A New Type of Bounty Hunter

When someone mentions bounty in Hawaii, "Dog the Bounty Hunter" may come to mind. But a Windward Oahu couple is coming up with their own bounty, to sell their home.

Linda Harris and her husband haven't found much success in the real estate market these days. That's why they're offering a $100,000 bounty to anyone who can find a buyer for their two properties. So far, 12 people have stepped forward to work for that bounty.

"It's almost like a game show," Harris said. "It's got that same kind of energy and life that probably a game show has."

After dropping the price more than a half-million dollars on their Windward Oahu home, Linda Harris and her husband couldn't resist putting out a bounty to sell it.

"When the idea came up, it was like, wow, this will work, let's put it out into the world, so we talked about it and we think we have at least enough business sense to make it work," she said.

Both professors at UH, they started out by telling their grad students about it. Those two properties sit near the ocean. This home in Hauula is listed for $1.7 million and a 38-acre piece of land on the Big Island is on sale for $1.2 million.

"A few people have called and I've actually talked with them and they're oh, wow, this will cure my ills, I'll be able to pay my tuition, I'll be able to get my family in gear and they're out hunting," she said. "I'd rather see people gain from it, rather than an advertising company or a news organization, I'd rather see individuals gain from it."

The reward would be paid out by escrow when the properties have closed.

"Hopefully this is a great lesson in how creativity and innovation can result in something good for a lot of people," she said.

Harris says the bounty is legal. A state law allows one bounty per year for real estate. So far, a bounty hunter found a couple in California who came down to look at the home. Harris says the couple is now thinking it over.

If you're interested in getting the reward, you'll have to register with Harris. E-mail her at llharris@hawaii.edu.

Dog in the Doghouse

About 100 residents of mixed ethnicity expressed their anger, frustration and hope to end racism yesterday during an informal forum on race relations in response to Duane "Dog" Chapman's racist tirade caught on tape.

A motorcycle group, African-American organizations, a medical group and students were among those attending the talk at Trinity Missionary Baptist Church near the airport.

Sparked by Chapman's racist rant, the Hawaii chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People organized the event to discuss race issues in the media.

"What spearheaded this was obviously another in a series of incidents where a high-profile individual chose to use the N-word," said NAACP chapter President Alphonso Braggs. "The fact that it was in a private conversation is clearly secondary and almost irrelevant to the use of the word when you are referencing someone."

Chapman, a Honolulu bounty hunter, apologized after the National Enquirer posted a recording of him using the N-word to refer to his son's black girlfriend and telling him to break up with her so he could use the word freely. A&E network suspended production of the show and pulled it off the air indefinitely.

Braggs pointed out that blacks are not the only ethnicity subjected to derogatory remarks in the media, recalling a recent comment about the Philippines on the TV show "Desperate Housewives."

Brigham Young University Hawaii sophomore Kai Sanders, who is black, stood up and said she wanted to know how to stop racism.

Blacks should be sure "we aren't ourselves using the word," she said. "We have to figure out how to not like or appreciate the music that's being put out by our own community."

The Rev. Dwight Cook, minister of Trinity Missionary Baptist Church, told the crowd that he felt Chapman ought to undergo sensitivity training.

"Everybody has to become a part of making this community a better place, and it does start with education," he said.

Jewel McDonald, president of the African American Association of Hawaii, said Chapman should be reduced from a "hero to a zero."

The consensus of the forum was that racism against blacks and other races persists in Hawaii, though it is not as blatant as on the mainland.

"They give you the impression everything is sweet here. 'It's the melting pot so everything is just lovely.' But it's not," she said.