HAWAI'I BRIEFS
State worker cutting tree killed
Advertiser Staff
A 30-year-old state highways employee was killed yesterday when he was hit by a tree he was cutting along Kuhio Highway.
State Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa said the Lihu'e man, whose name was not released, was working with a chain saw as part of a road crew near the Kalihiwai Bridge.
The team was clearing brush and trees along the road when the man was struck by a tree he was cutting about 1 p.m. No other workers were hurt.
The Department of Transportation has launched an investigation into the incident and will send its findings to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is also expected to look into the incident.
Ishikawa said the victim was a nine-year Department of Transportation employee.
KAHALU'U
OFFICER FIRES ON CAR THEFT SUSPECT
A police officer fired a shot yesterday at an auto theft suspect who tried to run him over with a car.
The incident occurred at 3:30 p.m. The officer was not injured.
The suspect drove off and was still at large, police said.
MANOA
GIRL SAYS SHE WAS NEARLY KIDNAPPED
Police yesterday were investigating a report of an attempted kidnapping Tuesday of a girl walking on Kaloa Way.
The girl told police she was approached at 9:30 p.m. by a man in a late-model Ford Mustang, who tried to pull her into the car. Her screams scared him off.
MAUI
PU'UNENE TOWN REUNION PLANNED
Former residents of the Central Maui plantation town of Pu'unene are planning a reunion Aug. 4-5 on the grounds of Pu'unene School.
Reunion chairman Larry Peralta of Honolulu said the celebration is a way for former residents to renew friendships and pass on their memories of Pu'unene, once a chop-suey mix of two dozen worker camps and one of the island's largest communities. Now the area has largely been abandoned, as the camps were plowed under to make room for sugar cane fields and residents moved into new housing developments in Kahului.
Reunion events include a festival, lu'au, photo exhibit and talk-story sessions. For more information, call Peralta at 284-3911.
BIG ISLAND
WAILOA HARBOR BEING DREDGED
Emergency dredging began yesterday to remove shoaled areas at the entrance to the Wailoa Small Boat Harbor, the Department of Land and Natural Resources said.
The shoals have created a navigational hazard for boats that use the boating facilities. The DLNR's Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation has contracted American Marine Corporation to remove about 25,000 cubic yards of silted sand from the entrance channel and outer portion of the Wailoa Small Boat Harbor.
The cost of the project is $993,675.
The dredging activities will occur on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and will be completed in May.
Boaters utilizing the launch ramp and/or harbor should depart before 7 a.m. and return after 3:30 p.m., as the barge will block the harbor entrance channel. For emergency access to the harbor, boaters should call the contractor on VHF Channel 70.
A portion of the Bayfront Beach Park closest to the harbor will be closed to the public. Also, the makai portion of the parking lot in the Wailoa Small Boat Harbor will be used by the contractor for storage.
Boaters needing more information about the project may contact Glenn Mayeda, Wailoa harbor agent, at (808) 933-0414, or via e-mail at dlnr.bd.wailoa.harbor@hawaii.gov.
MISSING KAHENA DIVER IDENTIFIED
A Big Island man who went missing Sunday while diving with three companions lives in Kea'au with his wife and is a new father, his relatives on the Mainland said.
They identified the missing diver as Mitchell Hodgson, 25.
Hodgson was reported missing about 6:40 p.m. Sunday by his diving partner after he failed to return to Kahena Beach.
Big Island firefighters suspended the search last night after searching for Hodgson for three days.
KAILUA
MARSH CLEANUP VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT
The Kawai Nui Waterway/Hamakua Marsh will be cleaned Jan. 27 during a community stewardship workday.
Breakfast and registration is 7:45 a.m., and a safety and cultural protocol briefing will follow at 8:30. The cleanup effort will get under way at 8:45, and lunch is at noon.
Volunteers at least age 11 are asked to wear old clothes, boots or closed-toe shoes with gripping soles and a hat or cap; those younger than 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Preregister by noon, Jan. 26, by calling 247-6366, 223-4481, or 224-4496 or visiting info@waa-hawaii.org.
PAWA'A
HUNT ON TO OUTFOX WILIWILI TREE KILLER
Mohsen Ramadan, the state Department of Agriculture's exploratory entomologist, is heading back to South Africa and Tanzania in two weeks to look for more possible biological control agents for the Erythrina Gall Wasp, the wiliwili tree killers.
Ramadan will be in Africa for two months. The parasitic wasps he brought back last year from Africa appear to be predators of the gall wasp but are still in quarantine, said Agriculture Department spokeswoman Janelle Saneishi.
WAIKIKI
COMMENT SOUGHT ON NEW PLANES
The Navy is seeking public comment on a proposal to add P-8A Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft to the U.S. Navy Fleet. The Navy will hold a public meeting today from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Pacific Beach Hotel.
The Navy will prepare an environmental impact statement on the project, in which P-8As will replace the P-3C patrol aircraft operating out of the Kane'ohe Bay Marine Corps base and other military bases.
