HAWAI'I BRIEFS
9 in Air Guard Iraq-bound
Advertiser Staff
Nine Hawai'i Air National Guardsmen with the 297th Air Traffic Control Squadron will deploy next week to Iraq to provide air traffic control for U.S. military aircraft.
The Guardsmen will be operating at an undisclosed air base. The 297th was mobilized last year and deployed to an undisclosed location in Iraq.
The nine, based at Kalaeloa, volunteered for this rotation, which is expected to last four months.
NORTH SHORE
Body is that of Honolulu woman
The decomposed body found Saturday on a Waialua farm has been identified by the medical examiner as Jamie M. Pablico-Davis, 20, of Honolulu.
An autopsy was done Monday but the cause of death was not stated. Her body was found by workers at the University of Hawai'i Experimental Farm at 58-160 Kamehameha Highway.
MOLOKA'I
Work to improve airport access
Gov. Linda Lingle has released $225,600 for construction projects at Moloka'i Airport aimed at assisting people with disabilities.
The improvements, scheduled for completion by June 2005, will provide accessible parking, curb ramps, ticketing counters, handrails, restrooms and removal of architectural barriers in keeping with a 1997 consent decree to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Construction companies are scheduled to start bidding on the projects in early 2005.
HONOLULU
Council delays action on bill
The City Council yesterday declined Mayor Jeremy Harris' request to immediately approve a bill that would make it harder to open up agricultural land for new development.
Most council members said they believed it was important to protect farmland and open space, but that there was no pressing reason to act on the bill before Harris leaves office next month.
The measure was opposed by some of the island's biggest landowners, including Castle and Cooke, which said a better way to promote agriculture would be to provide incentives for farming.
Harris had proposed the bill two years ago, but it remained stalled in the council's Zoning Committee. He pulled the measure out for a final attempt, and called a rare special session of the council yesterday.
The council voted 6 to 3 to send the measure back to committee.
Mayor releases details of trips
Mayor Jeremy Harris has been away from Honolulu during nearly one-third of his last year in office, making 27 trips that cost taxpayers nearly $23,000, according to a breakdown his office released yesterday.
Most of the trips were for speaking engagements showcasing Honolulu's efforts to promote sustainable development and tourism. Sponsoring organizations paid for all or part of some trips, which included 12 visits to foreign countries.
Harris had previously disclosed details of some trips to The Advertiser, but had stonewalled repeated requests by Councilman Charles Djou for additional information. Harris had dismissed Djou's requests as political posturing.
But Harris' staff released a breakdown early yesterday, hours before the City Council was scheduled to vote on a request by Djou for an audit of the trips and expenditures.
The council approved the nonbinding request by a 5-4 vote, but it's unlikely that much will come of it. City Auditor Leslie Tanaka said he was busy with other reviews,but would keep the mayor's trips in mind.
