanai. The staff will
discuss the scientific justifica-
tions for the proposals and will
explain the rule-making
process and how residents can
get involved.
Last year, two rounds of
meetings were held on proposed fishing regulations.
Based on those public comments, the state has developed
a set of draft rules aimed at
conserving natural resources
while balancing the needs of
recreational, subsistence and
commercial fishers, said Laura
Thielen, the DLNR chairwoman.
A summary of the proposed
rules is posted on the division’s
website at hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar/
announcements.html#pubmeetings.
For more information, contact the Division of Aquatic
Resources Maui office at 2435294. Lanai residents are encouraged to call the office for
more information or to provide
feedback.
HONOLULU — Honolulu
on Monday agreed to dispose of
20,000 tons of gigantic piles of
shrink-wrapped garbage that
have been moldering in the heat
of a Hawaii industrial park
where the trash had been waiting for more than five months
for possible shipment to Washington state.
Acting Mayor Kirk Caldwell
said the on-again, off-again
trash-shipping plan to a dump
near a Washington state Indian
reservation no longer appeared
viable.
Instead, Hawaiian Waste
Systems agreed that the municipal solid waste will mostly be
burned in Honolulu’s ‘‘H-Power’’ electricity generating station. What can’t be burned will
be taken to the city’s only
dump,
the
21-year-old
Waimanalo Gulch landfill,
which is slated to close in 2012.
‘‘We’ve agreed on a reasonable solution that will resolve
this issue and remove the
opala,’’ Caldwell said in a statement, using the Hawaiian word
for trash.
The lingering trash piles offered a glimpse into the garbage
woes that Honolulu faces as the
state’s largest city struggles to
find a home for all its waste.
With Waimanalo Gulch filling up fast, officials proposed to
ship the blue-plastic-wrapped
garbage bales to a landfill near
the Columbia River in Washington’s Klickitat County.
But the Yakama Indian Nation vehemently objected and
won a court ruling last week
that put the plan on hold indefinitely.
The baled garbage now sitting at Hawaiian Waste System’s facility in a Kapolei industrial park will be fed into the
H-Power furnaces beginning
next month, Caldwell said. It
will take about 20 weeks to
completely dispose of the rubbish.
‘‘The city bent over backwards to try to make this shipping effort work, but it is clear
that shipping is not a viable option at this time,’’ he said.
Honolulu makes up 80 percent of Hawaii’s population and
generates nearly 1.6 million
tons of garbage a year. More
than a third of the trash is incinerated to generate electricity,
and the destination for the remaining garbage is landfills.
MPD reports
disciplining
of 4 officers
WAILUKU — A Maui Police Department officer was
suspended for one day and
three others were reprimanded
after internal investigations
that concluded in June and July, police reported.
The suspension was for inappropriate conduct toward the
public and failure to wear safety equipment in an incident last
October. Another officer received a written reprimand for
failing to wear proper safety
equipment in the same incident.
Two officers received oral
reprimands for motor vehicle
accidents — one for hitting a
gate in February and another
for reversing into a vehicle in
March.
No action was taken for two
other motor vehicle accidents
in October and May because
the officer is no longer employed by MPD.
An allegation that an officer
inappropriately searched and
retained a suspect’s possessions in December was determined to be unfounded, and
the officer was exonerated.
Allegations against officers
weren’t sustained for being untruthful and falsifying a report
in an employee selection
process in August 2009 and
for threatening a party in a temporary restraining order case in
May.
The names of the officers
were not made public.
People who wish to comment on the Maui Police Department or the actions of its
employees may contact the
employee’s commander or
write to Chief Gary Yabuta in
care of the Maui Police Department, 55 Mahalani St.,
Wailuku 96793.