Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff
City settles lawsuit filed by 'Aiea family
The city plans to pay $350,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of an 'Aiea woman who was killed by a city rubbish truck in 2001.
Vivian Kikue Shimizu, 84, died when the truck ran over her while backing up on 'Ie'ie Place, near Mikalemi Street.
The lawsuit charged that the driver, who was working alone,
improperly reversed the truck while his view was obstructed, rather than turning the vehicle around.
The suit also alleged that the driver failed to use warning lights and a beeping signal while backing up.
Shimizu suffered massive head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The settlement calls for the city to pay $100,000 this year and the remaining $250,000 over the next five years.
Ex-Hilo man killed in Vegas hit-run
Prosecutors in Las Vegas said they may seek a murder charge against a man who allegedly ran over and killed a former Hawai'i man Tuesday.
Chris Holt, 44, a Hilo High School graduate and a cousin of former Hawai'i Sen. Milton Holt, was riding a bicycle in his residential neighborhood when he was hit by a truck.
Holt's 8-year-old son Chance was hurt, but is recovering.
Clark County Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said Holt was carried for about a mile on the mangled hood of suspect Michael Krivak's pickup truck.
Witnesses reported that Krivak stopped, pulled Holt from the hood, and ran over him as he drove away.
Grand opening set for Wai'anae cafe
The Aloha 'Aina Cafe, a new eatery and gathering place featuring natural and organic foods grown in Wai'anae, will celebrate its grand opening from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m today at 85-773 Farrington Highway.
The open-air, home-style cafe is part of a community development initiative sponsored by the nonprofit Wai'anae Community Re-Development Corporation. The organization operates Mala 'Ai 'Opio, a 5-acre, student-operated organic farm in Wai'anae that grows much of the food on the cafe's menu.
All proceeds from the cafe, which serves breakfast and lunch from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily except Sundays, are used to support Mala 'Ai 'Opio.
For information, call 697-8808.
Seven Schofield soldiers to deploy
Seven additional soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division (Light) are deploying this weekend to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"I'm proud to know these fine soldiers," said division commander Maj. Gen. Eric T. Olson. "They have volunteered for this deployment and are prepared."
The deploying soldiers include a cavalry scout and six truck drivers.
More than 150 Schofield Barracks soldiers are deployed to Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq with expertise in armor, artillery, aviation, combat engineering, infantry, intelligence and logistics.
Sewage-line clog causes overflow
Officials are testing water samples from Nu'uanu Stream after an overflow of raw sewage got into the stream Thursday.
An eight-inch sewage line clogged with roots caused the wastewater to overflow from a manhole at 2485 Pacific Heights Road at 11:40 p.m. Thursday and spill into a storm drain that discharges into Nu'uanu Stream.
An estimated 1,200 gallons of raw sewage spilled into the storm drain. Workers cleaned and disinfected the area and posted warning signs along the stream.
The spill was stopped at 1:55 a.m. yesterday after city Department of Environmental Services crews cleared the roots from the line.
The state Department of Health was notified of the incident.
