Aloha's 737s will start carrying defibrillators
All 17 of Aloha Airlines' Boeing 737s will start carrying defibrillators -- the first regional airline in the world to do so, the airline announced today.The fleet will be equipped with the life-saving devices by November after flight attendants complete training.
"As a vital link in Hawaii's interstate transportation system, having this high-tech emergency equipment on board our flights could make a difference in saving a passenger's life," said Glenn R. Zander, Aloha president and chief executive officer.
Zander said a cardiac-arrest passenger on another U.S. carrier earlier this year was revived with the use of the state-of-the-art ForeRunner automatic external defibrillator.
Aloha is buying the devices from Heartstream, Inc., of Seattle, a subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard Co.
H-3 Kailua-bound lanes closed by brush fire
Kailua-bound lanes on the H-3 freeway were closed early this morning while firefighters battled a blaze that officials believe was maliciously set.Seven crews responded to the fire at the freeway's Kaneohe Bay lookout, which was reported at 2:40 a.m. It was under control at 4:02 a.m.
Officials said the fire started at the lookout, which has a parking lot and then climbed up a steep slope, burning about 20 acres of brush and trees.
Eastbound traffic was diverted off the freeway from Mokapu Saddle Road to the Kaneohe Bay Drive on-ramp. The two closed lanes were reopened at 5:45 a.m.
Aside from the steep terrain, one of the difficulties in fighting the fire was the lack of water hydrants in the area, said Battalion Chief Hardy Akau.
Five engines that were involved each had to make 10 to 12 trips to hydrants elsewhere in order to get water, he said.
Police said they saw some juveniles in the lookout area about an hour before the fire started and chased them away. The lookout is closed from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Isle woman finally approved as a district court judge
WASHINGTON -- Susan Oki Mollway's long journey from private Honolulu attorney to district court judge is over at last.Two-and-one-half years after she was first nominated for the job, a divided Senate yesterday finally approved Mollway, 56-34, as the newest judge on the U.S. District Court for Hawaii.
Mollway, 47, will fill a seat on the four-judge court that has been vacant since the death of Judge Harold M. Fong in April 1995.
"I'm very happy; I'm very relieved," said Mollway, a partner with Cades Schutte Fleming & Wright, one of Honolulu's best-known law firms, and wife of Daniel J. Mollway, executive director of the state Ethics Commission.
"And I'm very grateful, especially to Sen. (Daniel) Inouye and Sen. (Daniel) Akaka for spending so many hours on my behalf."
Draft of power line impact study challenged
An environmental group has complained to the state attorney general about an incomplete draft environmental impact statement for a 138,000-volt Hawaiian Electric Co. transmission line to connect two substations.Hawaiian Electric officials, however, said the reason for a draft report is to get public feedback on the plan before it submits its final report.
Henry Curtis, executive director of Life of the Land, said yesterday he filed the complaint because important documents required in the draft statement for the controversial Kamoku-Pukele transmission line were not included.
Curtis contends the electric company is withholding relevant information that the public needs to know. He wants the attorney general to suspend the 45 days public comment period until that information is provided.
Scientist at UH wins prestigious award
David Karl, a University of Hawaii biological oceanographer, has received the highest honor presented by the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography.In accepting the prestigious G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award at a recent meeting in St. Louis, Karl said he believes one of society's most significant problems today is "science illiteracy."
He called upon the organization's members, who represent freshwater and marine systems, to become involved in educating the public about science and technology.
The society has presented the award annually since 1982 to individuals exemplifying "the standards of scholarship and creativity" set by its namesake. Hutchinson, a Yale ecologist who died in 1991, was one of the nation's foremost scientists.
Karl, 48, was cited for "leadership in the fields of methods development, microbial ecology, molecular ecology and biogeochemistry, for analysis of whole ecosystems in the Pacific and Antarctic Oceans and for exemplary teaching, mentoring and citizenship."
Panel OKs $25 million for East-West Center
A U.S. Senate subcommittee has approved $25 million for the operations of the East-West Center next year, but the measure still must meet the approval of the full Senate Appropriations Committee, both houses of Congress then the White House.Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, yesterday announced that the $25 million East-West Center budget was approved by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary.
By the year 2000, officials say, President Clinton wants to set aside only $5 million for East-West Center operations. The center's current budget is $12 million.
Water service disrupted to 150 Waianae homes
About 150 Waianae homes lost water yesterday because of a pipe leak, the second time in a week the 24-inch main has caused problems.Water service was interrupted from late morning until repairs were finished at about 2 p.m., the Board of Water Supply said.
The main is located off Farrington Highway between Laaloa and Waiomea streets.
The first leak was detected Wednesday. The cause of the leaks in unknown, said board spokeswoman Tracy Burgo.
Civilian, four officers honored in ceremony
A civilian who intervened to save a man from a beating by a would-be robber was commended by Honolulu Police Chief Lee Donohue in an awards ceremony yesterday, which also recognized four police officers for outstanding conduct.Tim Vaa, a security guard at Aliamanu Intermediate School, was given a Certificate of Merit for a September incident at a Salt Lake Shopping Center bus stop.
A youth was trying to take a 71-year-old man's watch when Vaa intervened.
Officer Eddie Belluomini received a Certificate of Merit for persuading a man on April 1 to leave a ledge from which he was threatening to jump.
Officer David Yamamoto got a Certificate of Merit, and officers William Badua and John O'Neill got divisional commendations for helping a woman who suffered a seizure at a Mariah Carey concert in February.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffPolice probe death from fall
HILO -- Police have opened a manslaughter investigation in the death of Charles Rogers, 49, of Paradise Park subdivision, who died from a fall after being shoved by his girlfriend during an argument, they said.Rogers suffered a skull fracture Wednesday when he hit his head on the floor of his home.
He died Friday at Queen's Hospital, and an autopsy showed brain injury as the cause of death.
High winds whip up brush fire
WAILUKU -- High winds and hilly terrain continued to make fighting a brush fire near the Lahaina pali lookout difficult for firefighters.The fire, which began at about 3 p.m. Sunday, is contained within an area of more than 200 acres mauka of Honoapiilani Highway up to the 900-foot elevation level.
But winds gusting up to 40 miles per hour have kept firefighters busy putting out blazes within the contained area, Assistant Fire Chief Clayton Carvalho said.
"We're not declaring it extinguished. There still are a lot of hot spots," he said.
Carvalho said 25 men from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources joined county firefighters yesterday in battling the brush fire.
The cause of the fire remained unknown, he said.
Big Isle police warn of scam
HILO -- Big Island police are warning residents about a telephone scam.Police say two people have contacted them to report they lost several hundred dollars to a man who said they had won a new car.
The man, who called himself David Singer, told one victim on June 8 that he was from the "National Publisher's Clearinghouse" and she had won a new Cadillac Eldorado.
He told the victim to wire $275 to cover the cost of tax, license and fees.
He then called her back and told her instead of the car, she had won $40,000 and needed to send $225 to comply with Internal Revenue Service regulations.
The woman never heard from him again and did not receive either the car or the money.
Police say reputable companies will never ask winners to wire cash for a prize.
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