Posted on: Thursday, April 14, 2005
HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Son is suspect in Kalihi stabbing
Advertiser Staff
A 66-year-old woman was in critical condition after she was stabbed three times last night in Kalihi.
Police said the woman was in her Ahonui Street residence at Kuhio Park Terrace when a man barged in at about 7:15 p.m. The man, identified by police as the woman's son, grabbed the woman and stabbed her three times in the chest and fled.
An all-points bulletin was issued on the suspect, who was spotted at North King and Middle streets a short while later and arrested. He was being held last night in the police cellblock and faced one count of second-degree attempted murder.
The woman was taken to The Queen's Medical Center, where she was in surgery late last night.
The state is looking for volunteers to help with forest maintenance in Makiki Valley on Earth Day, April 23.
Volunteers are needed to work from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to water and plant native Hawaiian plants, weed and clear brush, paint bridges and lay gravel in a 2-acre forest area in Makiki Valley.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has been working with the Hawai'i Nature Center on the project called the Makiki Watershed Awareness Initiative, also known as Makiki Wai.
The objective is to restore a native Hawaiian forest in the valley and to use this restored segment as an educational tool to teach about the watershed and 'ahupua'a.
The state will provide water, gloves and tools. Volunteers should wear long pants and long-sleeve shirts, good traction shoes or boots and insect repellent. They should also bring a bag lunch.
Regular workdays are scheduled every fourth Saturday of the month.
Interested volunteers should meet at the Makiki DLNR base yard at 9 a.m.
For base yard directions or more information, call 973-9782.
Two World War I-era munitions that contain chemicals used as choking agents were recently discovered in a remote area of Schofield Barracks.
The rounds were found during the cleaning of unexploded ordnance, the Army said. Both may contain phosgene, an industrial chemical used to make pesticides and plastics, and used in chemical warfare during World War I, the Army said.
The first was a 4-inch mortar round that Army officials said is fused and not considered safe to move. The Army plans to dispose of the round at the site tomorrow.
The other munition is a 156 mm artillery projectile, the Army said. It was removed from the area and taken to an ammunition storage bunker.
The Army said it is considering its options on how to dispose of the projectile.
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — The county hopes to expand the hours of the county's summer program for kids this year to make it more convenient for working parents, and to provide hot lunches most days at each of the 10 program sites.
The changes are dependent on budget approval by the County Council.
The price to parents — $90 per child for the June 13 to July 22 program — would not change. Hours would be expanded from the old 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. schedule, to 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Registration for the County Summer Enrichment Program is scheduled for 8 a.m. to noon May 21. For more information, call the county recreation agency at 241-4460.
The state will soon begin work to reinforce the foundation and shoulder for Kalaniana'ole Highway near Oceanic Institute.
The project continues a road realignment that was done last year when erosion threatened the stability of the two-lane road, said Scott Ishikawa, state Department of Transportation spokesman. Other work is also being considered.
"We are studying an interim, or possibly permanent, construction under our current contract to prevent further erosion near the shoreline," he said. The decision on which option to pursue hasn't been made yet, he said.
The reinforcement work should begin soon and is expected to last a month or two, Ishikawa said, adding that a contraflow lane will be set up during the hours of operation from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays.
Once the project is completed, the state will resurface that 1,200-foot stretch of highway, he said.
Grace Pacific Corp. is the contractor and the project cost is $652,806.
HILO, Hawai'i — A Suisan Company 18-wheel tractor-trailer truck ran off the road on Hinalani Street in Kona yesterday after its brakes failed, narrowly avoiding crashing into morning rush-hour traffic in the Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway intersection.
Police said quick thinking by driver Chucky Nunes, 29, of Kea'au, prevented a more serious crash.
Police who responded to the 6:40 a.m. call learned the brakes on the fully loaded truck went out between Kamanu and Kalani Streets.
The truck then ran off the road and stopped without overturning.
Nunes was taken to the Kona Community Hospital for treatment of moderate injuries.
A smoke alarm is being credited with giving five members of a Mililani family time to escape their burning home yesterday morning.
Fire Capt. Kenison Tejada said seven fire units responded to the two-alarm fire on Makapipipi Street, which was reported at 3:23 a.m.
"The front half of the house was fully involved when firefighters got there," Tejada said.
"The owner of the house told me the smoke alarm first alerted him that there was a problem, and he was able to get all of the others out of the house."
At home when the fire broke out were the owner, a man in his 50s; his parents, who are in their 80s; the homeowner's daughter, in her 30s; and the owner's granddaughter who is in her early teens.
The fire was declared under control at 3:49 a.m. and there were no injuries, Tejada said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Volunteer forest workers sought
Munitions found at Schofield
Summer program to be expanded
Kalaniana'ole work to begin
Tractor-trailer averts accident
Smoke alarm helped in escape
