HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Tax scofflaw gets 18 months in jail
Advertiser Staff
A federal judge has sentenced Honolulu doctor Stephen B. Wilson to 18 months in prison for federal income tax evasion.
U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor sentenced Wilson, who pleaded guilty earlier to reporting his income for 1998 to be $46,915 when his taxable income was $376,969, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Wilson reported he owed $9,840 for that year when $138,552 in taxes were owed, the office said.
Wilson owes about $277,000 in federal and state income taxes and state general excise taxes, the office said.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service criminal investigation division.
"Income tax evasion is not a victimless crime," said Sherree Preston, Hawai'i's IRS special agent in charge. "When someone cheats on their taxes, the rest of us pay the price."
WAIKIKI
WARNINGS GONE AT ALA WAI CANAL
The state yesterday gave the all-clear for canoe paddlers and others to go back in the Ala Wai Canal, a day after a small sewage spill prompted warning signs to go up.
Officials had reported an 800-gallon sewage spill when the city switched the flow of raw sewage into a bypass pipe system away from a broken sewer main on Tuesday. As a precaution, the city posted signs warning people to stay out of the canal near Ala Wai Elementary School and on other nearby shores.
But the signs all came down yesterday after laboratory tests showed the small spill apparently had no negative impact on the canal's water quality.
KAUA'I
HELP SOUGHT ON TWO MISSING PEOPLE
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Kaua'i police are seeking information on two missing persons.
Friends of Susan Scanlon, 54, of Koloa, are concerned about her safety after last hearing from her on Nov. 6. She is 5-feet-4 and 140 pounds, and has green eyes and shoulder-length brown hair.
Also reported missing in a separate case is California resident Clifford Culloden, 59, whose family has not heard from him since April.
Culloden is 5-feet-9 and 150 pounds, with blue eyes, a moustache, beard and white hair with a receding hairline. Culloden's parents are asking anyone who sees the man to ask him to call home.
Anyone with information about either case is asked to call police dispatch at (808) 241-1711, the Missing Persons Unit at (808) 241-1696, or Crime Stoppers at (808) 241-1887.
