Hawai'i briefs

Advertiser Staff

NEIGHBOR ISLAND

Motorcyclist dies in crash

A Big Island man died yesterday after crashing his motorcycle Friday in the Keaukaha area of Hilo.

Police said Charles Aiona Jr., 52, of Keaukaha was riding a 1994 Honda Shadow southbound on Kalaniana'ole Street at about 3:30 p.m. Friday.

His motorcycle left the road and struck a traffic sign.

Aiona was flown to The Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, where he succumbed to his injuries.

WINDWARD

Castle Medical quits education

Castle Medical Center will not renew its contract for an alternative education program it operates in Waimanalo and will lay off the five employees there at the end of June.

The small alternative school for girls is based at the Waimanalo Teen Project on Hihimanu Street. Eight girls are enrolled in the program for young women who have failed in traditional schools, said Judith Correa, director for Behavioral Health Services at Castle hospital.

When Castle first took on the program five years ago it was with the state Department of Health and had a behavioral health component, Correa said.

After the state Department of Education took over the program, the behavioral health component was dropped and the program has became more educational, she said.

"The hospital is not really in the educational business," Correa said. "

CENTRAL

Students to play at Carnegie Hall

The Moanalua High School Symphony Orchestra will play at Carnegie Hall next March, the second time students from the school have graced the stage since 1998.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to highlight the outstanding talent we have in Hawai'i. It will be a chicken-skin moment the kids will never forget," said music director Elden Seta, a winner last year of a Milken national teaching award.

HONOLULU

No refunds for power failure

Hawaiian Electric Co. said it will not pay customer claims for losses related to power failures in mid-January on O'ahu because they were outside the company's control.

An investigation determined that the power outages were storm related and not within the company's control, HECO said in a statement Thursday.

A total of 70,000 HECO customers on O'ahu were without power at some point during the Jan. 14-15 storm. About 11,000 customers in Hawai'i Kai and Kuli'ou'ou were without power for 20 to 25 hours.

A total of 438 claims were filed for $727,000 in losses. The company said all claimants will get letters explaining the outages.