Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff
Fund to help boy attacked by shark
First Hawaiian Bank has opened an account to assist the 17-year-old Kaua'i boy who was attacked Monday by a shark off Brennecke Beach.
Hokuanu Aki remained in fair condition yesterday at The Queen's Medical Center.
Those wishing to contribute to the fund can drop a check made out to "Friends of Hokuanu Aki" at any branch of First Hawaiian Bank.
Candidate to run in Big Isle district
VOLCANO, Hawai'i — Former lawmaker Bob Herkes announced yesterday that he will run for office as a Democrat in the new 5th District House seat created by reapportionment.
Herkes was elected to the Hawai'i County Council in 1984, appointed to fill a vacancy in the state Senate in 1987 and elected to the state House in 1992.
The new district includes the largely rural South Kona to Puna area on the south part of the Big Island.
If elected, Herkes said he'll push for developing new water sources, improved telephone and Internet service, better education, parks and highways and an improved economic climate to generate more jobs.
Woman reports sexual assault
HILO, Hawai'i — A 19-year-old woman told police she was sexually assaulted Thursday at a beach park in Keaukaha.
The woman said she accepted a ride from an unidentified man at Leleiwi Beach Park at about 10 a.m. The man drove her to the park in Keaukaha, where she was sexually assaulted.
She described her assailant as Caucasian about 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing 190 to 200 pounds. He drove an older model four-door sedan.
Anyone with information should call detective Grace Castillo at (808) 961-2278 or the police non-emergency number at (808) 935-3311.
Hawai'i receives grants for beaches
The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Hawai'i $325,150 in grants this year to protect public health at the state's beaches, U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink said.
The money is to be used to improve monitoring of water quality at beaches and notifying the public of beach warnings and closings.
"With this grant money, the federal government has signaled its commitment to provide Hawai'i's local health agencies assistance they need to better monitor the quality of water at our beaches and to notify the public when there may be a problem," said Mink, a Hawai'i Democrat.
For additional information, including where local health agencies can apply for grants, go to the EPA's Web site at www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches.
