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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
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[ BRIEFLY ]
Damaged roads remain restricted
WAILUKU » Some Big Island and Maui roads remain closed or restricted to local traffic following two earthquakes Sunday and torrential rains Monday.
Piilani Highway at Kaupo between mile post 27.5 and 37 is closed as a result of mudslides, county spokeswoman Ellen Pelissero said.
Kahekili Highway between Kapalua and Waihee remains restricted to local traffic, pending an assessment of road conditions following the earthquakes, Pelissero said.
On the Big Island, Hawaii County officials have closed Sand Gulch Road in Kalopa in the Hamakua District.
Big Isle trails closed pending inspection
State officials have closed three hiking trails on the Big Island after the earthquakes.
Trails at Muliwai in Hamakua, Ainapo in Ka'u and Pololu Valley in North Kohala have been shut down pending their inspection.
"We are closing these areas to protect members of the public until we can verify the safe condition of these wilderness trails," said state land board chairman Peter Young yesterday.
The Muliwai trail is accessed through Waipio Valley and extends 18 miles through Waimanu Valley. The Ainapo trail goes though the Kapapala Forest Reserve on the slope of Mauna Loa.
The Pololu trail starts at the end of the paved Hawi-Niulii road down the face of a cliff to the shoreline.
Water supplied to cut-off homesteads
The Department of Agriculture is working with Civil Defense, farmers and other officials on the Big Island to ensure that they are adequately supplied with water after landslides triggered by Sunday's earthquakes and subsequent heavy rains damaged irrigation systems, state officials said.
Water trucks were sent to supply water to about 80 Hawaiian homesteaders in Kawaihae on the Big Island after landslides covered up intake areas of reservoirs in Waimea and the Hamakua Ditch, cutting off their water, Gov. Linda Lingle said.
On Oahu, Board of Water Supply officials said it appeared residents heeded calls to conserve water during the blackouts that lasted past midnight in some communities.
The only communities that lost water were upper Makakilo, where a water main broke shortly after the quakes struck, and the upper Nuuanu Valley area, where a pump motor burned out after power was restored, she said.
Service to both of those areas was restored by Monday.
Although electricity is not needed to get water to customers, it is needed at pumping stations that get the water to reservoirs on higher ground in communities across the islands.
Board spokeswoman Su Shin said some residents in upper floors of high-rise buildings may have been without water because it is the city's responsibility only to get the water to the building itself. Some buildings that had backup power were able to pump water to upper floors, while others weren't, Shin said.
Other developments
Inspectors arrive: Nine members of a structural assistance team from the Army Corps of Engineers arrived on the Big Island yesterday to help state and county officials inspect Big Island bridges and roads.
In the air: The Hawaii Army National Guard has also moved a Black Hawk helicopter and a CH-47 helicopter to the Kona Coast to help inspect portions of the Hamakua Ditch.
Disaster centers opening soon: Hawaii County Civil Defense officials are expected to coordinate with the state and FEMA about opening disaster relief stations along the affected coast.
Tourism concerns: Tourism officials are watching the rate of hotel bookings in case of a drop-off in visitors. Gov. Linda Lingle and Marsha Wienert, state tourism liaison, proclaimed the state ready and open for business, but acknowledged that the worldwide publicity about the earthquake could be a problem.
Forums on mass transit planned
The city is holding its final two informational meetings to update the public on its mass transit plans. The meetings begin at 7 p.m. and are planned for Tuesday in Kaneohe in the Heeia Elementary School cafeteria and in Nanakuli at the Nanaikapono Elementary School cafeteria on Oct. 30.
Mayor Mufi Hannemann, members of his staff and the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project team will be on hand to brief the public and answer questions.
SHINING STARS
4 UH professors earn national honors
The University of Hawaii-Manoa has four professors who are members of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, and three have academy medals for outstanding achievements.
The three who have received National Academy of Sciences Medals, awarded only once every three years, are:
» Klaus Wyrtki, professor emeritus of oceanography, who holds the Alexander Agassiz Medal for his pioneering studies of ocean circulation, the Southern Oscillation and El Niño.
» Klaus Keil, planetary scientist and former interim dean of the School of Ocean, Earth Science and Technology, who received the J. Lawrence Smith Medal for his studies of minerals of meteorites and the origin of the solar system.
» Steven Stanley, a leader in paleobiology who holds the Mary Clark Thompson Medal for studies of mollusks and how they and other organisms evolved as the global carbonate cycle changed over geologic time.
Oceanographer Dave Karl, the fourth honoree, is one of the nation's leading microbial biologists and principal investigator for the Center for Microbial Oceanography, Research and Education. He was elected this year to the National Academy of Sciences and also to the American Academy of Microbiology.
"Shining Stars" runs Monday through Thursday.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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LEEWARD OAHU
Bicyclist dies from injuries suffered in crash
A 68-year-old Kapolei man died Monday from injuries sustained when the bicycle he was riding hit a truck on Sept. 29 in Kalaeloa, police said.
Police said the man was riding his bicycle east on Shangrila Street when he ignored a stop sign and headed into oncoming traffic. The bicyclist broadsided a Ford pickup truck heading south at the intersection of Enterprise Avenue, police said.
The man was thrown onto the roadway and was taken in serious condition to the Queen's Medical Center, police said. His condition worsened to critical, and he died Monday.
Police said the bicyclist was not wearing a helmet. This was Oahu's 75th fatality this year compared with 60 last year. The 47-year-old man driving the truck was uninjured.
Suspect is sought in attempted shooting
Police are searching for a 32-year-old man who allegedly shot at a 33-year-old man in Waianae yesterday at 12:01 a.m.
The suspect allegedly fired a gun at the other man while he was riding in a vehicle with his ex-girlfriend, police said. The suspect and victim left the area before police arrived. Police continued their investigation, found the victim through witnesses and have opened a second-degree attempted murder case.
Gun is allegedly used in threat to kill wife
Police arrested a 32-year-old man who allegedly pointed a gun at his wife and threatened to kill her.
Police said the man was arguing with his 31-year-old wife at their Waipahu home at about 2 p.m. on Sunday when he physically abused her, causing an injury. Police said the husband then got a gun, pointed it at his wife and threatened to kill her.
Police later found the gun and arrested the husband for investigation of first-degree terroristic threatening and abuse of a household member.
Discovery of firearm leads to man's arrest
Police arrested a 29-year-old man in a firearm case after the man allegedly drove his car into the wall of a Leeward business.
Police said the man hit the wall at 85-863 Farrington Highway at about 2:20 p.m. Monday. When a security guard went to investigate, he saw a handgun fall from the man's waist to the ground and called 911. Police arrested the man for investigation of a firearm violation.
Fire damages furniture at store in Waikele
Fire sprinklers doused a fire before firefighters arrived at a Waikele furniture store last night, but about $50,000 worth of furniture was damaged, a fire department spokesman said.
The fire broke out in a work area to the rear of the Ashley Furniture Store at about 7:20 p.m., burning the fabric on the wall and other combustibles, fire Capt. Kenison Tejada said.
Tejada said that there was probably more water damage than flame damage.
WINDWARD OAHU
Man walks out with store's cash register
Police were looking for a man who walked out of a Kahaluu store with the cash register during a robbery Monday.
Police said the man went into the store at about 1:02 p.m. and demanded money from the cashier. When the cashier couldn't open the register, the man got mad and threw a bottle at her, police said. The bottle bounced off the cashier's shoulder, hit a wooden partition and shattered, police said. The suspect then grabbed the register and walked out with it.
He was last seen in a vehicle heading toward Kahuku on Kamehameha Highway. The man was described as in his 20s.
HONOLULU
Forgery scheme to buy and use gift card fails
Police arrested a 34-year-old woman who allegedly used a forged check to buy a gift card and then tried to redeem the gift card at another store.
Police said the woman wrote a check to buy items and the gift card at a Kalihi store at about 4:50 p.m. Monday. She then went to another branch of the store to try to redeem the gift card, police said.
By that time the first store had learned that the check used in the purchase had been reported stolen and the gift card was invalidated.
The woman returned to the first store to get a refund on the gift card and was arrested for investigation of second-degree forgery, third-degree identification theft and third-degree theft.
Alleged sex assault leads to wife's arrest
Police arrested a 31-year-old Honolulu woman who allegedly sexually assaulted her 35-year-old husband. The man told police he had been sexually assaulted on two occasions by his wife on Saturday and Sunday.
Police arrested the woman Monday on suspicion of two counts of first-degree sexual assault and two counts of kidnapping.
4 men are arrested on gambling charges
Police arrested four men on federal arrest warrants for racketeering and illegal gambling.
The men who were charged Sunday are Raymond Gomes Jr., 43, of Waianae, Joe Scanlan White, 36, of Honolulu, Puiai Matautia, 34, of Waianae, and Matthew Taufete, 39, of Waipahu. Police found and arrested the four men between Oct. 13 and Oct. 15.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Kauai resident dies following a fist fight
A 44-year-old Kauai man died Saturday following a fist fight in Wailua Homesteads Friday night. Police said the man, Noah Carreira, suffered head injuries. He was taken to Wilcox Memorial Hospital where he died.