Man who dragged police officer jailed
A man who tried to flee in a stolen car — dragging a police officer in a Pearl City parking lot in 2014 — was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday for attempted assault.
Derek Torres pleaded guilty in August and will serve a two-year mandatory minimum as a repeat offender, according to a news release from Prosecuting Attorney Keith Kaneshiro. He was charged with first-degree attempted assault.
Torres, who was 43 at the time, was in a stolen car in a parking lot on Kamehameha Highway in Pearl City on Aug. 12, 2014. When confronted by a uniformed police officer, Torres drove away, dragging the officer about 40 feet along the pavement.
“The officer sustained a severe laceration to his right hand along with numerous contusions, abrasions and scratches,” the prosecutor said.
Caldwell cuts trip short due to storm
Mayor Kirk Caldwell returned to Honolulu from Washington, D.C., late Friday afternoon, one day early because of the snowstorm that hit much of the Eastern seaboard.
He was originally scheduled to return to Honolulu on Saturday evening after participating in the U.S Conference of Mayors.
During the annual conference the mayor attended meetings of standing committees on hunger and homelessness, community development and housing, and tourism, among other topics, according to a news release Friday.
Caldwell also met with top officials from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to discuss homelessness and housing and the Mayor’s Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness.
City contract funds wastewater project
The city has awarded a $150 million contract for construction of the Kailua Tunnel Influent Pump Station, the second phase of the Kaneohe-Kailua Wastewater Conveyance and Treatment Facilities Project.
The contract was awarded to Hensel Phelps, which has experience in wastewater project construction throughout the United States.
The first phase, the Kaneohe-Kailua Sewer Tunnel, recently reached its halfway point.
The completed project is expected to improve the handling of sewage in Windward Oahu.
The project is required under an amended consent decree the city has with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Health. The mandate requires the city to perform remediation projects to its wastewater collection system and wastewater treatment plants over the next 28 years.
Chinatown ideas shared over meal
Organizers of Chinatown-based community projects are being asked to make a presentation at the Honolulu Office of Economic Development’s HNL SOUP local micro-funding dinner later this month.
Three projects will be selected. At the event, attendees eat, talk, share resources and vote on one of the three project presentations that would then receive a “community chest” consisting of proceeds collected from the gathering.
The dinner is set for 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday at The Arts at Marks Garage, 1159 Nuuanu Ave. Attendees will pay $12, with $10 going into the community chest and $2 to those providing a soup dinner.
The deadline for groups to submit projects is Tuesday. To apply, go to bit.ly/1Ks1KXS.
Talks to focus on Kauai nene
The Kauai Nene Habitat Conservation Plan will hold the first in a series of public talks on recovery efforts for the endangered state bird.
The meeting is 6 p.m. Thursday at Hale Halawai ‘Ohana O Hanalei Community Center, 5299 Kuhio Highway.
The nene is protected by federal and state law. For more information, visit kauainenehcp.com.
Maui hall gets $250,000 gift
WAILUKU >> A multimillion-dollar social hall and office building for the Portuguese Association of Maui and the Maui Puerto Rican Association is closer to completion thanks to a $250,000 donation from a Maui business owner.
The Maui News reported Thursday that Maui Toyota owner Damien Farias’ donation on Monday will go toward the Heritage Hall project. Work on the two-building project located near the old Paia Sugar Mill will include a social hall and a separate office building. It is expected to be complete by the end of March.
Including Farias’ donation, the two associations have raised nearly $5 million since 2011.