Man convicted of Maui murder found with contraband in jail
HONOLULU (AP) — The state Department of Public Safety says a Maui inmate convicted of murder and arson in the death of his pregnant ex-girlfriend was caught with contraband in jail.
The department says Steven Capobianco was caught with the unidentified item Sunday. Correctional officers confiscated the item wrapped in black tape during visitation hours.
Maui Community Correctional Center is one of the state’s correction facilities that still allow contact between visitors and inmates.
A jury found Capobianco guilty of second-degree murder and arson in the death of Carly “Charli” Scott. She was five months pregnant with Capobianco’s child when she disappeared in 2014.
A hearing for his request for a new trial is scheduled for next month.
Capobianco’s defense attorney couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.
Hawaii still lags on cool classrooms initiative
LIHUE, Kauai (AP) — Only about 200 Hawaii classrooms have received air conditioning units as part of Gov. David Ige’s $100 million plan announced early last year to cool 1,000 classrooms.
The Hawaii Department of Education released its latest update on the “cool schools” initiative on Feb. 14. The report says 209 classrooms have had air-conditioning units installed and 926 classrooms are in the construction or bidding process.
When Ige laid out the plan in his State of the State Address in January 2016, he said he wanted to cool 1,000 classrooms by the end of the year.
But the project has faced setbacks due to the high number of bids for AC installation, budgetary concerns and the aging infrastructure of some schools, according to the department.
The state has identified 33 schools on a priority list of the state’s hottest campuses.
The only Kauai school on that list is Kekaha Elementary School, which did not have any air-conditioning units installed as of Feb. 15. The school is ranked 31st on the priority list.
DOE Kauai Complex Area Superintendent Bill Arakaki said the bid for the project went out and the “award and partial notice to proceed is being processed.”
While the state has experienced delays in installing air-conditioning units, officials are still working to cool down classrooms in other ways.
Arakaki said there are plans to add more trees around the school to provide more shade, irrigate the areas around the buildings to keep the lawns green and to build shade structures over the playground areas. But construction funding has not yet been appropriated for the projects.
Influx of jellyfish prompt warnings for Honolulu beachgoers
HONOLULU (AP) — At least two dozen beachgoers have been treated for stings after an influx of box jellyfish in the waters off Honolulu.
Shayne Enright, a spokeswoman of the Emergency Medical Services Department, says lifeguards counted an estimated 920 jellyfish from Ala Moana Beach to Waikiki Beach as of 10:45 a.m. Monday and that 13 beachgoers were treated from stings.
Lifeguards at Hanauma Bay treated 12 stings and estimated there were 10 jellyfish in that area.
Warning signs went up at affected beaches.
The newspaper says box jellyfish usually arrive near shore eight to 10 days after a full moon. The last full moon was Feb. 10.
UH grad Duckworth to speak at GWU commencement
WASHINGTON (AP) — George Washington University says Sen. Tammy Duckworth will deliver the commencement address for the school in May.
The school announced Tuesday that Duckworth will be the speaker at the ceremony May 21 on the National Mall.
Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois, earned a master’s degree in international affairs from George Washington University in 1992. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Hawaii.
She was elected to the Senate in 2016 after serving two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.
