HAWAI'I BRIEFS
HFD battles two brushfires
Advertiser Staff
Two brushfires on O'ahu kept firefighters busy yesterday afternoon, but neither caused any property damage.
The first fire was reported at about 2:30 p.m. near the old Wai-alua sugar mill. That blaze burned about 3 acres, said fire spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada.
At one point, fire officials were concerned because the flames came to within 100 feet of a fertilizer storage area. But Tejada said firefighters were able to prevent the fire from reaching the material.
About 45 minutes later, a brushfire broke out in Kapolei along Fort Barrette Road. That fire burned about 5 acres, Tejada said.
Police closed Fort Barrette between Farrington Highway and Kama'aha Avenue about 4:15 as a precaution.
MANOA
LAB SCHOOL FIRE FUND TOPS $40K
The University of Hawai'i Foundation had received $40,010 in donations as of yesterday morning for the University Laboratory School Fire Recovery Fund.
Donations still can be made to the recovery effort through the UH Foundation. Visit www.uhf.hawaii.edu and click on the College of Education/University Laboratory School Fire Recovery Fund. Donations also can be mailed to University of Hawai'i Foundation, P.O. Box 11270, Honolulu, HI 96828. Contributions should be marked for the Fire Recovery Fund.
For more information, call 956-8849.
HONOLULU
ABERCROMBIE'S 10TH RUN OFFICIAL
U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, has filed to run for a 10th term in Congress representing urban Honolulu.
Abercrombie's campaign committee cited his ability to secure military construction contracts and his efforts to promote alternative energy and mass transit as reasons voters should send him back to Washington.
Abercrombie represented Hawai'i's 1st House District for a stint in 1986 and then continuously since being elected in 1991.
He is a ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
Immigration lawyer Alexandra Kaan has filed to challenge Abercrombie for the Democratic nomination.
KAUA'I
DISABLED GIVEN CHANCE TO PADDLE
The Pu'uwai Canoe Club will hold its Bright Stars Double Hull Canoe Race for people with disabilities starting at 9 a.m. Saturday at Wailua River State Park, just upstream from Wailua Bridge.
The event is open to disabled children and adults interested in paddling up the Wailua River in canoes. The canoe club will supply experienced paddlers for each canoe. Lunch will be served. There is no charge for people with disabilities. Sponsors include ARC of Kaua'i, Ho'omana Thrift Store, Jamba Juice and Starbucks.
LIHU'E MAN HIT CROSSING HIGHWAY
A Lihu'e man was seriously injured Monday when he was hit by a vehicle while crossing Kuhio Highway at Kaua'i Community College.
Police said Mark Serrato Sr., 45, was walking between cars stopped at a red light when he stepped into the path of a pickup truck making a left turn. He was taken to Wilcox Memorial Hospital.
BETTER BUS STOP ON PAPALINA ROAD
The county has opened a new bus turnout along Papalina Road in Kalaheo, after community members expressed concern for the safety of people waiting at the roadside for the bus.
School buses and the county's islandwide bus system, The Kaua'i Bus, use the 10- by 45-foot-wide place in the road. Two new bus shelters are to be built at the site later in the year.
MAUI
DRIVER POSSIBLY ASLEEP AT WHEEL
Police said a Lahaina woman returning home from work may have fallen asleep at the wheel yesterday, causing her northbound 2005 Ford F-150 pickup truck to crash head-on into a charter boat shuttle bus on Honoapi'ilani Highway.
None of the passengers on the Prince Kuhio bus were injured in the collision, which occurred around 8:45 a.m. at Puamana, said Capt. Charles Hirata of the Maui Police Department. The 53-year-old woman, who works at Wal-Mart in Kahului, was alone in the truck. She was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center with serious injuries.
The incident caused a major traffic jam on the two-lane highway, with cars diverted onto a cane-haul road until the wreckage was cleared.
STATEWIDE
AUSTRALIAN SUB JOINING RIMPAC
The Australian submarine HMAS Rankin is expected to arrive in Hawai'i today to prepare for Rimpac 2006, a biennial war exercise involving eight Pacific Rim countries.
Ships that arrived here Monday included the USS Pinckney, a DDG-91 destroyer; the USS Bonhomme, an LHD-6 amphibious assault ship; and the Esmeralda, a steel-hulled naval training ship of the Chilean navy.
Countries taking part in the exercise are Australia, Britain, Canada, Chile, Japan, Peru, South Korea and the United States. The massive multinational "sea control and power projection" exercise has been held since 1971.
More than 40 ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, six submarines, 160 aircraft and almost 19,000 sailors, airmen, Marines, soldiers and Coast Guard members will take part in Rimpac training operations.
BIG ISLAND
CHARGES FILED IN PIER MUGGING
Three people were charged Saturday in connection with a mugging at Kailua Pier.
Police said Gerald Yamasaki, 26, was charged with robbery and theft, and was being held at the Hawai'i Community Correctional Center in lieu of $7,000 bail.
Yamasaki also is facing drug charges after police allegedly found crystal methamphetamine in his possession.
Two juvenile suspects were charged with robbery, curfew violation and being beyond parental control. They were transported to the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility on O'ahu.
The suspects are accused of taking cash and other items from a 34-year-old man on Friday while holding him against a wall. They were arrested a short while later.
