Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff
LEEWARD O'AHU
Toddler drowns in Wai'anae
A 20-month-old boy apparently fell into a fishpond and drowned in Wai'anae yesterday afternoon, officials said.
Fire Department Capt. Kenison Tejada said the call to a Maipaloa Street address came in at 12:47 p.m. Firefighters and rescue personnel arrived within minutes and found a family member performing CPR on the child. Paramedics took over and brought the boy to a hospital where he died, Tejada said.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Suspicious fires hit Maui fields
WAILUKU, Maui — Maui fire crews battled two more suspicious cane fires late Sunday night, plus a suspicious brush fire, all of which occurred in the same area at about the same time, officials said yesterday.
The largest fire, reported at 10:35 p.m. and extinguished just after midnight, burned 5 acres of cane on Oma'opio Road near Kula. The other fires blackened less than an acre, officials said.
A series of suspicious fires has plagued Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. in recent months. The Maui Police Department has established a task force to investigate the fires, and the company has hired its own investigative firm.
Angler is lure for UHH event
HILO, Hawai'i — Big Island angler Mike Sakamoto, host of TV's "Fishing Tales," will headline a fund-raiser for the University of Hawai'i-Hilo's Edwin H. Mo'okini Library and Graphic Services.
The event will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 21 at the library. Sakamoto will sell and sign copies of his new book, "Hawai'i's Mike Sakamoto Presents 101 Fishing Tips." A percentage of each sale will go to the Library Foundation Account.
The event will be hosted by UH-Hilo Chancellor Rose Tseng and Hawai'i Community College interim Provost Shirley Daniel. There is no charge, but a $25 tax-deductible donation is suggested. Reservations are required. Call Myrtle Hara at (808) 974-7568 by Friday.
HONOLULU
Seat-belt drive ready to roll
Click It or Ticket, the seat belt enforcement campaign that has become a regular twice-a-year feature on the Hawai'i safety scene, is set for another round next week.
The campaign, in which police officers will enforce seat-belt use on all islands, will kick off Monday and last for two weeks, the state Transportation Department said.
In addition to issuing citations to unbuckled drivers and front-seat passengers, police will issue tickets if children under 4 are not properly restrained in child safety seats.
During the last Click It or Ticket campaign, police issued 3,598 citations for seat-belt violations and 60 citations for failure to use child safety seats.
Hawai'i ranked second nationally in seat-belt use during the May campaign with a 91.8 percent compliance rate. Nationally, the average is about 75 percent.
