HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Big Island crash kills Waimea girl
Advertiser Staff
HILO, Hawai'i — A 5-year-old Waimea girl was killed in a head-on collision with a county bus on the Hawai'i Belt Road near O'okala, police said.
Police said Kahikina Butler was a passenger in a 2001 Dodge multipurpose vehicle traveling north shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday when a 32-year-old woman who was driving lost control and crossed the center line at the top of the Ka'awali'i Gulch.
The Dodge collided with a county Hele-On bus traveling south, and Kahikina was pronounced dead at 7:20 p.m. at the Hilo Medical Center.
An 11-year-old girl who also had been riding in the Dodge suffered broken legs, and was flown by a county fire department helicopter to the North Hawaii Community Hospital.
The driver of the bus and his 31 passengers were not injured. The driver of the Dodge, a Waimea resident, also was not injured, police said.
Police said the two children apparently were not wearing seat belts. The child's death is the seventh traffic fatality on the Big Island this year, compared to nine by the same time last year.
PEDESTRIAN KILLED ON KALAELOA ROAD
A 76-year-old man died after he was struck by a pickup truck while crossing a street in Kalaeloa Thursday morning.
Police said the man was crossing Enterprise Avenue just south of Belleau Woods Street at about 6:30 a.m. when he was hit by a 2003 Dodge pickup truck. The man, a Kalaeloa resident, was taken to The Queen's Medical Center in critical condition, but he later died of his injuries.
Police said it was raining heavily at the time of the accident and the man was not in a crosswalk. Speed and alcohol do not appear to be factors, police said.
Thursday's fatality was the 13th so far this year, compared with 11 during the same period last year.
STORE ROBBED BY MAN WITH GUN
Police last night were looking for a man who used a gun to rob a store in the Ala Moana area yesterday afternoon.
The man walked into the Makaloa Street store shortly before 5 p.m., brandished a handgun and demanded money, police said. The store owner handed over an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.
THREE MAUI SCHOOLS TO IMPROVE FIELDS
WAILUKU, Maui — Three high schools on Maui will be able to improve their softball fields with $71,439 in additional construction money released by Gov. Linda Lingle.
The work will allow female athletes to practice on their home fields instead of in community parks, and will fulfill federal gender-equity requirements and Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility requirements, according to a news release from the governor's office. The schools are Maui High, King Kekaulike and Lahainaluna. Other schools to benefit from the Department of Education project, totaling $3.2 million, are Radford, Waipahu, Kapa'a, Kaiser, Kailua, Baldwin and McKinley.
BENEFIT YARD SALE AT IROQUOIS POINT
Iroquois Point Co-Op Preschool will hold its annual yard sale from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at 6053 Heron Ave. in the Iroquois Point Island Club community. Proceeds from items including adult and children's clothing, household and baby items,and toys benefit the school.
