Advertiser Staff and News Services
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Woman killed in Hilo crash
Hilo, Hawai‘i — A Hilo woman was killed and her 73-year-old husband was in critical condition yesterday after their car crashed on Saddle Road.
Police said Don H. Bartron Sr. was driving when the crash occured at 11:50 a.m. about 17 miles upslope from Hilo, toward Mauna Kea.
Colleen Bartron, 65, was dead at the scene of the crash.
Police said her husband was taken to The Queen’s Medical Center in critical condition.
Police said speed may have been a factor in the accident. Both were wearing seat belts.
The death was the second traffic fatality this year for the Big Island.
CENTRAL O‘AHU
Waialua fire under control
Firefighters who worked to quell a stubborn brush fire Friday and Saturday in Waialua were not called back to the fallow fields yesterday.
The fire began Friday and burned 100 acres of former sugarcane and pineapple fields.
It reignited Saturday about 3:30 p.m. along Kaukonahua Road near the University of Hawai‘i Poamoho Experimental Farm. Three ground units and a fire helicopter responded to the blaze.
Firefighters worked until shortly after nightfall Saturday to bring it under control and had not been called to return to the scene yesterday, Fire Capt. Richard Soo said last night.
They had worked more than five hours Friday to control the blaze.
No homes were affected but parts of Kaukonahua Road were shut down Friday when the fire got too close to the roadside.
Fire officials believe the fire started near the side of Kaukonahua Road, possibly from a cigarette discarded by a motorist.
‘Ewa safety meeting today
Public meetings to discuss pedestrian safety while crossing Fort Weaver Road in ‘Ewa Beach will be held at 7 p.m. today and March 29 at the Leeward Child & Family Services Building community center, 91-1841 Fort Weaver Road.
The meeting, sponsored by the ‘Ewa Pedestrian Coalition and Rep. Willie Espero, D-41st (‘Ewa Beach), will discuss several possibilities to make the road safer including building an overpass, adding a traffic light, digging a tunnel under the road, moving the crosswalk, installing a pedestrian-activated flashing light and painting a solid center line to prevent vehicle lane switching.
For information, call Espero’s office at 586-6360.
WINDWARD O‘AHU
Golfers tee off for charity
Castle Medical Center’s 11th Chip In for Castle Charity Golf Tournament tees off April 9 at the Mid-Pacific Country Club in Lanikai.
The event will help raise money for the enhancement and renovation of Castle’s patient care areas and for a proposed Castle Medical Plaza and Wellness Center.
The player closest to the pin on each par-3 hole will win $250. The first player to hit a hole-in-one on designated par-3 holes will win a new car.
To be recognized on the tournament program, register by March 21. Call 263-5335, or register online at www.castlemed.com (click on "What’s New").
HONOLULU
DOT surveyors hit the highway
State transportation department surveyors will be on the roads Wednesday, collecting travel time data during rush hour.
The surveyors will drive Oahu’s freeways and highways to see how long it takes to get from point to point and identify areas where traffic slows down. Some of the state vehicles will be using the ZipLane.
The state vehicles will have placards that say "Survey Vehicle" in the front and rear windows. Single-occupant vehicles will be used to collect the data, including data from the ZipLane.
Retrial ordered in 1989 murder
A Circuit Court judge has reversed herself and ordered a man to be tried a second time for a 1989 murder.
John Joseph Griffiths Jr. stood trial in 1999 for the murder of bodybuilder Eric Kamanu, but a mistrial was declared when a jury failed to reach a verdict.
In January, Judge Gail Nakatani dismissed the case against Griffiths, citing misconduct by a key prosecution witness. City prosecutors asked her to reconsider her decision Feb. 28. Kamanu, a runner-up in the 1986 Mr. Hawaiian Islands bodybuilding competition, has been described as a drug kingpin.
Prosecutors said Griffiths shot Kamanu in the back of the head and through the eyes. But the defense said Griffiths was working out at a Kane‘ohe gym at the time Kamanu was killed.
[back to top] |
