HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Schofield soldier death probed
Advertiser Staff
The Army's Criminal Investigation Command has launched an investigation into the death over the weekend of a Schofield Barracks soldier who was found unconscious in his barracks, the Army said last night.
"He passed out (in his barracks room) and they took him to Wahiawa General Hospital where he later died," said Kendrick Washington, Schofield Barracks spokesman. The soldier died around 4 a.m. Sunday, he said.
Washington identified the soldier as Pvt. Robert Copeland, 22, from Alabama, who was with the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry. Washington said Copeland's parents have been notified and that the cause of death has not been determined.
KAUA'I
SMELL AT SCHOOL FORCES EVACUATION
WAIMEA — School officials evacuated several classrooms and sent a few students to the health room with light-headedness, dizziness and headaches at Waimea Canyon School yesterday after a strong-smelling vapor blew across part of the campus from a nearby field.
Parents and officials were concerned about possible chemical exposure, but by the end of the day, the smell appeared to have been linked to a flowering weed growing on land alongside the campus.
Waimea Canyon School Principal Glenda Miyazaki said research appeared to trace the smell to a plant identified by botanists as Cleome gynandra, a widespread weed whose common names include 'ili'ohu, ho-nohina, cat's whiskers, spiderwisp, wild spider plant and African cabbage.
EAST HONOLULU
FREE LECTURE AT HANAUMA BAY
The Hanauma Bay Education Center will host a public lecture on the Wailuki River, Kilo Nalu to Kane'ohe stream, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Hanauma Bay Theatre.
No reservations are needed. The lecture is free.
O'AHU
OHA COMPLAINT TARGETS STRYKERS
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs filed a federal complaint against the secretary of defense and the U.S. Army yesterday, charging them with noncompliance with the National Historic Preservation Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
In the past OHA has said it would go to court if the Army failed to offer assurances that it would steer clear of sacred cultural sites on the future training range for the incoming Stryker brigade.
OHA's complaint said it was compelled to take action because "of cultural and environmental degradation of the lands comprising Schofield Barracks."
FISHING BOAT GETS COAST GUARD HELP
The Coast Guard has responded to a disabled 65-foot fishing boat with four to five crew members aboard that apparently had been adrift for several days.
The fishing vessel was about 80 miles east of O'ahu yesterday morning.
The Coast Guard was contacted Monday by a woman who was worried that she hadn't heard from her husband, a crewman, for a couple of days.
According to Coast Guard public affairs spokesman Petty Officer Michael De Nyse, the cutter Kittiwake and a C-130 Hercules plane from Air Station Barbers Point responded to the fishing boat Ulheelani.
De Nyse said the cutter reached the vessel at around 7 p.m. yesterday and would either repair the vessel's fuel leak or tow the ship back to Ho-nolulu. He said no injuries to the crew of the Ulheelani had been reported.
KAILUA
YOUR TURKEY CAN BE COOKED IN IMU
People can have their Thanksgiving turkeys or other food cooked island-style in an imu through a Kailua High School fundraising project.
Drop-off will be between 3 and 4:30 p.m. Nov. 22 and pickup 8 to 10 a.m. the following day.
The cost is $15 a tray, with maximum weight of 25 pounds. Proceeds will benefit various athletic programs at the school.
To reserve a space, send a check made out to Kailua High School, 451 Ulumanu Drive, Kailua, HI 96734. Mark attention to Mel Imai-IMU. Include a phone number and self-addressed stamped envelope for confirmation. Food should be in a disposable aluminum tray, thawed, seasoned and multi-wrapped in foil.
For more information, call Mel Imai at 266-7910 or Todd Hendricks at 728-7389.
