Hawai'i briefs

Advertiser Staff and News Services

HONOLULU

Wastewater spills in Kalihi

City crews cleared a 10-inch sewer line clogged by grease and hand towels in Kalihi yesterday, but not before an estimated 1,040 gallons of sewage spilled in nearby Kalihi Stream.

Wastewater was backed up and overflowing from a manhole at 1260 Richard Lane when crews arrived at 10:14 a.m. yesterday. By 10:40 a.m. the spill was stopped, according to city officials.

Warning signs have been posted along affected areas of the stream and the water is being tested for contamination. The state Department of Health was notified.

Thursday is last walk-in vote day

Voters can cast absentee ballots at walk-in sites for the Jan. 4 special congressional election until 4 p.m. Thursday.

Forty-four people are running to fill the late Rep. Patsy Mink's seat in the 108th Congress. The 2nd Congressional District covers rural O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands.

Absentee walk-in voting sites:

• O'ahu: Honolulu Hale, second floor, Room 205.
• Kaua'i: Historic County Building in Lihu'e.
• Maui: Office of the County Clerk in Wailuku.
• Big Island: Hilo County Building or Keauhou Shopping Center in Kailua, Kona.

All locations will be closed on New Year's Day.

Eligible voters must bring a photo ID with them.

Absentee mail-in ballots have been sent to voters requesting them and must be received by the state Office of Elections by Saturday.

Man charged in Ala Wai killing

Police last night charged a 26-year-old man in connection with the fatal shooting of another man at Ala Wai Community Park Saturday.

Anibol Ortiz, who has no local permanent address, is charged with second-degree murder and being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

The victim, a 37-year-old man, died from a gunshot wound to the head Saturday. The city Medical Examiner's Office has not yet identified him.

Police said shots were fired about 1:30 a.m. Saturday after two men argued over "missing stuff" in the bleachers near the baseball field at Ala Wai Community Park.

Police arrested Ortiz at 8:35 a.m. Sunday at the 87-1600 block of Farrington Highway in Nanakuli.

McDonald's helps Guam fund

Starting tomorrow, all Hawai'i McDonald's Restaurants will accept monetary donations for the American Red Cross' Guam Typhoon Relief Fund through the month of January.

Customers can deposit donations in collection canisters at the front counters and drive-through windows. Typhoon Pongsona hit the island, which was declared a federal disaster area, on Dec. 8, leaving thousands homeless.

For more information on how to help, call the Hawai'i chapter of the American Red Cross at 734-2101.

Organic farmers eligible for aid

Hawai'i's organic farmers are getting up to $70,000 in federal money to help them obtain or retain certification, Gov. Linda Lingle announced yesterday.

The money stems from a cooperative agreement between the state and the federal Agriculture Department's Agricultural Marketing Service, Lingle said in a news release.

Certification ensures that only farmers who use qualified organic production and handling operations can use the USDA organic seal on fresh and processed products.

Under the expanded program, eligible farmers will be reimbursed $500 or 75 percent, whichever is less, of the cost of their initial or renewed organic certification.

The reimbursements are retroactive from Oct. 21, 2002, through Sept. 30, 2004.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Maui makes offer to buy parkland

WAILUKU, Maui — With only two days left in his administration, Maui Mayor James "Kimo" Apana yesterday announced that the county has made an offer to buy 3.5 acres of park land from Wailuku Agribusiness.

The deal, which must be approved by the County Council, covers two properties: the Waihe'e Ball Field and Waiehu Beach Park. The two properties already are maintained by the Parks Department under a 20-year lease that charges the county $1 a year.

The county offered $95,000 or the appraised price, whichever is lower.

Apana said the county also wants to purchase the Waikapu Ball Field from Wailuku Agribusiness.

Man seeking drugs says he was robbed

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — A California man told police he was robbed Sunday night after leaving a beach party to buy marijuana.

The 18-year-old victim told police he got into a car with people he met at a bonfire in the Shipwreck Beach area, to go buy marijuana. A woman driver and two men took him to remote Maha'ulepu, where he was robbed of $50 and left to make his way on foot. He was not injured.