In an effort to attract passengers, the city plans to offer a week of free rides on its new commuter ferry service between Kalaeloa and Aloha Tower.

TheBoat will begin operations on Sept. 17, making three trips in each direction per day.

A plan awaiting final City Council approval would suspend fares from Sept. 24 through Sept. 28 for the ferries and five new bus lines linked to them.

Buses will take passengers to the Kalaeloa pier from Wai'anae, Kapolei and Makakilo.

From Aloha Tower, buses will go to the University of Hawai'i-Manoa and to Waikiki via Ala Moana.

Before and after the free period, a single fare will pay for the entire journey: the ferry and buses at each end. The one-way fare for adults is $2, and bus passes also will be honored.

For more information, go to www.trytheboat.com.

The day before service begins, people can visit the ferry Sept. 16 at Aloha Tower Marketplace during an open house at Pier 9 by Gordon Biersch from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

MD PATIENT'S VAN STOLEN IN MO'ILI'ILI

The family of a Honolulu boy who appeared on the Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon this weekend is asking for help to recover their stolen van.

MDA officials say the family van of Damon Kaneakua, who is confined to a wheelchair, was stolen from a residential area along Bingham Street in Mo'ili'ili yesterday morning.

The family relies on the van to transport Damon, who suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which affects the pelvis, upper arms and upper legs. The van was recently bought to help transport Damon and his wheelchair to school and activities.

MDA officials describe the vehicle as a white 2002 Dodge Caravan with the license plate MHY 578. Inside were two baby seats, laundry and Damon's coin collection.

Anyone who sees the van is asked to call police.

DRIVER IN FATAL HIT-RUN SOUGHT

Maui police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who struck and killed a bicyclist Wednesday night in Kihei.

Police said the 46-year-old man, a Kihei resident, was riding on Alulike Street near Kenolio Road when a vehicle hit him at 8:15 p.m.

The driver of the vehicle fled the scene, police said. The bicyclist died shortly afterward, police said. His name was not released.

Police are asking for the public's help in locating and identifying the vehicle that struck the bicyclist. They said the car may have sustained significant damage to the front bumper, hood, headlamp and windshield.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the Maui police traffic section at 808-270-6537 or the communication section at 808-244-6400.

MAYOR TO DISCUSS RECYCLING PROJECT

Mayor Mufi Hannemann and city officials will attend neighborhood meetings in Hawai'i Kai and Mililani next week to explain the curbside recycling pilot project scheduled to begin next month in those communities.

The Hawai'i Kai meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday in the Haha'ione Elementary School cafeteria. Another meeting will be at 7 p.m Tuesday in the Mililani High School cafeteria.

The Department of Environmental Services will also make presentations to area neighborhood boards at their regularly scheduled September meetings.

The new pilot project for curbside residential recycling is slated to begin on Oct. 29 in Mililani and Hawai'i Kai. The pilot effort is expected to cost up to $1.5 million.

Voters overwhelmingly approved a 2006 city charter amendment supporting curbside recycling.

CITY'S ZOO HOSTS VETERINARY TECHS

The Honolulu Zoo will host the 27th Annual Conference of the Association of Zoo Veterinary Technicians from today through Monday.

Ninety veterinary technicians representing 65 zoos and aquariums from across the United States, Canada and the Netherlands are expected to attend. The AZVT was organized in 1981 and has nearly 400 members worldwide. Its goals include promoting continuing education, improving professional standards and contributing to conservation.

BODY OF WW II SOLDIER IDENTIFIED

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office in Honolulu announced Wednesday that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from World War II, have been identified and were returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

He is 2nd Lt. Harold E. Hoskin, U.S. Army Air Forces, of Houlton, Maine. He is to be buried today in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

Representatives from the Army met with Hoskin's next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the secretary of the Army.

On Dec. 21, 1943, Hoskin was one of five crewmen on board a B-24D that departed Ladd Field in Fairbanks, Alaska, on a cold-weather test mission. The aircraft never returned to base. The following March, one of the crewmen, 1st Lt. Leon Crane, arrived at Ladd Field after spending more than two months in the Alaska wilderness. He said that the plane had crashed after it lost an engine.

It was concluded that Hoskin probably parachuted out of the aircraft before it crashed.