Neighbor Island briefs
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BIG ISLAND
Hilo civic leader now a 'legend'
Retired Hilo educator and community figure Donna Saiki was honored last week as a "living legend" for her work, among other things, in helping the Pacific Tsunami Museum to become a major visitor attraction.
The honor was bestowed by the Cultural and Arts Section of the Hawai'i County parks department.
Saiki, a farm girl from Wisconsin, came to the Big Island in 1960 on the first leg of a trip around the world. She didn't leave, marrying a local boy from Keaukaha and teaching at Keaukaha Elementary School, where she was promoted to principal. She also served in the top post at Waiakea Intermediate School and Hilo High School.
In 1991, she was awarded a $25,000 prize from the Milken Foundation, which recognizes outstanding educators.
After retiring in 1996, Saiki served as executive director of the Pacific Tsunami Museum without compensation. Longtime museum board chairman Jim Wilson said that without Saiki, "there would be no museum."
Saiki also is involved at St. Joseph Catholic Church, and was honored for her work with the Head Start program for low-income preschoolers; for helping lead a revival of the Hawaiian language at Keaukaha with the late Edith Kanaka'ole; for aiding Keaukaha Pop Warner football teams; and for leading a successful Hawai'i Island United Way campaign.
Pahala to get new water well
Rather than follow a state Health Department edict to install a costly filtration and disinfection system at its Alili Tunnel Spring, Hawai'i County is going to abandon the water source and drill a new deep well.
The Department of Water Supply outlined its plans in a special violation notice it issued last week to comply with federal Environmental Protection Agency requirements.
County water engineer Keith Okamoto said he doubted the county will be fined since it will launch the alternative well project later this year. The 500,000-gallon-a-day well is expected to be ready in 2004 for the 1,300 residents of the former plantation village of Pahala on the slopes of Mauna Loa.
The cost for the new well is estimated at $1 million.
Okamoto said that in the meantime, the tunnel water is being treated with chlorine and is safe for drinking.
"The general public does not need to seek an alternative source," he said.
Kailua, Kona man dies while driving
A Big Island man died in his car Friday evening while driving on Kamehameha III road near Ali'i Drive in Keauhou, Kona. The 67-year old Kailua, Kona man stopped the car about 9:25 p.m. and slumped over the wheel, a passenger in the man's 1995 Ford sedan told police.
Fire Department paramedics took him to Kona Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:08 p.m. An autopsy will be performed.
Police have listed the accident as the 15th traffic fatality of the year.
MAUI
Star Market robbed in Kihei
Maui police are investigating an early morning armed robbery at a Star Market in Kihei.
The robber was a Caucasian man with facial hair wearing a Mexican print poncho with a hood, police said.
He pointed a handgun at a cashier and demanded money. Witnesses said the gun looked like a semi-automatic.
The cashier handed over money, and the robber fled.
