O'ahu briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
EAST HONOLULU
Hawai'i Kai home damaged
Fire broke out in a vacant Hawai'i Kai house at 10:30 a.m. yesterday and swept through a bedroom and sent smoke pouring through the roof before firefighters contained the blaze.
Neighbors who first noticed smoke coming from the white, one-story building at 7079 Niumalu Loop tried to fight the fire with garden hoses before fire crews arrived. Extent of damage and cause of the fire were under investigation yesterday.
NORTH SHORE
Grant sessions slated Feb. 16
The North Shore Proposal and Grant Workshop will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Proud Peacock at Waimea Falls Park.
The workshop, which is being sponsored by Empower North Shore O'ahu, is designed for staff and volunteers of nonprofit agencies.
Registration is $40, and includes refreshments and lunch. The registration deadline is Feb. 8. Call 529-0453.
WINDWARD
Early education meeting set
The Ho'ala Na Pua early education program will hold a two-hour orientation at the Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center in Punalu'u on Thursday from 9 to 11 a.m.
The Hawaiian cultural based program, which operates under the corporation of Na Kamalei-K.E.E.P., is for children ages 2 and 3 and their families. The program operates at two sites in Punalu'u and Kahuku.
Involved families need to pre-register. The fee for each 'ohana is $25. Call 293-8577.
HONOLULU
HECO outages to hit Pauoa
Customers in parts of lower Pauoa Valley will be without power from 9 a.m. to noon today while Hawaiian Electric Company crews upgrade equipment.
The outages will be experienced by customers on Pauoa Road between Kaneali'i and Namilimili streets as well as on Liko Lane, Puna Lane and Akaka Lane.
Fred Kobashikawa, HECO spokesman, said in a prepared statement that the utility company apologizes in advance for any inconvenience caused by the work.
Police group picks Pacific chairman
Honolulu Police Chief Lee Donohue has been appointed chairman of the Pacific World Regional Office of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
"Through his leadership, we hope to increase the association's presence and activities in that region of the world," said the association's president, William B. Berger, chief of police of North Miami Beach, Fla.
The association has eight world regional offices in Asia, Central America/Caribbean, Europe, Middle East/North Africa, North America, South America, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific.
These offices provide members in the region with an active voice in the association's activities and promote executive policing conferences, association programs, services and membership.
The association is the world's oldest and largest non-profit organizations of police executives.
Holocaust claims deadline nears
The deadline is nearing for holocaust survivors and their heirs to file insurance claims with the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims.
The commission was formed in 1998 by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in cooperation with several European insurance companies, regulators, representatives of Jewish organizations and the nation of Israel. The commission is responsible for establishing a process that will address the issue of unpaid insurance policies issued to victims of the holocaust.
People who believe they are entitled to benefits from a holocaust-era insurance policy must submit their claim to the commission by Feb. 15. Claim forms are available by calling the commission at (800) 957-3203 or from the Web site icheic.org.
Cervical Cancer Awareness Month
January is National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month and health officials are encouraging women to get the annual test that can detect the disease.
Cervical cancer is nearly 100 percent curable when detected early. Women are encouraged to get a Pap test every year. Since 1997, the state Department of Health has offered free cervical cancer screening through contractors for low-income women. To be eligible, women should be between the ages of 50 to 64 and have no medical insurance or a lack of adequate insurance.
Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2001 nearly 13,000 cases were detected in the United States and about 4,400 women will have died from the disease.
As many as 80 percent of American women newly diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer had not had a Pap test in the past five years, the group says.
For more information on cervical cancer or for the name of the nearest health care providing offering no-cost screenings, call the department's Hawai'i Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program at 692-7460.
