Posted on: Sunday, April 17, 2005
HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Road to close for town party
Advertiser Staff
Portions of Kailua Road will be closed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today for the 13th annual "I Love Kailua" Town Party which will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Ku'ulei Road to Hahani Street.
The event will include "A Taste of Kailua," featuring food from at least 16 local Kailua restaurants, live entertainment, handmade crafts, plants, keiki activities, art, community information booths and free health screening by Castle Medical Center.
There will be accommodations for securing bicycles with a "valet" service.
Entry is a $3 button that can be purchased ahead of time at 50 Kailua establishments. The cost will be $4 at the gate.
Presented by the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle and supported by Kane'ohe Ranch Co. Ltd., the party raises money for the maintenance and creation of beautification projects in the community, including Pohakupu, Kailua Triangle, 'Aikahi, Kalapawai, Alala (Lanikai) Point, and roadsides including Hamakua Drive.
A man drowned during a night dive with three friends near Waimanalo Beach Park early yesterday morning, firefighters said.
The man, who was in his 30s, was diving with the group around 10 p.m. Friday night when he decided to go back to shore, said HFD Capt. Kenison Tejada. The rest of the group resumed their night dive, assuming the man went on shore, Tejada said.
When they finished diving about midnight and couldn't find their friend, they called the Fire Department. The man was found about 50 to 100 yards off shore by air rescue, which spotted the glow of the light stick attached to his gear. His identity was not released.
A rat caused a power failure in parts of East Honolulu, affecting 1,000 customers, many of whom were without power from 10:30 a.m. yesterday until past midday.
Hawaiian Electric restored power to customers in the Kaimuki and St. Louis Heights area after a couple of hours, and residents in Kahala and parts of Wilhelmena Rise had power restored by 2 p.m., said Jose Dizon, Hawaiian Electric Co. spokesman. Several stores at Kahala Mall were affected.
Crews discovered a dead rat in a transformer and determined that to be the cause, Dizon said.
A late-night head-on collision Friday on the Big Island on Highway 130 along the Pahoa side of Shower Drive killed one woman and injured four others.
A GMC pickup truck is believed to have crossed the center line on the road on the Kea'au-Pahoa Highway when it struck a Ford four-door sedan that was traveling in the opposite direction. The 11 p.m. accident killed Renee Kane, a 40 year-old Pahoa resident and injured the driver and three passengers. Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the accident, the 12th traffic fatality on the Big Island so far this year, police said.
Two of the injured victims were taken to Hilo Medical Center and one, an 11-year-old boy, was taken to The Queen's Medical Center on O'ahu where he remains in critical condition, police said. A third passenger was treated for minor injuries and released, police said.
Anyone with information on this crash is asked to call Big Island police Officer Reed Mahuna at (808) 961-8889.
HILO, Hawai'i — Gov. Linda Lingle has released money to design a new administration and library building and renovate the existing administration building to create more classroom space at Kealakehe Intermediate School in Kailua, Kona.
The project will add three extra classrooms, which will allow the state to convert the intermediate school serving the seventh and eighth grades to a middle school that serves the sixth, seventh and eighth grades.
About 1,050 students attend Kealakehe Intermediate School, one of the largest intermediate-school populations in the state.
The $278,750 released by the administration will be used for design of the project.
The renovations are expected to be completed by May 2007.
The state will spend $86,000 for public accessibility and safety improvements at the Hawai'i Kai Public Library to meet the federal Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility guidelines.
The total cost of the project is $131,000, with $45,000 previously allotted. The upgrades are expected to be completed by September.
The Hawai'i Kai Public Library offers a variety of educational activities such as storytelling, puppet shows and poetry reading.
Tomorrow is the deadline for residents to mail in ballots for their area neighborhood board elections. Ballots for O'ahu's 32 neighborhood boards were mailed on March 19 to voters and the results will be announced on May 1. More than 215,000 ballots were mailed to voters to vote for 538 people running for the 444 board seats. Members' two-year terms begin June 1 and expire May 31, 2007.
Man drowns in night dive
Power outage blamed on rat
Woman killed in head-on collision
School to add classroom space
$131K to upgrade library facilities
Deadline for board elections
