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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
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Gas leak forces intersection's closure
A ruptured gas line forced police to redirect traffic around the Punahou and Beretania streets intersection yesterday because of a broken gas line.
Workers installing a sidewalk handicap ramp at the corner hit a 4-inch gas line, said Steve Golden, spokesman for the Gas Co.
The rupture was at the mauka/Diamond Head corner, near Central Union Church.
There were no injuries, Golden said.
Honolulu police were alerted of the gas leak just before 10 a.m.
They closed Beretania Street at Artesian Street. They also closed Punahou Street at Wilder Avenue and Young Street.
Vehicles exiting H-1 freeway at Punahou were not allowed to travel makai on Punahou.
The gas line was fixed by 11:30 a.m. Golden said. But some lanes remained closed as the city contractor continued work on the sidewalk.
Bulky-item pickups includes North Shore
The city has expanded its monthly pickup of bulky garbage items to the North Shore.
Residents in the area from Waialua to Sunset should put bulky discards at the curb by 6 a.m. on the second Wednesday of each month, beginning today. "Expanding bulky-item pickup service has been one of my priorities," Mayor Mufi Hannemann said.
The Leeward Coast gained the service in March and the Windward Coast in August. Hannemann said the rest of Oahu -- Halawa to Wahiawa -- will get the service early next year.
"This way we hope to discourage illegal dumping and bring about equity with other residents who have had monthly bulky-item pickup for many hears," Hannemann said.
For details and pickup schedules, visit www.opala.org.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staff
WEST OAHU
Man hit by car while crossing street dies
A 31-year-old man from Pearl City was killed when he was struck by a four-door sedan while crossing Kamehameha Highway in Pearl City near Blaisdell Park.
The victim was walking south as he crossed the highway in a marked crosswalk, police said.
The accident took place at 3:26 p.m. yesterday, 36 feet Ewa of Kaluamoi Drive.
The man was taken by ambulance in critical condition to the Queen's Medical Center, where he later died.
The man was struck by a 1995 black Buick Riviera driven by a 23-year-old Waipahu man, who had a passenger. Neither man was injured, police said.
Police shut down the town-bound lanes of Kamehameha Highway just Ewa of Kaluamoi Street from 3:45 p.m. while traffic investigators worked and reopened the lanes at 6 p.m.
Bank teller's tip leads to escapee's arrest
Police arrested escapee Paul Nakamura yesterday morning after a bank teller recognized him and notified police.
Nakamura failed to return to the Laumaka Work Furlough Center on Saturday night.
Nakamura was granted parole Sept. 20 and was to have been released after showing the Hawaii Paroling Authority proof of residency.
Police said Nakamura walked into the American Savings Bank at Pearlridge Center about 9:30 a.m. yesterday. A teller recognized Nakamura from a CrimeStoppers release Monday and called police.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Visitor is airlifted from Molokini Crater
The Coast Guard airlifted a 74-year-old mainland visitor yesterday morning from Molokini Crater on Maui.
A Coast Guard official said the man was unconscious and not breathing when he was transferred to an ambulance in Kihei.
He was taken to Maui Memorial Hospital.
Molokini Crater is a favorite dive and snorkeling spot for visitors and locals.