Kapiolani Community College’s International Cafe students are organizing a fundraiser to help victims of the Nepalese earthquake.
Food, entertainment and items for sale will be available at the event slated for noon to 3 p.m. Thursday in the college’s cafeteria entry area. A Boy’s Day carp will be used to collect messages of hope, which will be sent with donations to Nepal.
Saturday’s magnitude-7.8 earthquake killed thousands of people, with devastation stretching from Kathmandu to small villages and to the slopes of Mount Everest, where an avalanche buried part of the base camp packed with foreign climbers.
International Cafe is an intercultural service group. All proceeds from the fundraiser will be sent to the America Nepal Medical Foundation.
"This is an organization run by Nepali doctors working in the U.S. and some of their American colleagues," said Anna Stirr, an assistant professor of Asian studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "They have been working in Nepal since 1997 and have a stellar reputation. They are working together with Real Medical Foundation to get supplies sent to Nepal."
Stirr, along with KCC Japanese-language professor Linda Fujikawa and Ram Kumar, a member of the Society of Nepalese of Hawaii, are helping to organize the fundraiser. For information, contact Fujikawa at lindaf@hawaii.edu or 554-8205.
Puna woman with suspicious injuries dies
The death of a 50-year-old Puna woman found Monday with suspicious injuries is under investigation.
Hawaii County police responding to a call about a woman who was unresponsive at a Fern Acres subdivision home said they found what appeared to be suspicious injuries. Detectives from the department’s Juvenile Aid Section were called to the scene, and medics took the victim to Hilo Medical Center.
She was pronounced dead at 12:05 p.m., and the case has been classified as a coroner’s inquest, police said.
No arrests have been made, and an autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday to determine the exact cause of death.
Police are asking that anyone with information about the incident contact Detective Jesse Kerr of the Juvenile Aid Section at 961-8843 or jesse.kerr@hawaiicounty.gov.
4 are charged in alleged try to escape prison
Hawaii County police charged four men who reportedly tried to escape early Saturday from the Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
Police charged the inmates Sunday with second-degree attempted escape and second-degree criminal property damage. Charged were Malaki McBride, 26; Kawaipuna Noa, 26; Douglas Kaimiola, 31; and Ariel Jost, 23. Bail was set at $20,000 each.
They remain in custody at HCCC.
At about 2:05 a.m. Saturday, HCCC reported the four inmates broke through a door leading to the fenced recreational center at the jail.
The inmates did not escape from that area, and HCCC personnel detained them, police said.
