O'ahu briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
WINDWARD
See Kailua on geology tour
A Kailua ahupua'a geology tour including information about how the Ko'olau caldera was formed and the Windward side was created, will be conducted from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
The tour of the Kailua ahupua'a and Kawai Nui Marsh will include stops at the Pali Lookout, H-3 dike formations and Na Pohaku o Hauwahine.
Geology professors Floyd McCoy, from Windward Community College, and Joe Moye, from Hawai'i Pacific University will lead the tour, which is limited to 15.
Donations of $3 are requested for members of the Kawai Nui Heritage Foundation and the Ahahui Malama I Ka Lokahi, and $5 for nonmembers.
Reservations are required. Call Chuck Burrows at 595-3922 or e-mail him at cburrow@aloha.net.
Girl critical after accident
A passenger who tried to climb on the trunk of a sedan as it started on Mokulele Drive in Kane'ohe Saturday night suffered a critical head injury when she fell from the car, police said yesterday.
Investigators with the traffic division's vehicular homicide section said the incident occurred about 10 p.m. when a 17-year-old male started a white 1990 Mazda four-door sedan just as one of two female passengers in the car got out and tried to climb onto the trunk.
The victim was taken to the Queen's Medical Center and remained in critical condition yesterday, police said. Officials at Queen's said last night they had no information on the case.
HONOLULU
Program seeks tax volunteers
AARP Tax-Aide, a free tax counseling and preparation service, is seeking volunteers who want to learn tax law and help prepare tax returns for middle- and low-income people.
Each year from Feb. 1 through April 15, AARP Tax-Aide volunteers prepare returns at more than 10,000 sites nationwide and at www.aarp.org/taxaide. In Hawai'i last year, 180 volunteers helped more than 21,700 taxpayers.
Volunteers will receive free tax training from the Internal Revenue Service.
For details, call Kalfred Chang at 531-8863, or John Ponsen at 955-5462.
Justice seeks unified system
Chief Justice Ronald Moon said the state's current judicial system of circuit, family and district courts is too unwieldy.
During his State of the Judiciary address last week, Moon proposed creating a one-tier judicial system to enable all judges to preside over most civil or criminal cases.
Changing to a one-tier system would take a long time, because it would require amendments to the state Constitution, Moon said. Judges also would have to get used to the idea, he said.
Under the current system, a Family Court judge can't handle a lawsuit, and a District Court judge can't preside over a felony trial.
Litigants and defendants are left going from court to court, trying to determine which one can handle a claim or whether different claims must be heard in different courts, Moon said.
Moon delivered the address to the Hawaii State Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division.
Island-bound flight diverted by scare
A Honolulu-bound American Airlines flight made an unscheduled landing in Los Angeles yesterday after crew members found a box cutter left on the plane by a catering employee.
Flight attendants found the box cutter in a food cart about 90 minutes after the plane departed from Dallas, said American Airlines spokesman John Hotard.
The captain decided to land the plane, carrying 220 people, in Los Angeles so every passenger could be screened again. About three hours later the plane resumed its trip to Hawai'i, said airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles.
The flight landed in Honolulu late yesterday afternoon.
The box cutter was imprinted with the name of the airline's caterer, Sky Chef. Airline officials called the company, and an employee said he had inadvertently left the knife on the cart.
"There's no big deal here," Hotard said. "It's just a guy who forgot his box cutter."
The terrorists who hijacked airplanes Sept. 11 apparently used box cutters and other small blades in their carry-on baggage to take control of the jets.
Students create remembrance wall
Students from local elementary and middle public and private schools have created a display of art to help remember the victims of the tragedy Sept. 11.
The art was placed on display on a "Wall of Remembrance and Hope" at the newly dedicated Smith-Beretania Park on Saturday.
Students were joined by Mayor Jeremy Harris, City Council Chairman Jon Yoshimura and community members in unveiling the display.
LEEWARD
Rotary club meeting on tap
Michael Kosmin, project director for Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club, will speak at the Rotary Club of Kapolei meeting at 7:30 a.m. Thursday in the Kapolei High School faculty/staff lounge.
Marriott Vacation Club International, a vacation ownership company, will be building 750 two-bedroom units at lagoon three on the 640-acre Ko Olina Resort, and Kosmin will discuss the details of the project and its impact on Kapolei.
The $7 fee includes a buffet breakfast. Call Van McCrea at 672-3924 or e-mail vanmccrea@aol.com.
CENTRAL
'Aiea-Pearl City plan on agenda
A workshop to discuss the 'Aiea-Pearl City Livable Communities Plan will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Pearl Ridge Elementary School cafeteria.
The Livable Communities Plan is intended to improve congested roadways and provide a more pedestrian/bicycle-friendly environment.
Ideas in the plan, sponsored by the 'Aiea-Pearl City Vision Group, include:
- Creation of town districts for 'Aiea and Pearl City.
- An urban trail.
- Mauka-makai road connections to the Pearl Harbor shoreline.
- Formulating landscape concepts for roadways.
