Neighbor Island briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
MAUI
Aloha flight loses cabin pressure
WAILUKU, Maui — An Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 with 107 passengers aboard landed safely last night after losing cabin pressure on a flight from Honolulu to Maui, officials said.
The depressurization caused the pilot of Flight 66 to declare an emergency and descend from 15,000 feet to 5,000 feet during the 12-minute flight from Honolulu International Airport to Kahului Airport, airline spokesman Stu Glauberman said.
Glauberman said he didn't know what caused the cabin to depressurize.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate, said Diana Joubert, an FAA operations officer in Los Angeles.
About 20 passengers sought treatment at Maui Memorial Hospital, most complaining of ear aches, said a hospital official. State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Marilyn Kali initially reported that six of 38 passengers who complained of being affected by the depressurization had been transported to the hospital by ambulance.
The 32 others told officials they would seek medical treatment on their own, she said.
Supplies low at Maui Food Bank
KAHULUI, Maui — The supply of food in the Maui Food Bank's warehouse is critically low as the organization prepares for its spring collection drive.
Usually the Food Bank's warehouse would be stocked with 80,000 to 100,000 pounds of food, about a month's supply, said Executive Director Debra Johnson.
Right now, "We would be lucky to have 40,000 to 50,000 pounds, if that," she said.
The shortage comes despite a one-time $180,000 state appropriation allocated specifically for families affected by layoffs occurring after Sept. 11. But Johnson said that money cannot be used for other Food Bank clients.
BIG ISLAND
Motorcycle rider dies after crash
LAUPAHOEHOE, Hawai'i — A Big Island motorcycle rider died Saturday when he struck a guard rail at Laupahoehoe Gulch on the Hawai'i Belt Road.
Police identified him as Randolph David Shin Sr. of Kaiwiki Road in Hilo. He was pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m. at Hilo Medical Center after the 3:30 p.m. crash.
Police said he was not wearing a helmet. Shin, 50, who was heading toward Hilo at the time of the crash, was part of a group of motorcyclists belonging to the Big Island Riders. An autopsy is scheduled today.
Hilo to hear school officials
University of Hawai'i president Evan Dobelle and Kamehameha Schools chief executive Hamilton McCubbin will speak Wednesday on school expansion plans and their impact on the Big Island at the University of Hawai'i-Hilo Theater from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Kamehameha Schools opened the first phase of its permanent Big Island campus in Kea'au in August. The campus will educate about 1,200 students when completed in 2005.
UH-Hilo has proposed expanding enrollment by more than 2,000, to 5,000 students, by 2007.
KAUA'I
Project begins on Kaua'i
Sandwich Isles Communications broke ground Friday, on its telecommunications network linking Hawaiian Home Lands on the major islands.
Construction began on Kaua'i, the first phase of the $400 million project, with installation of fiber optic cable for an estimated $10 million.
The cable will link Home Lands projects in Anahola and Kekaha.
Facilities have been built on O'ahu, Moloka'i, Maui and Hawai'i, and work will begin this year on cable links to those communities.
