Aloha Stadium officials will hold a public hearing on July 27 on a proposal to increase admission fees to the Aloha Stadium swap meet.

The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the stadium conference room. Under the proposal, admission fees will be raised from 50 cents to $1 per person.

In addition, the public will be allowed to comment on a proposal to lock the stadium's moveable grandstands into football configuration.

HOT SPOTS PERSIST AFTER BRUSHFIRE

Fire crews yesterday were back putting out hot spots from a brushfire that scorched an estimated three to four acres Wednesday night near the Hawai'i Kai Golf Course.

The fire on the mauka side of Kalaniana'ole Highway was put out at 2 a.m. yesterday, fire Capt. Kenison Tejada said. A crew remained on scene overnight, he said.

No homes were threatened by the fire, which shot plumes of smoke into the air, cut off visibility on Kalaniana'ole Highway and forced the closure of the road between Hawai'i Kai and Waimanalo. Smoke could be smelled as far away as Koko Marina Shopping Center.

"It is brushfire season," Tejada said. "While it's not as dry as last year, there's a lot of burnable grass out there."

Firefighters have not determined what started the fire, which did not cross the road despite witness accounts.

POLICE SEARCHING FOR BANK ROBBERS

Police were looking for two men in unrelated bank robberies yesterday afternoon in Wahiawa and Pearl Ridge.

In the first case, a man dressed in an elaborate costume entered the Wahiawa branch of Central Pacific Bank around 2:20 p.m. and handed a teller a demand note. The man pointed to a portion of the note that said he had a gun, police said.

After receiving an undisclosed amount in cash, the man left the bank and was last seen walking east toward Plum Street.

The suspect was in his 40s, 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 8, 160 to 180 pounds with short black hair and a dark mustache. Police said he wore a black, Army-style beret, multi-colored camouflage shirt and pants, and black boots.

Police said the robber also had white bandages wrapped around his head and over his left eye, and wore goggles.

Shortly after 5 p.m., a man held up the Hickam Federal Credit Union in the Pearlridge Shopping Center.

Police said the man passed a teller a note and pointed to a drawing of a handgun. No gun was seen, but the robber was given money then ran away.

He was described as in his 30s or 40s, 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 7, and 160 to 180 pounds. The man had black hair, brown eyes, a fair complexion and was wearing a black wig. He had a cut on the bridge of his nose.

Anyone with information on either case is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellular phone.

MAN ARRESTED ON EXTORTION CHARGE

Police arrested a 37-year-old Pearl City man Wednesday after he allegedly tried to extort money from a Honolulu doctor.

The doctor told police the man went to his office on Monday and threatened to ruin his reputation by claiming publicly that the doctor had issued a false medical report about him, police said.

The man demanded $80,000 from the doctor to not carry out his threat, police said.

The man returned to the doctor's office Wednesday expecting to collect the money, but was arrested instead on suspicion of first-degree extortion.

FUGITIVE ON RUN FOR FOUR YEARS CAUGHT

U.S. marshals yesterday arrested an alleged member of the so-called "Mexican Mafia" in Wai'anae after the man had evaded capture for four years, according to a news release.

William Bustillos was wanted for parole violation in connection with a criminal history that includes convictions for manslaughter, drug possession, assaults and burglary. He was arrested by members of the Hawai'i Fugitive Task Force at a house in Wai'anae.

The U.S. Marshals Service in California forwarded information to the Hawai'i office indicating that Bustillos had been working and living on the Leeward Coast for more than a year. Bustillos was picked up in front of his house as he tried to leave early yesterday morning.

"It is quite obvious that Hawai'i is not immune from fugitives who have affiliation with dangerous Mainland street gangs and the Hawai'i Fugitive Task Force will continue to be committed and tenacious in locating these fugitives, bringing them to justice, and ensuring the safety of our communities," said U.S. Marshal Mark Hano-hano.

RELEASE OF KEMA DATA RECOGNIZED

The Big Island Press Club presented Lillian Koller, director of the Hawai'i Department of Human Services, with its Torch of Light award for 2006.

The award recognizes Koller's decision last year to release hundreds of pages of records concerning the case of "Peter Boy" Kema, the 6-year-old Big Island child who disappeared in 1997 following years of abuse.

The Press Club gave its Lava Tube Award to the Honolulu and Kaua'i county councils for actions that the press club deemed were contrary to the principles of open government.