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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
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Work at night to close part of Ward Avenue
Ward Avenue between Kinau and Beretania streets will close tonight for emergency road repairs.
The closure starts at 7:30 p.m. and extends through 5 a.m. tomorrow. The work is the first phase of a month-long project to repair sinkholes that appeared in the roadway last month.
Metal plates were put over the sinkholes to allow continued use of the thoroughfare. Tonight's repairs include filling cavities around a sewer line with concrete. The repairs are expected to take about a month.
"We realize this will be an inconvenience to some motorists, especially during the holiday season," said Wayne Hashiro, director of the city's Department of Design and Construction, in a news release. "But these emergency repairs have to be done sooner rather than later."
Pilot program expands bus service to Waipio
The city is scheduled to expand its bus service to the Waipio Gentry area under a new pilot program.
Beginning Dec. 5, Route 433, which currently takes passengers between the Waipahu Transit Center and Waikele Shopping Center, will be extended to provide service Mondays through Saturdays to the Gentry Business Park area, where Costco and Kaiser Permanente's Waipio Clinic are located.
"We are expanding this route in recognition of the increasing importance of Waipio Gentry as an area of commerce that provides a number of services for the Central Oahu region," Mayor Mufi Hannemann said.
"The extended service will make it easier for Waipio Gentry residents to travel to the Waipahu Transit Center, where they can make connections to many east- and westbound routes," City Councilman Nestor Garcia said.
The change represents the city's first step in implementing its Central Oahu Bus Service Plan. The Waipio area is currently served by Route 62, which connects Wahiawa Heights and Ala Moana Center, and Route 96, the Waipio Gentry Express, which provides commuter service to downtown Honolulu.
For more information about this route modification and other bus service, call 848-5555 or visit TheBus' Web site at www.thebus.org.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staff
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Head-on collision kills woman on Big Island
PAHALA, Hawaii » A 24-year-old woman died yesterday morning after she tried to pass a car on Hawaii Belt Road in Kau and collided head-on with an oncoming car.
The woman was identified as Rodalyn G. Abellera of Pahala.
Big Island police said Abellera was pronounced dead at Kona Community Hospital. The 34-year-old driver of the second vehicle, who was complaining of chest pain, was taken to Hilo Medical Center with minor injuries and released.
The accident happened about 8:54 a.m., less than a mile north of the 60-mile marker on the thoroughfare. Police said Abellera was traveling south in a 2000 Honda two-door sedan when she tried to pass the car in front of her, crossed the center line and hit a four-door 1999 Honda, which was traveling north.
Police said both drivers were wearing seat belts.
The traffic fatality is the 31st on the Big Island this year, compared with 37 at the same time in 2004.
Collision with pickup kills motorcyclist, 36
A 36-year-old Haiku man died Saturday after he collided with a pickup truck on Hana Highway.
About 6:58 p.m., police said, the man was traveling east on a 1999 Yamaha motorcycle on Hana Highway and overtook a vehicle in a no-passing zone at the exit of Hookipa Park. The motorcyclist struck an oncoming white 1999 Nissan pickup truck driven by a 42-year-old Haiku man.
The cyclist was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead six hours after the incident. Police said he was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. The pickup truck driver was wearing a seat belt.
This is the 12th traffic-related fatality on Maui this year, compared with 17 at the same time last year.
HONOLULU
Tour bus hits barrier on H-1 near Punahou
A man who was driving a tour bus with six people aboard might have had a heart attack before veering into a barrier on the H-1 freeway yesterday, slightly injuring two passengers, police said.
The driver, whose age was not available, was taken to the Queen's Medical Center in critical condition.
The injured passengers were taken to Straub Clinic & Hospital with lacerations.
The crash happened about 2:43 p.m. when the white 1998 minibus was traveling east on the freeway near the Punahou Street overpass. There were four visitors from Australia on board and two from Wisconsin, police said. They did not say which were injured in the accident. Speed and alcohol were not involved.
LEEWARD OAHU
Security guard beaten by junkyard intruders
Police are looking for three male suspects who allegedly assaulted a security guard at a Pearl City junkyard.
Sometime before 8:53 p.m. Saturday, police said the three suspects entered the fenced area of ABC Used Auto Parts on Lehua Avenue. A live-in security guard conducted an area check after seeing the lights of a vehicle approach.
Police said the security guard, 54, was struck about 20 times with a pipelike instrument. He was taken to Pali Momi Medical Center in serious condition. Police said the suspects fled before police arrived.
One of the suspects, about 35, is described as 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds, with a stocky build and shaved head. A description of the other suspects was not available.
Alleged threats with cleaver bring charges
Police arrested and charged a 58-year-old Pearl City woman after she allegedly threatened her roommate with a cleaver.
She was identified as Patricia Mulleitner. About 11:05 a.m. Friday, police said a 48-year-old woman was sitting on the couch in the living room with her 10-year-old son. Mulleitner was upset at the victim and waved a cleaver at her.
Police said she then threw the cleaver, which landed about a foot and a half from where the victim was sitting. Mulleitner then picked up the cleaver and chopped the end table near the victim. Police said she then broke a 50-gallon fish tank with the cleaver before going into her room. The victim told police that Mulleitner had struck her several times a day earlier.
Mulleitner was charged Saturday for first-degree terroristic threatening, first-degree reckless endangering and abuse of a household member. She is being held in lieu of $11,000.
CENTRAL OAHU
Sex assault reported after alcohol blackout
Police are investigating a case involving a 28-year-old woman who was sexually assaulted at a liquor establishment in Wahiawa. The woman told police the assault occurred sometime between 9 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday. Police said the woman blacked out after consuming alcohol at the liquor establishment.
WINDWARD OAHU
Man held in alleged assault on mother, 79
Police arrested a 48-year-old Kailua man after he allegedly broke his 79-year-old mother's nose and jaw.
Police said the victim and suspect live together. The 48-year-old man was arrested during the weekend on suspicion of second-degree assault. Charges are pending.