HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Home projects get $6.6 million boost
Advertiser Staff
The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded $6.6 million to support 25 local programs that help homeless people in Hawai'i.
The grants are part of $1.3 billion announced yesterday for housing programs nationwide.
The programs include Steadfast Housing Development Corp., Women Helping Women, Maui Economic Concern of the Community Inc., Mental Health Kokua, Catholic Charities Hawai'i, The Salvation Army Family Treatment Services, Hale Kipa Inc., and Child and Family Service.
For a complete list of awards in Hawai'i, click on the map of the Islands found at: www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/homeless/budget/2005/index.cfm.
MAUI
ESCAPED INMATE REMAINS AT LARGE
A minimum-security inmate at the Maui Community Correctional Center remained at large yesterday after escaping from the Wailuku jail.
Kenneth J. Heintz, 52, was sent Saturday morning to clean a visitors pavilion outside the jail's security fences and fled, according to Department of Public Safety spokesman Michael Gaede. Heintz's absence was noted during a 3 p.m. inmate count.
Heintz was sentenced in July to a one-year term for a parole violation that occurred while he was serving five years of probation for assault. He is 5 feet 9, 149 pounds, with hazel eyes and brown hair. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or the state sheriff's office at (808) 244-2909.
BIG ISLAND
MAN DIES FROM CAR CRASH INJURIES
A 25-year-old Hakalau man died Monday from injuries suffered in a one-vehicle crash Friday in Hilo.
Big Island police said a 2005 Chevrolet pickup truck was traveling west on East Kawili Street just before 2 a.m. when driver Keenan J. McCully lost control, crossed the centerline and struck a sign and utility pole in front of Hawai'i Community College. Police believe speed was a factor.
McCully was taken to Hilo Medical Center and transferred to The Queen's Medical Center, where he died at 11:55 p.m. Monday. A 26-year-old man and 25-year-old woman in the truck suffered minor injuries.
There have been 35 traffic fatalities on the Big Island this year, compared with 39 a year ago.
FUEL REMOVED FROM STUCK SHIP
A company hired by the owner of the Sky Sun fishing vessel that ran aground on the Puna Coastline has finished removing fuel and oil from the vessel.
The U.S. Coast Guard and state coordinators confirmed that about 1,100 gallons of fuel and oil were removed from the boat Sunday.
The 67-foot Sky Sun ran aground about 5 a.m. Thursday two miles south of Cape Kumukahi Point on the Big Island. Six people were aboard, and the Fire Department removed all six. There were no injuries.
The vessel remains stuck half a mile north of Waiopae Tidepools, a state Marine Life Conservation District. The state and the owner are planning for the vessel's removal.
HILO LIBRARY TO CLOSE FOR WORK
Hilo Public Library will be closed from Jan. 14 to Jan. 19 to allow crews to retile the floors in the lobby and circulation desk areas.
The library's book drops will remain open, and staff will provide telephone assistance from 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Jan. 14, 18 and 19. Library users may call (808) 933-8888 to renew books and other library materials, or to get help with reference questions.
Hilo Library customers who reserve library materials before Jan. 14 will have three days beyond their notification's expiration date to pick up the materials.
The library, the largest on the Big Island, is scheduled to reopen at 10 a.m. Jan. 20.
MOLOKA'I
DOGS ALERT WOMAN TO FIRE
Two barking chihuahuas alerted an elderly woman to a fire outside her Mo'omomi home yesterday.
The 77-year-old woman lived with two other adults at the Keonelele Street house but was home alone when the dogs began barking at about 8 a.m., said Battalion Chief Frank Tam of the Maui County Fire Department. The woman spotted a fire outside the house by a generator and tried to put it out with a hose, he said. By the time firefighters from Ho'olehua and Kaunakakai arrived, the flames had spread to the entire 2,000-square-foot home.
The house was destroyed, with losses estimated at $241,000.
Tam said the woman suffered a bump on the head and another minor injury. The chihuahuas were missing, he said, and it is not known if they survived. Geese and other animals belonging to the owners were returning home by late yesterday.
