HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Two medal winners to lead parade
Advertiser Staff
Two World War II Medal of Honor recipients will serve as grand marshals in the 61st annual Veterans Day Parade Friday in Wahiawa.
Shizuya Hayashi, a veteran of the 100th Infantry Battalion, and Barney Hajiro, a veteran of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, will be honored as the grand marshals.
More than 60 marching units will participate. The parade will start at 10 a.m. at Ka'ala Elementary School and travel up California Avenue to Wahiawa District Park.
Rear Adm. James Beebe, Navy Reserve, director of submarine reserve, will be the keynote speaker at a program at the park following the parade.
The parade is sponsored annually by the Wahiawa Lions Club.
KOKO CRATER
PCB SPILL CLOSES SECTION OF TRAIL
A section of the Koko Crater Trail remains cordoned off near a utility pole that was chopped down by an alleged copper thief. A transformer on the pole spilled polychlorinated bi-phenyls, or PCBs, after it was cut down.
Hikers can still gain access to the Koko Crater Trail.
State Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said city Parks and Recreation officials are testing the soil for contamination and are awaiting a consultant's report.
Alden Kaupiko, 47, has been charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass in connection with the alleged copper theft.
Felony charges of second-degree criminal property damage and criminal tampering in addition to fourth-degree theft were pending against Kaupiko.
STATEWIDE
POSTER CONTEST WINNERS NAMED
Brycen Kawamoto (Puohala Elementary), Carly Kakuda (Wilson Elementary), Ramil Lorenzo Gonzalez (Mililani Middle) and Raymond Mariano (Mililani High) took top honors for their respective grade categories in the first "Make a Difference Day" poster contest sponsored by the Department of Education and Castle & Cooke Hawaii.
Each winner received $125 and will be honored Nov. 27 at the State Capitol.
The contest attracted 5,394 entries from more than 50 O'ahu public schools. Mililani Mauka Elementary was awarded $1,000 for leading entry submissions for grades kindergarten to second, and third to fifth while Dole Middle and Mililani High won $500 each for the most entries in their respective grade levels.
O'AHU
UPGRADES OK'D FOR SIX SCHOOLS
Six O'ahu public schools will share $1.7 million for fire, health and safety improvements.
KUAKINI
BED WILL SERVE OBESE PATIENTS
Friends of Hawai'i Charities has given the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific $5,000 for a bariatric bed system to support obese patients.
The bed will allow patients 350 to 500 pounds, or are six feet or taller, to receive in- patient rehabilitation.
The beds are wider and longer and assist therapists and nursing staff with getting patients out of bed by placing them in a full sitting position with their feet on the ground.
DOWNTOWN
ARCTIC LENSMAN DUE AT LIBRARY
The Hawai'i State Library is scheduled to host Arctic traveler and nature photographer Tom Ocasek.
The program, "Polar Bears in Paradise," will be in the Hawai'i and Pacific Reading Room. Ocasek, a longtime Hawai'i Kai resident, will share stories and photos of his Arctic adventures.
Ocasek serves on the board of directors of Polar Bears International, a worldwide organization that protects polar bears and their habitats.
The one-hour program starts at 6 p.m. and is suitable for ages 12 and older. Call 586-3499.
MOLOKA'I
NEW WATERLINE SYSTEM FOR SCHOOL
Gov. Linda Lingle released $201,124 for improvements to waterlines at Kualapu'u Elementary School on Moloka'i.
A recent waterline break exacerbated the school's water pressure problems, prompting officials to hasten the project ahead of schedule. The money will be used to design a waterline replacement, with total costs estimated to cost $2.2 million. Construction is expected to start in fall 2007.
WOMAN, 40, AT TIDE POOL DIES
HILO, Hawai'i — A 40-year-old woman died on the Big Island yesterday after she was found unconscious in a Kapoho tide pool, fire and rescue personnel said.
Paramedics were called to the scene at 12:25 p.m. When they arrived at the scene, they found people trying to revive the woman after she apparently had drowned.
She was pronounced dead at Hilo Medical Center. Authorities had not released her name last night.
GATHERINGS HONOR SLAIN WOMAN
HILO, Hawai'i — Two demonstrations in memory of slain
21-year-old Daysha Iwalani Aiona Aka have been scheduled in Hilo for today.
The nonprofit Turning Point for Families has planned a silent demonstration from 3:30 to 5 p.m. outside the Turning Point office at the Iron Works Building on Kamehameha Avenue. Participants can make their own signs or carry signs provided by Turning Point.
A second demonstration is being sponsored by the Coalition against Domestic Violence. That will include a silent walk beginning at 5 p.m. at the Coconut Island end of Lili'uokalani Park in Hilo. There will be a collection for Aiona Aka's young son at the second gathering.
Aiona Aka died of a gunshot wound to the head, and police detectives recovered her body from the Pana'ewa rainforest Thursday.
Aiona Aka's former boyfriend Jeffrey B. Santos Jr. has been charged with second-degree murder in her death.
