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Major Kalanianaole Highway repairs that would have closed two lanes have been put on hold until early next year, state Transportation Director Kazu Hayashida said today. Kalanianaole road
job delayedHe said the Board of Water Supply, which is doing major pipeline work, asked that the project be deferred.
Work on the $6 million project was to begin last week but was delayed while the board's request was discussed with the contractors, he said.
The mayor asked city departments to look at ways to ease the situation because so many state and city road projects are going on, Hayashida said. "We agreed as long as they could work with the contractors."
Part of the highway, from West Hind Drive to Ainakoa Avenue, would have been dug up for two years to replace water mains and gas lines.
Work was scheduled between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to reduce disruption. Still, East Honolulu motorists anticipated spending an additional half-hour on the road traveling to town during those hours.
Hayashida said the contractors are looking at ways to cut the job to about a year.
The Dec. 10 Honolulu Marathon will have a new look as the Arthritis Foundation is recruiting people for the first time to run or walk the 26.5-mile course. Arthritis group
to join marathonTo join, participants collect $1,500 in pledges to benefit the Arthritis Foundation mission -- to support research to find a cure for and prevent arthritis and improve quality of life for those affected by arthritis.
An 18-week marathon-training program is in the works, along with fund-raising clinics. Team members receive automatic marathon entry fee, an overnight stay at the Ilikai Hotel and other benefits.
For further information, call 942-3636.
Kamikawa to resign as state tax director
After six years as state tax director, Ray Kamikawa will leave his post Aug. 31 to return to work in the private sector.Kamikawa "guided the state through difficult budgetary years by improving enforcement and compliance with tax laws, simplifying tax forms and expanding taxpayer education and services," Gov. Ben Cayetano said.
Marie Okamura, the Tax Department's deputy director for the past year, will succeed Kamikawa. She will assume the position on Sept. 1.
Okamura also has served as the department's taxation services administrator for 12 years.
Kamehameha to add high school on Maui
Kamehameha Schools will expand its Maui campus in Pukalani to include a high school. The curriculum will be expanded from kindergarten through eighth grade to include grades nine through 12.Throughout Kamehameha's yearlong Strategic Planning process, stakeholders have repeatedly requested an expansion of educational opportunities for Hawaiian children, particularly those not living on Oahu.
The decision to expand the Maui campus and the June groundbreaking for a permanent East Hawaii Campus in Keaau are among initial responses to that input.
The Maui campus has 152 students and is projected to increase to more than 1,100 students through grade 12.
Playboy photos led to discharge, sailor says
A former Pearl Harbor-based Navy petty officer says she was discharged because she posed nude in the September issue of Playboy magazine.Sherry Lynne White, 26, who had served in the Navy for eight years, said she was discharged for misconduct under honorable conditions on July 9 .
"I felt I wasn't doing anything wrong by posing," White said. "I'm not making the Navy look bad by having those pictures there."
White most recently had served as a naval information systems technician second class as part of the Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Lt. Cmdr. Dave Werner, a Navy spokesman at Pearl Harbor where White was stationed, said both the Navy and White agreed to the discharge.
He would not say if the Playboy pictures played a part in the discharge.
Tomorrow
Some events of interest10 a.m., National Korean War Armistice Day: Commemoration at the State Capitol's Korean War Memorial.
Corrections
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Pagoda Hotel death ruled to be no homicide
Police say the death of a 52-year-old Kauai man who was found in his Pagoda Hotel room last week was not a homicide.The medical examiner's office determined Stephen Bogardus died of natural causes from cancer, police said.
Bogardus was found inside his hotel room with what appeared to be stab wounds to his neck on July 18. However, the wounds were later determined to be caused by ruptured arteries, police said. Bogardus was in Honolulu for cancer treatment.
Meanwhile, police are continuing to investigate the death of Manu Brown, 43. He was found unconscious and seriously injured outside a Maili home on July 18 and died several hours later at Queen's Hospital.
Investigators determined Brown died from being struck by a car. However, it is unknown whether he was hit intentionally, police said.
Witnesses told police Brown was involved in a fight shortly before he was found on the highway.
House fire in Liliha under investigation
Fire investigators were looking for the cause of a blaze that damaged a house in Liliha this morning.No one was home when the fire started at about 9:31 a.m. at 2424-A Lanai St. It was under control at 9:44 a.m., said Fire Capt. Richard Soo. It was not known this morning how many people lived in the home.
Kuakini firefighter Bradley Chong, 21, discovered a cat inside the smoke-filled living room. He carried the cat to the firetruck and gave it oxygen.
"Saving a life is saving a life," said Chong. "I have a cat, and I would want someone to do the same for my cat."
Suspect sought in indecent exposure
Honolulu police are asking for the public's help in locating a man who exposed himself to a teen-age girl in Manoa on July 10.The girl, 17, was confronted by a naked man in the woman's restroom at Manoa Marketplace at 7:30 p.m., police said. The man is described as in his 20s, 5 feet 7, 150 pounds, with black hair and a thin build.
