HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Heart attack killed driver
Advertiser Staff
HILO — An autopsy on a 63-year-old North Kohala man who died Friday after a one-vehicle accident on Akoni Pule Highway determined he was killed by a heart attack, not injuries from the crash.
Police said Mark A. Schwartzman's northbound 1991 Honda two-door sedan went off the right side of the road and dropped 15 feet into a gulch.
He was pronounced dead at Kona Community Hospital.
STATE REOPENING TRAILS, CAMP AREA
HILO — The state's Muliwai Trail, 'Ainapo Trail and Wai-manu Valley Campground have reopened after being closed for nearly a month because of the threat of landslides and flooding caused by wet weather.
Permits are again being issued for Waimanu Valley campground sites by the Division of Forestry and Wildlife's Hilo office.
For reservations, call (808) 974-4221.
COUPLE'S HOME, A CONTAINER, BURNS
HILO — A 40-foot shipping container in 'Opihikao in Kalapana was gutted by fire yesterday.
The container was home to a young couple who were returning from the beach when they spotted smoke at around 9:30 a.m., said Battalion Chief Robert Bailey of the Big Island Fire Department.
The fire destroyed all their belongings, he said.
Fire units from Pahoa, Kea'au and Hawaiian Paradise Park responded to the alarm, along with a tanker from Hilo.
The cause of the fire was unknown, Bailey said.
KAUA'I
KILAUEA SCHOOL MONEY RELEASED
State officials have released nearly $4.7 million for construction of a new cafeteria at Kilauea Elementary School.
In March 2005, $635,000 was released for the design of the new cafeteria and an environmental assessment.
An evaluation was done to determine whether the existing cafeteria, a registered historic building, should be moved or demolished. Part of the old cafeteria is encroaching on adjoining private land.
The state Department of Education intends to build the new cafeteria in a different location on the school grounds and leave the existing cafeteria in place.
Total cost of the project is $5.3 million, and the work is expected to be completed by October 2007.
MISSING WAIPOLU MAN FOUND SAFE
LIHU'E — Kaua'i officials said Stephen A. Haray, 56, was found safe in a Waipolu hotel after being reported missing when he failed to show up for work Friday at Plantation Hale.
Police issued a call Tuesday for public assistance in finding the Waipolu man.
DIAMOND HEAD
ROCKFALL CLEANUP PROJECT FINISHED
Emergency rockfall removal at the base of Diamond Head State Monument has been completed, nine days after work began.
Six weeks of heavy rain had caused the makai slope to slide on March 31, upslope of the third lookout on Diamond Head Road, said the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Loosened rocks were removed using heavy machinery, and then work crews manually removed rocks that the machinery could not handle, DLNR officials said.
After completion of the rock removal, the road was cleaned up and guardrails reinstalled.
The work required a multi-agency effort from the city Department of Transportation Services, county Civil Defense, Honolulu Police Department, DLNR, state Department of Transportation and state Civil Defense.
KAPOLEI
BENEFIT SET FOR KO OLINA SEPT. 23
The Rotary Club of Kapolei's seventh annual "Taste at Kapo-lei" — which benefits Leeward O'ahu educational and scholarship programs — will be held Sept. 23 at Ko Olina Resort & Marina.
The oceanfront event, from 5:30 to 9 p.m., will feature food, beer and wine stations, live entertainment and a fireworks display.
Tickets are $70. Call Keola Lloyd at 674-3167 for corporate sponsorships.
For more information, call 674-2500 or see www.tasteatkapolei.com.
