The city Department of the Medical Examiner has identified Florentina Ganitano, 80, of Wai'anae as the woman who died of injuries Thursday morning after being struck by a car Wednesday evening in Ma'ili.

Ganitano was crossing Farrington Highway near Liliana Street in a crosswalk when a pickup truck hit her about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Speed and alcohol were not factors, police said.

Ganitano was taken to The Queen's Medical Center. She died there at 12:33 a.m. Thursday, police said.

It was the fourth pedestrian fatality on O'ahu this year, compared to 20 for all of 2007.

CLEANUP TO CLOSE TWO BEACH PARKS

The city will be temporarily closing two Leeward Coast beach parks beginning at 10 p.m. tomorrow for major cleanup and renovation work.

The Nani Kai Beach portion of Ulehawa Beach Park and the nearby Surfer's Beach area will reopen after 3 p.m. on Friday, according to a city news release.

As first announced in December, the temporary closure will allow city parks workers to complete extensive maintenance and repairs, which include a thorough cleaning of the comfort station and replacement of bathroom fixtures, the statement said.

FARMERS CAN GET RAIN DAMAGE LOANS

The U.S. secretary of agriculture has issued a disaster declaration for the Big Island, O'ahu and Maui because of the rainstorms and flooding that have drenched the state since Nov. 27, 2007, a news release said.

The secretary's designation means that local farmers who suffered crop losses will be eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the U.S. Farm Service Agency if they are able to meet eligibility requirements, said the statement from U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye's office.

"Natural disasters are unpredictable and unexpected. Plans to cope with their impact and aftermath are difficult for any farmer to formulate," Inouye said. "FSA emergency assistance will go a long way toward making our farmers whole again, as well as helping to make their farms productive again."

DUI ARRESTS UP 11% ON BIG ISLAND

Drunken-driving arrests are up but major auto accidents are down on the Big Island for the first five weeks of 2008, Hawai'i County reported.

Through Monday, Big Island police made 130 DUI arrests, an 11 percent increase over the 177 arrests at the same time last year.

There were 193 major accidents through Monday, a 13 percent decrease from the 221 major accidents in that period last year.