HAWAI'I BRIEFS
State due $1.3 million in security grants
Advertiser Staff
The state will receive more than $1.3 million in federal homeland security grants under a measure recently passed by the U.S. Senate.
The largest individual grant of $1.07 million will be for port security and will be given to the Harbors Division of the state Department of Transportation, according to U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye. Inouye is a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security and co-chairman of the Commerce Committee.
Inouye's announcement yesterday came a week after the Senate unanimously approved the Port Security Improvement Act of 2006.
STATEWIDE
LEARN ABOUT NW ISLES RESERVE
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is holding a series of public meetings statewide about the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument.
The meetings will be held between 6 and 8 p.m. The schedule is:
Monday: Kulana 'Oiwi Halau on Moloka'i
Wednesday: Maui Arts and Cultural Center
Thursday: Lana'i Library
Oct. 2: Wai'anae District Park
Oct. 3: Japanese Cultural Center in Mo'ili'ili
Oct. 4: He'eia Kea State Park
Oct. 5: Aloha Beach Resort, Kapa'a, Kaua'i
Oct. 10: King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel
Oct. 11: Mokupapapa Discovery Center in Hilo
For details, visit www.hawaiireef.noaa.gov.
MAPUNAPUNA
VEHICLE AUCTION SET FOR OCT. 27
The U.S. Marshal Service will hold a public auction of vehicles Oct. 27 in Honolulu.
The auction will begin at 10 a.m. at Aloha Auto Auction, 1001 Ahua St. Interested buyers may inspect the vehicles from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 26, and from 8 to 10 a.m. on Oct. 27.
Some of the vehicles being sold include a 2005 Hummer H2, 2004 Big Dog motorcycle, 2005 Toyota Scion and a 1931 Ford Model A.
For details, call the General Services Administration at 668-4878.
WAIKIKI
MASSEUR ACCUSED OF ASSAULTING TEEN
An O'ahu grand jury yesterday indicted a 45-year-old masseur on a charge that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl during a massage session at a Waikiki hotel.
Reginald Comilang was indicted on one count of first-degree sexual assault. Comilang, who was arrested and charged in connection with the case Sept. 7, has been free on $20,000 bail.
Comilang is accused of slipping his hand under the bikini bottom of a 14-year-old girl and sexually assaulting her during a massage Sept. 1 at the Outrigger Reef Hotel.
The girl reported the incident to her mother, who notified police. Comilang was arrested at the hotel.
BIG ISLAND
WATER UNSAFE AT VOLCANOES PARK
The state is advising against drinking tap water in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park while it continues testing for contaminants.
A recent second test of the water had inconclusive results. A third set of samples has been sent to a private laboratory in California for testing. The results are expected within 10 days.
Stuart Yamada, chief of the state Department of Health's safe drinking water branch, said the situation is a mystery of sorts. "Once in a while you get thrown one of these big curves," he said.
Routine water samples were taken in August to test for a variety of substances such as certain types of benzene. The department could not get a definitive result on what the water contained because of an "interfering agent," Yamada said.
Park officials then issued an advisory that only bottled water be consumed in the park, including at the Volcano House hotel and restaurant.
KAILUA
NEW POSTMASTER TO BE INSTALLED
Gary Logan has been named postmaster for Kailua and will be installed at 8 a.m. today. He replaces John Galera, who transferred to Wai'anae Post Office.
Logan has served as the officer in charge of the Kailua Post Office since December 2005 and assumed the responsibilities of postmaster on April 1. Before that, he was supervisor of customer services at Wahiawa Post Office for eight years. He started his postal career in 1987.
He will oversee the daily delivery of 135,000 pieces of mail to more than 16,000 addresses in Kailua and at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i.
ELECTION
REALTORS GROUP SUPPORTS MENOR
State Sen. Ron Menor has been endorsed by the Hawai'i Association of Realtors in his bid in the Democratic primary for the U.S. House seat in the 2nd Congressional District.
The Realtors commended Menor for his work on insurance and affordable-housing issues.
