O'ahu briefs
Advertiser Staff
NORTH SHORE
Pedestrian hit in Hale'iwa
A pedestrian was flown to The Queen's Medical Center in critical condition last night after being hit by a vehicle on Kamehameha Highway near Hale'iwa Beach Park.
EMS personnel said the pedestrian was airlifted from the park after being hit at about 9:45 p.m.
Traffic investigators were on the scene.
No other details were available last night.
CENTRAL
Waikele crash victim identified
A 20-year-old Waipahu man who died Saturday after crashing a motorcycle on Lumiaina Street near his Leihaku Street home in Waikele was identified by the medical examiner's office as Christian Ignacio.
Police said Ignacio lost control of a 1995 Kawasaki he was test-driving at a curve on the roadway and slid into a parked sport utility vehicle at 5:54 p.m. He died at St. Francis Medical Center-West at 7:35 p.m.
WINDWARD
Homeless outreach today
The Windward Homeless Coalition will sponsor A Holistic Homeless Outreach Program at Kualoa Beach Park from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. today.
Mana'o lana Connection will distribute free hygiene and safety kits, clothes, food and other personal essentials to low-income and homeless families. It will also have a resource table at the site to provide supportive services such as legal assistance, housing information and health advice.
Castle Junction lanes to close
More work to stabilize a hillside at Castle Junction will cause delays this week. The right-turn lane from Kalaniana'ole Highway to Kamehameha Highway will be closed today and tomorrow from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. as contractors finish clearing trees from the area.
Motorists will still be able to turn at the intersection. That lane will also be closed from 6:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow and Thursday.
HONOLULU
Man stabbed at rec center
Police are investigating the stabbing of a 22-year-old man Sunday night at the Kalakaua Recreation Center in Kalihi.
The stabbing was reported about 9:30 p.m., but friends took the victim to the parking lot of an Iwilei retail complex before officers arrived at the rec center, police said. The victim then was taken to The Queen's Medical Center with a critical stab wound to his stomach, police said. The hospital reported the stabbing to police at 11:30 p.m.
Investigators said the man was stabbed during a confrontation on the basketball court.
Premature birth topic of summit
Doctors troubled by Hawai'i's rising incidence of premature birth are set to gather at a summit in Honolulu today.
Hawai'i had 17,341 births in 1996, including 1,853, or 10.7 percent, that were premature, the National Center for Health Statistics said. Five years later, the number of births had dropped to 16,951, yet the number of preterm babies rose to 2,163, or 12.8 percent.
"We don't know why," said Connie Brunn, program services director for the March of Dimes in Hawaii, which is sponsoring the summit. "Because we don't know the cause, it's almost impossible to prevent."
