Stadium terrorism exercise planned

Hundreds of city, state and federal officials will converge on Aloha Stadium Friday for "Poi Bowl 2006," but it's no game.

Poi Bowl is a full-scale exercise to evaluate the city's communications capability to respond to terrorist incidents at the stadium during major athletic events.

Participating city agencies include the Honolulu Police and Fire departments, Emergency Medical Services Division and Oahu Civil Defense Agency.

The purpose of the exercise is to evaluate the city's Urban Area Security Initiative Tactical Interoperable Communications Plan.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security requires UASI-designated urban areas to test their communications with this kind of exercise to qualify for federal grants.