Worn bolts and nuts blamed for accident
Worn securing bolts and wing nuts used to secure casting forms for an elevator shaft at one of the Hawaiki Towers caused the Sept. 17 industrial accident where one worker was injured.Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co., the general contractor, has been told by the state Occupational Safety and Health Division of the Labor Department to replace any worn securing bolts and wing nuts, and secure all fasteners during and after completion of each climbing operation. The investigation is continuing while inspectors determine if any occupational safety and health standards and regulations were violated at the 404 Piikoi St. project.
The elevator core walls are built with a climbing form system.
The forms are elevated to the next level after casting the walls below.
The state's initial investigation showed that the steel frame securing bolts failed because the wing nuts were worn. Additionally, only three bolts had been installed, rather than four.
It is not known whether the lack of the fourth bolt contributed to the failure.
Police union chief denies he's resigned
Hawaii's police union president Bennie Atkinson denied a news report that he has submitted his resignation.Lt. Atkinson said he has not stepped down as president of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, but a television station quoted sources saying Atkinson submitted his resignation to the union's board of directors.
"I'm still the president and I'm working hard at preparing for the next negotiation sessions so we can get officers more money and keep them in Hawaii," Atkinson said this morning.
The board is scheduled to meet Oct. 23.
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Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffWaianae teen arrested for threatening teacher
Police yesterday arrested a Waianae High School student for allegedly threatening a teacher and a security guard.The boy was arrested at 10:45 a.m. after reportedly threatening the two men, police said. He was booked on two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening and released to his parents.
Maui girl hit by vehicle suffers multiple injuries
WAILUKU -- A 6-year-old Maui girl was in guarded condition at Queen's Hospital this morning after being struck by a vehicle in Kihei.The girl, who suffered multiple fractures and head injury, was previously listed in critical condition and transported from the Valley Isle to Honolulu, Maui police officer Kirk Smythe said.
The girl was crossing South Kihei Road near Kamaole Sands condominium with a 57-year-old man and a 2-year-old girl, when the vehicle struck her and the man at 6:48 last night, Smythe said. The man suffered scrapes to his right leg, he said.
Big Isle woman burns to death in car crash
KAILUA-KONA -- An unidentified woman was found burned to death inside her car following an accident on Mamalahoa Highway in which her car crashed into another and burst into flames, police and fire officials said.The woman was driving south in a 1988 Toyota in the Keauhou area about 2 p.m. when her car swerved into the opposite lane.
She hit a Ford Escort driven by Michael Starr, 65, of Los Altos, Calif.
Starr was taken to Queen's Hospital in critical condition.
Starr's wife, Alice, 64, a passenger in his car, was taken to Kona Hospital where she remains in guarded condition.
An autopsy was ordered and the investigation is continuing.
In other news...
An 11-year-old girl was arrested and charged for allegedly stealing from and slapping a 13-year-old girl.
The student was charged with second-degree theft and third-degree assault, police said. The incident occured at Aiea Intermediate School yesterday at 1:15 p.m.
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