Neighbor Island briefs

Advertiser Staff

BIG ISLAND

Truck driver dies on Big Island

WAIMEA, Hawai'i — A Waimea truck driver died Tuesday after his tractor-trailer hit a guard rail and overturned on Waikoloa Road in South Kohala.

Ernest K. Kinney Jr., 70, died at North Hawai'i Community Hospital about four hours after the 8:42 a.m. crash.

Big Island police said Kinney apparently lost control of his 1993 Peterbuilt tractor that was hauling more than 13 tons of sand. He was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the truck.

The upper portion of Waikoloa Road was closed for two hours to allow crews to remove sand from the street.

Altar missing from Hilo park

HILO, Hawai'i — Big Island police are asking for help in recovering a stone altar taken from the statue of King Kamehameha the Great in Hilo's Wailoa State Park.

Police investigator Greg Ikeda said the altar, measuring four feet by four feet, was removed sometime between Jan. 10-12. Call the Hilo Patrol Division at (808) 961-2311 or CrimeStoppers Hawai'i at (808) 961-8300.

MAUI

Search for fisherman ends

Maui Fire Department officials have ended their search for fisherman missing since Sunday when he was swept into the ocean off remote Kaupo.

Louis Galam Jr., 47, of Wailuku, was casting a throw net Sunday morning near Nu'anu'aloa Gulch when he was hit by a wave, said Assistant Fire Chief Alan Cordeiro. His companions saw him struggling in rough seas for about an hour before he disappeared. Search efforts ended Tuesday without any sign of him.