Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Veterans center planned in Hilo
HILO, Hawai'i — The state's Hawai'i Health Systems Corp. has received $18.4 million from the federal Department of Veterans Affairs for a new 95-bed, long-term-care home and adult daycare center on the grounds of Hilo Medical Center.
The Hilo veterans home will be the first facility in the state that will provide nursing home and domiciliary care to eligible veterans.
Gov. Linda Lingle approved a legislative appropriation for the state's $10 million share in August.
Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2005 and be completed in 2006.
"Veterans are special people, and it is their readiness to serve their country, often to the call of arms in faraway places, that makes them so special," said Thomas Driskill Jr., president and chief executive officer for the Hawai'i Health Systems Corp.
Information on beating sought
HILO, Hawai'i — Police are asking the public for information about a Nov. 24 beating in Puna that left a 61-year-old Big Island man in critical condition.
Police found James Oliva of Mountain View on Road 6 in the Hawaiian Acres Subdivision with numerous injuries to his head and body and remnants of nylon twine tied around his wrists and legs.
Oliva was taken to Hilo Medical Center and then flown to The Queen's Medical Center. He was later transferred to the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific in Honolulu, where he is reported in stable condition.
Anyone with information about the assault should call Detective Richard Sherlock of the East Hawai'i Criminal Investigation Section at (808) 961-2379, the police nonemergency number at (808) 935-3311 or Crime Stoppers in Hilo at (808) 961-8300 or (808) 329-8181 in Kona.
WINDWARD OA'HU
Hina Mauka has plans to expand
Hina Mauka, a substance-abuse treatment center, is planning to expand its facility in Kane'ohe. The crystal methamphetamine epidemic has pushed the use of the facility to capacity, said M.P. "Andy" Anderson, CEO of the center. The addition of 2,400 square feet of space will be for counseling offices and administration space, Anderson told the Kane'ohe Neighborhood Board last week.
The organization will apply for a Community Development Block Grant to finance the expansion, which could take several years to plan and build, he said. The center occupies a 24,000-square-foot building near the State Hospital and Windward Community College.
Lane closures set in Kane'ohe
There will be lane closures in both directions today and tomorrow along Kane'ohe Bay Drive between Pu'ohala Street and Kawa Bridge for the construction of curbs on the median, paving and electrical work.
The closures will occur between 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., according to the state Department of Transportation.
