Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
O'AHU'S NORTH SHORE
Bicyclist struck by van dies
A bicyclist struck by a van Sunday night on the North Shore died at Kahuku Hospital. The collision on Kamehameha Highway at Ke Waena Road near Sunset Beach was reported to police at 10:47 p.m. The victim, an 18-year-old man from Australia, was pronounced dead at 11:27 p.m.
Investigators said the bicyclist was attempting to cross Kamehameha Highway and was not in a crosswalk when struck by the van.
It was O'ahu's fourth traffic death of the year. There were five by Jan. 12 last year.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Traffic diverted on 'Oma'o Road
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Traffic on 'Oma'o Road is being diverted along a temporary bypass road during the year-long replacement of the 'Oma'o Road bridge.
The bypass road is near the main thoroughfare. The work, which is to start this week, is expected to continue through Jan. 5, 2005.
Cheerleader dies in hotel fall
KA'ANAPALI, Maui — An 18-year-old cheerleader who was visiting Maui for Saturday's Hula Bowl all-star college football game died in a fall from the ninth floor of the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort.
Police said there appears to be no foul play involved, although the death is still under investigation.
"It's very sad," said acting Lt. Tivoli Faaumu of the Maui Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division. "We really don't know what happened at this point."
Faaumu said police were still trying to notify her relatives, and an autopsy has been scheduled.
A hotel guest found the body yesterday morning below the Hyatt's Lahaina Tower and police were summoned at 7:46 a.m.
The teenager was a member of the National Cheerleaders Association, which is scheduled to perform at the Hula Bowl at War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku.
Search for girl proves futile
PA'UWELA, Maui — Rescue crews last night were expected to end the search for a 15-year-old girl who was reported missing at the Pa'uwela lighthouse over the weekend.
Friends who were with the girl at the lighthouse on Maui's rugged northeast coast said she went to get a cigarette at 11:30 p.m. Saturday and never returned, according to police.
On the likelihood she may have fallen off the cliffs near the lighthouse, helicopter, personal watercraft, dive and ground searches focused on the ocean and the shoreline. The initial search began at around 12:40 a.m. Sunday.
Rescue efforts have included Department of Fire Control rescue crew members repelling down the 200-foot sea cliffs around the lighthouse.
Winds and high surf have hampered efforts, but Assistant Fire Chief Alan Cordeiro said visibility was good yesterday. He would not release her name.
Cordeiro said it was unlikely the search would continue today.
