Posted on: Monday, October 18, 2004
HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Coast Guard suspends search
Advertiser Staff
The Coast Guard yesterday suspended the search for a 52-foot sailboat from Maui that was due to arrive in Honolulu at noon Saturday while officials try to determine the validity of the initial report, a spokeswoman said.
Friends of the missing boaters, who were not identified, called the Coast Guard at 5 p.m. Saturday, reporting that they hadn't heard from the boaters, said Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Marsha Delaney on Saturday.
Delaney yesterday said the Coast Guard had received one call about the missing boat, and officials were working to gather more information about the boat and its four occupants to see if it reached O'ahu or if it even left Maui in the first place, she said.
The boaters reportedly left Maui at 8 a.m. Thursday and were due in Honolulu at noon Saturday, she said. Anyone with information on the boat is asked to call the Coast Guard at 541-2450.
Police yesterday were searching for two suspects involved in the stabbing death of a 21-year-old man.
Andrew Nakoa Jr. was stabbed in the chest late Friday during a fight fronting a Kalihi liquor store on North King Street, police and family members said.
Two suspects were still at large as of yesterday afternoon.
Family members yesterday gathered in front of Fuji's Market, where a makeshift memorial was created.
"I'm mad at what happened to my son," Andrew Nakoa Sr. said. "To me it wasn't fair that his life was cut short because of this."
Two people described by police as elderly were critically injured when a car hit them near the Kapolei Golf Course last night.
The accident was reported at 7 p.m. at Papaiaulu Avenue and Farrington Highway, fire officials said. Police traffic investigators and firefighters responded to the accident.
Drivers high on crystal methamphetamine have caused eight traffic deaths on the Big Island this year, matching the number of fatalities involving motorists under the influence of alcohol, according to police statistics.
The eight ice-related auto fatalities so far this year represents a quarter of the 33 total fatalities on the island and doubles the number for all of 2003, police said.
The Hawai'i County Police Department, which only recently started to use computers to track drug use as a cause of traffic deaths, said it's not surprising that traffic accidents involving ice are soaring.
The Hawai'i County Police Department on Friday dedicated a new kennel for its four narcotic-detection dogs. The kennel is on the grounds of the Public Safety Building in Hilo.
Contractor James Ishii provided materials and manpower to build the concrete-block shelter and chain-link fencing. Additional money was provided by the state's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Agency.
Capt. Samuel Thomas, head of the East Hawai'i Criminal Investigation Division, said the facility will allow canine handlers to house the dogs at the police station while they are on-duty, making the animals more readily accessible.
A second kennel for the narcotic-detection dogs is on the grounds of the Kona Police Station in Kealakehe. The two kennels will give the department's four Labrador retrievers — Li'i, Nalu, Kalei and Pono — a place to stay in both Hilo and Kona while their handlers are at work.
Thomas said the dogs have led to the recovery of more than 24 pounds of crystal methamphetamine this year.
Fire destroyed a four-bedroom house near the Kona Coffee Museum about 4 a.m. yesterday, Big Island fire officials said. No one was home at the time.
Fire companies arrived to find the one-story home fully engulfed in flames. The cause of the fire was under investigation. The loss was estimated at $230,000.
The James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge near Kahuku is open to the public for tours, said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The refuge is a primary site for Hawai'i's four endangered waterbirds: the Hawaiian stilt (ae'o), the Hawaiian Moorhen ('alae 'ula), the Hawaiian Coot ('alae ke 'oke 'o) and the Hawaiian Hawaiian Duck (koloa maoli).
The James Campbell refuge is one of more than 540 national wildlife refuges across the United States. They serve as havens for migratory birds and endangered plants and animals.
Tours are available from 4 to 5:30 p.m. every Thursday; 9 to 10:30 a.m. the first two Saturdays of each month and from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on the remaining Saturday afternoons of each month.
Tours began Saturday and will be suspended Feb. 12 during the stilt nesting season.
For reservations or information, call 637-6330, e-mail Pam_Gibson@fws.gov or write to O'ahu National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 66-590 Kamehameha Highway, No. 2C, Hale'iwa, HI 96712.
Suspects sought in Kalihi death
Two people injured critically in crash
Ice blamed in 8 traffic deaths
Big Isle police dedicate kennel
Fire destroys home in Kona
Kahuku refuge offers tours
