Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff
NEIGHBOR ISLAND
Cane fire may be arson again
PA'IA, Maui — Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. was hit with another suspected arson cane fire yesterday, as 15 acres burned near Holomua Road at Hamakuapoko.
Hawai'i's largest sugar producer has been plagued by several suspiciously set fires this summer, including an Aug. 6 blaze that blackened 420 acres, jumped the three-lane Haleakala Highway and caused more than $1 million in losses.
Assistant Fire Chief Gordon Cordeiro said yesterday's fire broke out around 5 a.m. and was brought under control an hour later. Damage was estimated at $30,000.
HONOLULU
UH library gets rare collection
The University of Hawai'i-Manoa Hamilton Library received a rare gift to its Asian Collections recently: a limited-edition 22-volume set of the complete works of Kobo Daishi, founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, who lived between A.D. 774 and 835.
"Kobo Daishi Bokuseki Shushu," valued at about $43,000, was presented to UH librarian Diane Perusek by the Rev. Ryujo Fujita of the Kawasaki Daishi Temple, one of the largest Buddhist temples in Japan.
The set is a reproduction of the original handwritten works.
WINDWARD
Input sought on bridge project
The state Department of Transportation has completed a draft environmental assessment for a project to replace the aging North Kahana Bridge, and is accepting public comment.
The new concrete three-spanned bridge will be about 43 feet wide by 120 feet long and have two lanes. Construction will require a temporary bypass bridge makai of the old bridge.
An archaeological monitoring plan has been developed for the project, and impacts relate primarily to short-term construction noise and fugitive dust, according to The Environmental Notice, which list proposed projects.
Construction is expected to begin in mid-2004 and last about 18 months.
Comments should be addressed to the Department of Transportation, Attn.: Dean Takiguchi, 601 Kamokila Blvd., Room 611, Kapolei, HI 96707, with copies also sent to the state Office of Environmental Quality Control and consultant M & E Pacific Inc.
CENTRAL
Hawai'i bidder wins Army job
A Hawai'i company has won a $55 million contract to do renovation work at Schofield Barracks, according to a news release yesterday from U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie.
Nan Inc. of Honolulu will renovate four concrete buildings used for barracks, community activities, company operations, battalion headquarters and dining facilities, Abercrombie announced.
Project completion is expected by March 2006 as part of a multiyear renovation project throughout Schofield.
