One name leaps out from a list of Hawai'i drivers who received payments from the state last year because of pothole damage to their cars.

It's Scott Ishikawa, the state Transportation Department spokesman who is frequently called upon to explain what the state is doing about fixing potholes.

Ishikawa received $152 for damage to his car in March 2004 when he was driving on H-2 Freeway near the Ka Uka Boulevard off-ramp, according to a small-claims payment report submitted to the Legislature this year.

Ishikawa told us that the pothole damaged one of his wheel rims and "totalled" a hubcap.

He said the incident "gave me a good perspective" on what's involved in making a damage claim and what the state goes through to separate the legitimate claims from the phonies.

"It's the first time I ever filed a claim," he said. "I had to say exactly when it happened, where it happened and even provide a picture of the damage."

That particular pothole has since been repaired, he added.

The legislative report, prepared by the Department of Accounting and General Services, lists settlements of $10,000 and under for myriad claims made against the state, not just pothole-related.

A total of 287 claims and 18 lawsuits were settled for just over $294,000. Those claimants had originally asked for $885,000 but settled for about a third of that.

Another 820 claims for just over $3 million from the state were denied outright.

The report lists 144 different drivers who received pothole payments ranging from $16 to $5,156. Why go through all that aggravation for $16?

Stones and debris thrown up by weedwhackers and lawn mowers also caused a lot of damage to vehicles traveling state roads.

Then there was a "protruding rebar" at the corner of Nimitz Highway and Kalihi Street that caused more than $1,200 in damage to cars in five different incidents between December 2004 and September 2005.

One of the more bizarre payments was $5,000 to prison inmate Ronald Manning to settle a lawsuit he filed against the state.

Two adult correctional officers "borrowed" some $31,000 from Manning and didn't pay it back. They no longer work for the state.

Where did Manning, a convicted rapist, get that kind of money in the first place? From $170,000 the state paid him after he was nearly stabbed to death in prison in 1995.

If you know that a particular money trail will lead to boondoggle, excessive spending or white elephants, reach Jim Dooley at 535-2447 or jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com