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Ex-UH athlete denies guilt in sex case
Former University of Hawaii football kicker Daniel Kelly, known as "The Iceman," has pleaded not guilty in a California court to charges that he sexually solicited a girl who is a minor.
Kelly, 26, of Temecula, Calif., was in Riverside Superior Court on Wednesday to answer to felony charges of soliciting a minor for sex. He was also charged with annoying a child, a misdemeanor.
Kelly was taken into custody on Monday after police learned of an alleged relationship with a 16-year-old girl, police said.
His preliminary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 13. His bail was set at $25,000.
According to police, Kelly is the junior varsity girls soccer coach at Murrieta Valley High School. He was serving as a walk-on coach but is not a Murrieta Valley Unified District schoolteacher.
Police said they learned of an ongoing relationship between Kelly and a female student athlete and, after an investigation, arrested and booked him at a detention center.
The investigation is continuing to determine if there are additional victims, police said.
City clears sidewalk at Thomas Square
Responding to numerous complaints, city crews Wednesday morning began removing tents and other items belonging to Occupy Honolulu protesters and homeless people from the sidewalk on the makai side of South Beretania Street at Thomas Square.
Crews from the city Facility Maintenance Department, assisted by city parks officials, tagged the items on Tuesday using a 2011 law that prohibits storing personal belongings on city property.
Occupy Honolulu protesters have camped on the sidewalk at Thomas Square since November 2011.
Homeless man indicted in copper theft
An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday charging a 42-year-old homeless man with stealing copper wire below the H-1 freeway viaduct near Honolulu Airport last week.
Julian Medina was in custody, unable to post $15,000 bail.
Police arrested Medina after a Hawaiian Telcom employee investigating last week’s telephone and Internet outage saw him and another man pulling on some cable on Jan. 23, Deputy Prosecutor Kristen Yamamoto said Wednesday. She said the other man fled.
Yamamoto said Medina had 60 to 80 pounds of copper in his possession.
Hawaiian Telcom said 500 customers lost service for nearly 12 hours Jan. 23 and 24 after a fiber optic communication cable was maliciously cut under the viaduct near the airport.
Officials did not say if the copper theft contributed to the telecommunications outage.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Imprisoned man sues after test voids conviction
A man who was behind bars for 20 years before his conviction on rape charges was dismissed is suing the state, Maui County and the Maui Police Department.
Alvin Jardine III, 43, claims in his lawsuit that he was falsely arrested and wrongfully imprisoned for the rape and assault of a woman in her Haiku home in December 1990, the Maui News reported.
The suit, filed Jan. 17, also names the estate of Antonio Funes, the police detective assigned to the case.
Jardine was found guilty in April 1992 and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. But charges against him were dismissed in 2011 after DNA tests excluded him as a suspect. Prosecutors decided not to retry the case.
Jardine was represented by the Hawaii Innocence Project. He is seeking unspecified damages.
County seeks to measure use of compost bins
Kauai County is asking residents to participate in a survey to gauge how they have been using free home composting bins the county distributed.
The county has given out about 3,000 Earth Machine bins since the program began 12 years ago.
"We’re interested in finding out how much organic waste is being diverted from the landfill, how the program is benefiting participants, and whether an increase in public education would be helpful," said Laura Kelly, county recycling specialist.
Anyone using the bins may participate in the online survey at www.kauai.gov/CompostSurvey. Kelly said it will take five minutes to complete.
For information on how to get a bin, contact Kelly at 241-4990 or lkelly@kauai.gov.