Newswatch Star-Bulletin staff and wire service

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Maui team wins auto skills event

Two Maui High School students won the state championships Saturday in the 2008 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition.

Louel Valdez, 17, and Rodney Gazmen, 16, will represent Hawaii this June in the 2008 Ford/AAA National Student Auto Skills Championships in Dearborn, Mich. Their instructor, Neill Nakamura, will join them.

Five student teams, made up of 10 teens, competed in Saturday's event to diagnose and repair problems planted into a Ford Escape. Problems ranged from faulty wiring to malfunctioning electronics.

The pair will compete against students from across the country for scholarships and other prizes. AAA sponsors the contest to attract young people to the automotive profession.

Airport air conditioning gets funds

About $19.5 million has been released by the state for use toward replacing Honolulu Airport's overseas terminal chiller plant for air conditioning.

The project is part of the state's $2.3 billion, 12-year modernization plan for Hawaii's airports. Once completed, there will be three chiller plants to cool the overseas terminal's three concourses and the interisland terminal. The new plants will be located at the overseas terminal and Diamond Head and Ewa concourses, and will be connected together through chilled loop.

400 at Chaminade to get degrees

About 400 students will receive degrees Monday at Chaminade University's Spring Commencement Ceremony, the university said in a news release.

The graduation ceremony begins at 7 p.m., in the Neal S. Blaisdell Center Arena.

Leslie Wilcox, chief executive officer and president of PBS Hawaii and a former television news anchor, will be the commencement speaker.

Shaunalei Kauinohea Awong will be the undergraduate speaker, and Melanie G. Legdesog will represent graduate students.

Kauai County opens info kiosks

KAPAA, Kauai » County officials have opened up computer kiosks for the public at the Kalaheo and Kapaa Neighborhood Centers.

Browsing is limited, however, to government Web sites.

During normal business hours, from Monday to Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., residents who do not have home computers can use the kiosks to access the county's Web site for information, apply for a job, check their building permit status or make credit card payments toward their sewer bill or real property taxes, officials added.

In addition, other government Web sites can also be accessed to search for a job or for information on career development.

Police, Fire, Courts Star-Bulletin staff

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Firefighters put out Big Isle blaze

Big Island firefighters extinguished a burning wooden home in Pahoa late Wednesday night.

At 11:48 p.m., firefighters responded to a report of a building fire on Opakapaka Street. The single-story wooden structure was engulfed in flames, and firefighters got the blaze under control by 12:15 a.m.

There were no injuries at the time, and only one man lived at the home. The fire left about $250,000 in damage, and a cause has yet to be determined.