Newswatch
South Kona school damaged by blaze
SOUTH KONA -- The Holualoa Elementary School cafeteria was destroyed by fire Saturday morning, the second time in 15 years the structure has been damaged by a blaze.Firefighters, who were called to the scene shortly after 3 a.m. today, found the cafeteria engulfed in flames.
A classroom, which housed a teacher's lounge, also was destroyed in the fire.
Kona fire Capt. Vince Tolentino, was among the 19 county and volunteer firefighters who battled today's blaze.
He was also one of the five firefighters who fought a similar fire at the school in 1982.
"It was kind of a weird feeling," Tolentino said. Inspectors concluded that the 1982 fire had been intentionally set.
By daybreak today, students were arriving on the scene, some of them crying.
Principal Daniel Yoshida said school is canceled for Monday while officials determine what to do.
Fire crews from all three Kona stations fought the blaze, bringing the fire under control in 36 minutes. Damages were estimated at $200,000 by fire officials.
All electrical lines to the school are down. No one was injured.
Sophisticated thieves responsible for buoy malfunction
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating damage to two weather buoys northwest of Kauai as a high seas crime case.A new buoy was deployed by the Coast Guard Sunday to replace one that had been disabled.
Now the second one has been damaged, a Coast Guard flyover showed Friday.
The buoys, each costing $160,000, provide vital sea, air and wind information to forecasters.
The latest buoy is missing solar panels, antennae and other pieces of hardware, said Jim Weyman, National Weather Service Honolulu Forecast Office meteorologist-in-charge.
The thieves were "quite sophisticated," he said. It's believed they boarded the buoy at about 1 a.m. Wednesday because the Weather Service lost data between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m., he said.
"They had to use some kind of lighting. I'm sure it's kind of dangerous to board it at night in the dark."
Fishermen or others with any information on the theft are urged to contact the FBI, Weyman said.
City store's vendor moves out abruptly
The Honolulu City store has been closed since Tuesday after its vendor suddenly moved out, city officials said.The city, on Nov. 8, canceled Resort Sports Inc.'s contract after the vendor was only able to generate $14,115 for city coffers.
The five-year contract called for Resort Sports to pay a minimum $80,000 a year.
City officials estimate the company owes $183,927 to the city. The bill includes maintenance fees, utilities and taxes.
The city had asked Resort Sports to stay 30 additional days, through Dec. 8.
The company initially agreed but "reneged" on Tuesday, said city Budget Director Malcolm Tom.
Tom said the Honolulu Police Relief Association, the new vendor, is expected to move in sometime after Thanksgiving, but no later than Dec. 8.
Kids selling subscriptions are a scam
Beware of someone selling magazine subscriptions to help finance a trip to Paris for students from any school.Kalani High School students are not selling the subscriptions, Principal Randi Porras-Tang said Friday, alerting the public to the scam.
She said someone called the school to ask about young people going door to door in the neighborhood, "representing themselves as being from Kalani High School" and soliciting the magazine subscriptions.
The sellers were asking for $15 to $40, saying the money would help pay for a trip by honor students to Paris, she said. "That is not true," Porras-Tang said. "If people do wish to help any Kalani student, we would like them to please call us."