Hawai'i briefs

Advertiser Staff

LEEWARD

Caution advised in Poka'i Bay

The state will begin removing the Poka'i Bay loading dock in Wai'anae tomorrow.

The deteriorated loading dock has not been used by recreational boats since 1982, when boating activity was moved to the Wai'anae Small Boat Harbor.

Recreational vessels still will be able to anchor in the bay, but the public should exercise caution in the area until the dock is removed, which is expected to take a month.

Department of Land and Natural Resources Chairman Peter Young said that when the bay is clear of structures, water quality should improve from increased circulation and natural ocean currents.

For more information, call the Wai'anae Small Boat Harbor office at 697-7095.

HONOLULU

More fines in campaign probe

A state judge has fined four people with ties to local engineering firms for illegal contributions to the campaign of Mayor Jeremy Harris.

District Judge Faye Koya-nagi fined Lori Okamoto $2,000 for making $56,000 in excessive political contributions to the Harris campaign and for laundering those donations under false names.

Okamoto is married to Gary Okamoto, who heads the local engineering firm Wilson Okamoto & Associates Inc., which has received more than $17 million in nonbid contracts from the city in the past decade.

The state Campaign Spending Commission fined Gary Okamoto $44,500 last October for funneling more than $65,000 to Harris, former Gov. Ben Cayetano and former Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono.

Also fined were retired engineers Wallace Endo, Harold Yoshizaki and Stanley Shimabukuro, who will pay $1,000 each for making $21,000 in over-the-limit contributions to the Harris campaign.

The three are co-founders of Shimabukuro Endo & Yoshizaki Inc., which was fined $32,000 last year for excessive and false-name contributions to the campaigns of Harris, Cayetano and ex-Maui Mayor James "Kimo" Apana.

The state Campaign Spending Commission has levied more than $1 million in fines against local companies and individuals for making illegal campaign contributions to Harris and other candidates.

Harris has denied any link between political contributions and the award of nonbid city contracts.

BIG ISLAND

Failed well cuts north-side water

A failed county well in Laupahoehoe has prompted Big Island Department of Water Supply officials to ask customers in the area to cut back on consumption.

The water system can meet the area's basic needs, but agricultural users in Kapehu Camp, Papa'aloa, Laupahoehoe and Waipunalei are being asked to water crops only at night, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Residential and business customers in those communities are being asked to reduce their daily water consumption by 25 percent until repairs can be made.