O'ahu briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
WINDWARD
Body of homeless man discovered
Rescue crews recovered the body of a homeless man found on a mattress under a bridge on the Pali Highway yesterday morning.
The body was discovered at about 8:15 a.m. by a family on their morning walk.
Just below Kapena Falls and the overlook across from Nu'uanu Memorial Park Cemetery, family members detected an odor and saw a foot protruding from a bridge. They called the police.
Detective Rheynol Koska said the man had been dead for up to a week and had been likely living under the bridge.
No identification was found with the body, but foul play is not suspected, Koska said.
The medical examiner's office will try to determine the identity of the man and the cause of death.
CENTRAL
Lanes in 'Ewa to be closed
Several traffic lanes on Fort Weaver Road between Laulaunui Street and Hanakai Street will be closed for repairs today through Friday, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Lanes will be closed while crews install guardrails on Fort Weaver Road between Laulaunui Street and the Honouliuli Stream Bridge and for pavement striping work from Geiger Road to Laulaunui Street.
Northbound lanes will be closed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and southbound lanes from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Waipahu teens take challenge
Waipahu High School will hold events Wednesday through Friday to address issues of violence, racism and stereotypes within the school.
During the "Marauder Challenge," 100 students and 20 adults from the community will participate each day in activities from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the school gym.
The event is adapted from the national Challenge Day program that utilizes a variety of games, activities, discussions and other exercises to teach students to live and work in an environment of compassion, acceptance and respect.
Other subjects to be discussed are community service and the health risks of smoking.
Waipahu High is the first school in Hawai'i to take the challenge, using a grant awarded from the state's tobacco settlement money.
EAST HONOLULU
School holding food drive
The Haha'ione Elementary School student council is holding a canned food drive Wednesday through Dec. 6 to benefit the Salvation Army.
Students should drop off canned foods at the school's flagpole in the morning before school or in the classroom. Particularly needed are rice, canned fruits and vegetables, and canned meats such as Spam, tuna and corned beef.
HONOLULU
Cyclists offer input on plan
Workshops on a statewide bicycle path master plan ended recently with sessions in 'Aina Haina and Mililani Mauka.
Bike ways, lanes and paths in East Honolulu are relatively safe and accessible, cyclists said last week at the state Department of Transportation meeting in 'Aina Haina.
Only some of the 1994 plans were put into place, or are being built now, in East Honolulu: bike lanes on Kalaniana'ole Highway, Kealaolu Avenue in Kahala and the highway on-ramp from Kahala.
The session at Mililani Mauka Elementary School was aimed at gathering information about bike lanes in the Leeward, Central and North Shore areas of O'ahu.
Information from the meetings will be used to develop a 20-year statewide master plan, which is expected to be presented to the public in the spring. The plan is necessary to qualify for federal transportation money.
For more information, call Kimura International Inc. at 944-8848.
Punahou lanes to be closed
The Punahou Street on-ramp to the H-1 Freeway westbound and the right and shoulder lanes of the freeway between the McCully Street overpass and the Laumilo Street off-ramp will be closed today through Thursday for pump station work, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Other areas with lane closures for repairs through Friday include:
- The Pi'ikoi Street on-ramp to the H-1 eastbound and one lane of the Punahou Street off-ramp from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for barrier, traffic signal and road work.
- Wai'alae Avenue from Ehaka Avenue to 17th Avenue from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for utility work.
- Wai'alae Avenue outbound frontage road from 17th Avenue to the Wai'alae overpass from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for utility, curb and gutter work.
There may also be some lane, ramp or shoulder closures on the freeway between the Koko Head overpass and the Pali overpass.
HONOLULU
Two more charged in fatal beating
Two more men have been charged with murder in a fatal beating following a cockfight in Kalihi.
Branden Kakugawa, 30, of Kaimuki, and Don Cabinian, 29, of Whitmore Village, were charged with attempted murder, police said. They were each being held on $500,000 bail.
Kakugawa's 33-year-old cousin, Evan Kakugawa of Kaimuki, was the first suspect charged with murder in connection with the death of Leon Fernandez, 39, of Kane'ohe. Another attempted murder charge was filed earlier against Yoshimura, 34, of Kapalama. Fernandez died Nov. 17, the day after he was beaten along Bannister Street.
He was attacked by men who had earlier beaten his 41-year-old friend, Eufracio Esmerelda of Waipahu, police said. Esmerelda remained hospitalized in guarded condition.
Celebration slated for Korean center
Gov. Ben Cayetano and University of Hawai'i President Evan Dobelle will be among those at a celebration to mark the completion of renovations at the university's Center for Korean Studies.
The celebration, today from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Center, 1881 East-West Road, will also feature Korean music and dance.
