Hawai'i briefs

Advertiser Staff and News Services

HONOLULU

American Trans aborts Hawai'i flight

Two electrical generators failed aboard a Hawai'i-bound jet with 373 people aboard early yesterday, forcing its pilot to dump its load of fuel over the Pacific Ocean and return to Los Angeles where the flight originated.

The American Trans Air L-1011 landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport at 9:45 a.m. There were no injuries on Flight 745.

Lisa Jacobson Brown, a spokeswoman for the Indianapolis-based airline said the plane lost its No. 1 and No. 3 generators within 30 minutes of takeoff. A third generator on the 28-year-old jet provided backup power.

Passengers were expected to continue to Honolulu on a replacement aircraft.

Ana Marie Hamlin was last seen March 29. Department of Human Services photo

The Department of Human Services is asking the public to keep an eye out for 14-year-old Ana Marie Hamlin, a student at Mililani High School who may have run away. Hamlin, who was last seen March 29, has red hair, fair skin and freckles. She is 5 feet 7 and weighs 137 pounds. Those with information are asked to call Human Services at 832-5300 or police officer Tamanaha at 529-3935.

Special paddle at Kuhio Beach

A group of Waikiki and Hawaiian beach boys are inviting the public to take part in a Memorial Day paddle off Kuhio Beach at 9 a.m. tomorrow in remembrance of loved ones.

The group will meet at the Duke Kahanamoku statue and paddle out into the ocean on surfboards and in outrigger canoes to place lei in the water in memory of 'ohana and friends who have died.

Kupuna and anyone unable to paddle will be able to go out on catamarans or watch from the shoreline as others paddle out.

A surfboard will be available to place the names of loved ones on heart stickers that will go out with the group.

A potluck meal and kanikapila will follow the event.

LEEWARD

Woman crashes car after argument

A woman was critically injured yesterday morning after she argued with her husband, then plowed into a rock wall with her 1987 Ford Escort.

Police said the woman and her husband argued near the Wai'anae Boat Harbor at about 8 a.m. The woman got into her car and put her foot down hard on the accelerator as she was driving toward the harbor access road and ran into a rock wall beneath the harbor sign.

Police said paramedics took the woman to The Queen's Medical Center in critical condition but that she was listed as guarded soon after her arrival. Yesterday evening her condition was again critical.

WINDWARD

Box jellyfish hit unlikely beaches

The box jellyfish have broken tradition and shown up in the wrong places at the wrong times.

The creatures regularly beach themselves on southern shores about 10 days after a full moon. Yesterday — the day before the moon became officially full — they invaded Kailua Beach.

Lifeguards said 30 people were stung and six of the little creatures were scooped up off the beach, said dispatcher Rod Alderton. They started appearing early in the day near the Kalama beach area and were being found near the Lanikai end of Kailua in the afternoon.

The jellyfish weren't expected until sometime after June 4, and they weren't expected at all on Windward beaches. Their usual stomping grounds for the past couple of decades have been Ala Moana, Waikiki and other southern beaches.

And the attack on Kailua wasn't the first off-schedule visit the near-transparent critters with the fiery sting, Alderton said. They invaded Waimea Bay on Tuesday.

HPU receives Castle grant

Hawai'i Pacific University has received a lead grant of $1 million from the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation to launch the university's planned sewer project link to the city and county system, which will triple capacity and allow new growth on the Windward campus.

"We're anticipating reaching $2.2 million in a very short period (less than two months)," HPU President Chatt Wright said. "The rest will be raised by the end of the year."

A total of $2.8 million is needed to complete a project which will entail tunneling under H-3 Freeway, but require approval from all military services. Wright expects permitting to take another 14 months before work can begin.

With the new sewer link-up in place, HPU will have the option of expanding on its 135-acre Windward campus or downtown, where it rents space in a number of buildings.

Waimanalo well to be converted

The Board of Water Supply wants to convert an exploratory well in Waimanalo into a production well to serve the community.

Waimanalo Well 3 would replace Waimanalo Well 1, which was taken out of service in 1995 because of contamination by alachlor, an agricultural chemical, according to the project's draft environmental assessment.

The estimated $2.5 million project would include an access road, pipeline connections, a control tank and a control building. The well is located six-tenths of a mile south-southeast of the former Meadow Gold Dairy.

Public comment on the project is being sought until June 22. For more information contact the Board of Water Supply at 527-5221.

EAST HONOLULU

Agenda set for board's meeting

The Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board will hear a report on how real property is valued by city staff, a Red Cross disaster preparedness report and information on refinancing the city's debt at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Haha'ione Elementary School cafeteria.

Meetings are broadcast on 'Olelo, Channel 54, at 9 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of every month.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Volcano park still battling brushfires

Firefighters at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park fought wildfires touched off by flowing lava for the eighth consecutive day yesterday.

About 50 firefighters, assisted by five helicopters, worked throughout the day to keep the fires under control, park officials said.

Park personnel also are working to plot the lava's expected flow down Kilauea Volcano.