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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
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Makaha bridge closes again
Makaha Bridge No. 3 on Farrington Highway near Kili Drive will be closed again today between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. for repair of the bridge railing and sidewalk, damaged by a fire on July 27.
Traffic will be rerouted through Makaha Valley Road, onto Kili Drive and back onto Farrington Highway. Pedestrians will still be allowed to cross the bridge during construction.
Wildland fire protection grants are being offered by DLNR
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is inviting communities and private landowners to apply for grants to develop protection from wildland fires in 2007-08.
The competitive program, in which successful grants are chosen from among applicants, is funded by Congress through the U.S. Forest Service.
The kinds of proposals that are acceptable are wildland fire protection plans, projects to remove fuel such as dead trees and brush, and fire education, prevention and action programs, Young said.
Applications are due Sept. 8. For more information, call state forester Wayne Ching at 587-4173.
300 Schofield soldiers leave for duty in Iraq
About 300 Schofield Barracks soldiers were to leave today for a year's tour of duty in Iraq.
They are part of the 7,000 soldiers belonging to the 25th Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team and headquarters element that will spend a few weeks in Kuwait for orientation before conveying to Iraq. Nearly 70 percent of the deploying soldiers already have left Wahiawa, an Army spokeswoman said.
In 2004, the 3rd Brigade was sent to Afghanistan. Fifteen soldiers were killed in that deployment.
Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of the 25th Infantry Division, and his staff will command 28,000 to 30,000 U.S. forces in northern Iraq, an area the size of Utah running north of Baghdad to the Syrian border.
Campaign tries to cut underage drinking
Mayor Mufi Hannemann initiated a new campaign to curb underage drinking in restaurants, bars and lounges.
Hannemann and Tani Lynn Fujimoto, 18, local singer and actor, will appear together on television stations and educational material for the public service campaign called "Be Smart, Don't Start."
The city will work with the Department of Education to distribute material to driver education students on underage drinking.
The campaign comes a week after two teens -- Tanya House, 18, and Leslie C. Kim, 16 -- were killed after their car flew off a roadway and crashed into a canal at Kalaeloa. Police said alcohol might have been a factor.
The Honolulu Liquor Commission released a study yesterday by the University of Hawaii's Cancer Research Center of Hawaii stating that 35 percent of restaurants, bars and lounges on Oahu continue to sell alcohol to those under 21. The percentage is a drop from the 80 percent range when the Liquor Commission first launched the undercover Team PLUS operation four years ago.
Grant helps school improve curriculum
WAIMEA, Hawaii » The Richard Smart Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation will grant more than $1 million over a five-year period to Waimea Elementary School on the Big Island to help the school overcome deficiencies, the foundation announced.
The school, with an enrollment of 676 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, has failed to make "annual yearly progress" as defined in the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the foundation said.
The grant will be used to improve school curriculum and instruction, build staff leadership and encourage community involvement in the school.
The Richard Smart fund was established by former Parker Ranch owner Richard Smart to use revenues from the ranch to benefit schools, a hospital and other charities.
What's inside your Star-Bulletin this weekend:
Saturday
Keeping Faith: It's not the surf, but the feast that will cause a North Shore traffic jam tomorrow as the folks at Liliuokalani Protestant Church expect 2,000 people at their famous down-home luau.
Sunday
Today: NBC's "Las Vegas" filmed the opening shows of its fall season on Oahu, turning the Turtle Bay Resort lobby into a facsimile of a tropical casino.
Business: As Hawaii continues to enjoy a prolonged economic boom, employers have become creative in developing ways to retain good employees.
Business: The Shoe Box, a newly opened downtown boutique, has caught customers' eyes by offering footwear and jewelry with a little sparkle.
Travel: If it's a pirate's life you're after, the Star-Bulletin will take you on a trip to the open seas.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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NORTH SHORE
Couple arrested in theft of mangoes
Two alleged mango thieves were caught yesterday in Mokuleia.
Police said a man, 44, and a woman, 40, were seen at 6:30 a.m. yesterday taking mangoes from a mango farm in Mokuleia.
Police were called, and the witness took down the license plate number.
Responding officers arrested the pair on suspicion of second-degree theft.
HONOLULU
Fight over bedsheet leads to arrest
A 54-year-old homeless man allegedly punched another man, 58, Wednesday night in a fight over a bedsheet.
Police said the victim confronted the suspect after he allegedly took a bedsheet from another person at 8:55 p.m. Wednesday on Beretania Street in downtown Honolulu.
The victim told the suspect not to take it, and the suspect allegedly punched him twice, police said.
The 58-year-old victim fell, hitting his head on the concrete portion of the roadway, police said. He was taken in critical condition to the Queen's Medical Center.
Police arrested the suspect for investigation of first-degree assault.
Man arrested after bus driver is struck
Police arrested a 41-year-old man who allegedly punched a city bus driver Wednesday night.
Police said the bus driver, a 43-year-old man, would not let the suspect get on the bus because he was being disorderly at a bus stop at Ala Moana at about 7:50 p.m.
The suspect then punched the driver in the face, police said.
Police found and arrested the suspect for investigation of interference with an operator of a public transit vehicle.
WINDWARD OAHU
Woman is accused of threats at school
Police arrested a 46-year-old woman who allegedly threatened to return to a Kailua school with an AK-47 assault rifle.
Police said the suspect and another woman, 44, who works at the school, were arguing at about 8:40 a.m. yesterday when the suspect made the threat.
She was later arrested for investigation of first-degree terroristic threatening.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Arson is suspected in Kalaoa house fire
KAILUA-KONA » Police arrested a 24-year-old Kailua-Kona man Wednesday on suspicion of burglary and criminal property damage in connection with a house fire on Ahikawa Street in Kalaoa.
The suspect, who was not immediately charged, was taken to Kona Community Hospital with burns on his feet, they said. Police said he is a relative of the property owner.
Fire officials said that when they arrived in response to the call at 1:09 p.m. Wednesday, they found a torch or a lighter and spilled gasoline.
Police described the location as a converted garage. The financial loss was not immediately determined.