Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
HONOLULU
Woman critical in hit-and-run
A 62-year-old woman was in critical condition yesterday at The Queen's Medical Center after being struck by a hit-and-run driver Saturday.
Police were looking for the motorist who left the scene after hitting the woman just before 11:30 p.m. as she was standing in the roadway on Nimitz Highway fronting the Disabled American Veterans center driveway.
Cargo ship rescues yacht
A 30-foot yacht stranded in the Pacific Ocean for four days was rescued by a Honolulu-based cargo ship.
Matson's Lureline, en route to Los Angeles, came to the rescue of the Alakazam about 800 miles east of Hawai'i on Friday. The yacht was competing in the West Marine Pacific Cup race from San Francisco to Kane'ohe and was expected to reach O'ahu July 22.
The Kane'ohe Yacht Club contacted Matson after it lost contact with the Alakazam.
The Alakazam became crippled in high seas after losing radio power and when its rudder broke. The crew was also without food and water. The Lureline supplied the yacht with food, water, a radio and a new rudder.
CENTRAL
Motorcyclist in critical condition
A 23-year-old man remained in critical condition at The Queen's Medical Center following the crash of his motorcycle early Saturday in Mililani.
The man was heading northeast on Kuahelani Avenue when he veered and hit the curb just west of Kipapa Drive, police said. He suffered severe head and chest injuries.
Hickam crew back from Guam
Hickam Air Force Base's 15th Air Base Wing is welcoming back a crew of 20 engineers who deployed to Anderson Air Force Base on Guam to rebuild in the aftermath of Typhoon Chata'an.
Col. Al Riggles, 15th Air Base Wing commander, will hold a reception for the team at the Civil Engineering Squadron today at noon.
The 15th Civil Engineer Squadron team spent two weeks on Guam and returned Friday and Saturday. The typhoon hit Guam July 5.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
The Coast Guard searched last night for a man who called Big Island firefighters and told them he was in a red kayak 10 miles off Mahukona Harbor and taking on water.
Firefighters said reception of the call, which the man made from his cell phone at 12:45 p.m., was bad, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Lauren Smith.
Smith said a Department of Land and Natural Resources boat, along with a Coast Guard airplane and helicopter, searched yesterday afternoon.
As darkness fell, the man contacted authorities again and told them he had seen the airplane searching the ocean near him. The airplane's crew, equipped with night vision goggles, continued the search late last night.
