Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff
WINDWARD
Lane closure in Kailua town
A construction project to place wires underground in downtown Kailua will close one lane of Kailua Road for about two months.
Verizon Hawai'i will be removing aerial cables and placing them below ground from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday beginning tomorrow.
The beautification project requires the closure of the Lanikai-bound lane from Aoloa Street to the intersection of Kailua Road, Ku'ulei Road and Oneawa Street.
HONOLULU
Fireworks sent 76 to doctors
Seventy-two people were treated at emergency departments of hospitals and health centers in Hawai'i for fireworks-related injuries suffered during this past New Year's celebrations, according to the state Department of Health's Injury Prevention and Control Program.
Four other people were treated for fireworks-related smoke inhalation, according to the report issued Friday.
Sixty-nine percent of the injuries were on O'ahu, 17 percent in Maui County, 10 percent on the Big Island and 4 percent on Kaua'i.
Injuries were caused by a variety of fireworks, but the most often cited were "flowers" and sparklers.
Most of the injuries — or 89 percent — were burns, and 55 of the cases involved injuries to the hands and fingers.
Seventy-one percent of the victims were males.
CrimeStoppers asks for help
Honolulu police are asking for the public's help in finding a 30-year-old man wanted on an outstanding warrant and for questioning in a recent domestic violence and robbery case.
Tagatac
Allen Kaleo Tagatac is wanted on a parole revocation warrant and should be considered armed and dangerous. He frequents Kalihi, Pearl City and Waikiki, police said.
Tagatac is 6 feet 1, 195 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes and a mustache. Police said he carries a black fannypack and was last seen in a black, two-door Subaru.
Anyone with information about Tagatac should call 911 or CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellular phone.
Engineer seeks delay in trial
A Honolulu engineer accused of making illegal campaign donations to Mayor Jeremy Harris is seeking a delay of his trial.
Trial is scheduled to begin tomorrow for Kenneth Sakai, a vice president with engineering firm R.M. Towill Corp. He said his attorney, Reginald Minn, has suffered a back injury and is forced to work on a reduced schedule.
Circuit Judge Steven Alm will hold a hearing on the request tomorrow.
Sakai and several other Towill executives have been indicted on charges of making political donations under false names to the Harris campaign.
OTHER BRIEFS
Boy hospitalized for dog bite
A 9-year-old boy was hospitalized in guarded condition at The Queen's Medical Center yesterday after being bitten by a dog. Police said the boy was bitten by a pit bull at about 2:15 p.m. yesterday near 85-148 Ala Walua St.
'Island Insights' targets education
PBS Hawai'i (KHET-11) will focus on education issues in the 7:30 p.m. broadcast tomorrow of "Island Insights."
Joining commentator Dan Boylan will be state Sen. Norman Sakamoto, chairman of the Senate Education Committee; Rep. Roy Takumi, House Education Committee chairman; Stan Kawaguchi, chairman of Gov. Linda Lingle's advisory committee Citizens Achieving Reform in Education; and Laura H. Thielen, a Board of Education member who also serves on the CARE committee.
Maui tourist hurt in scuba accident
A 54-year-old woman was hospitalized yesterday on Maui after a scuba diving accident off Molokini Island. Firefighters said the woman, a tourist, was brought in to the Kihei boat ramp by a charter boat at about 9 a.m. She was taken by ambulance to Maui Memorial Medical Center.
