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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire service
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Fishing ban extended to Nov. 15
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council voted yesterday to extend the ban on catching seven species of fish in the main Hawaiian Islands bottom-fish fishery to Nov. 15 from Sept. 1.
The extension is to allow the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center to determine whether there is risk of overfishing onaga, ehu, gindai, opakapaka, kalekale, lehi and hapuupuu.
The council also began talks regarding legislation to permit U.S.-flagged, foreign-built purse-seine vessels to fish in American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and U.S. Pacific remote island areas including, among others, Wake, Palmyra and Johnston Atoll.
Sewage overflows on Lanai
About 2,500 gallons of sewage overflowed from a manhole Wednesday on Lanai, according to a Maui County news release.
The Maui County Department of Environmental Management said the overflow occurred at 3:20 p.m. Wednesday due to grease accumulation in the main line on Fraser Avenue.
Waste water flowed from the manhole on Fraser, down the street and into residential yards and a storm drain that does not lead to the ocean, the county said. After the line was cleared, crews disinfected spill sites, and the Department of Health was notified.
4 are rescued after boat floods
The Coast Guard and Honolulu firefighters rescued four people yesterday after their boat was swamped by a wave off Maili Point.
At about 9:48 a.m. the four boaters reported that their 19-foot pleasure craft had taken on too much water after it was hit by a wave. A Coast Guard air crew and a Honolulu Fire Department helicopter rescued the four men. They were safely ashore by 10:41 a.m.
Federal funds aid ranch workers
The U.S. Labor Department says a $389,000 emergency federal grant has been approved to assist workers who lost jobs with the closure of Molokai Ranch.
The grant will help 60 people receive skills assessment, career counseling and new training. About 120 lost their jobs when Molokai Ranch, the largest employer on the island, shut down operations May 21. The ranch included Molokai Lodge, Kaluakoi Golf Course, Kaupoa Beach Village and Maunaloa Tri-Plex Theater.
Grants expand crisis broadcasts
Two radio stations are receiving $100,000 each in state money to install emergency generators to help broadcast emergency messages in various languages during a natural disaster or other catastrophe, Gov. Linda Lingle announced yesterday.
Broadcasting in other languages was among the recommendations made by the Governor's Comprehensive Communications Review Committee, convened after the Oct. 15, 2006, earthquake and major aftershock.
Radio stations KZOO (1210 AM) and KNDI (1270 AM) are receiving the grants. KZOO can broadcast messages in Japanese, while KNDI can provide emergency instructions in 11 languages, Lingle's office said.
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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff
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HONOLULU
Police seek man in mail theft case
Police need help in finding a man wanted for questioning in a mail theft case.
Between 10:15 p.m. June 3 and 5:45 a.m. June 4, 132 mailboxes were broken into by a man seen on surveillance video at three apartment buildings on Kinau Street.
The Postal Inspection Service sent out notification letters to all residents in the area, asking them to monitor their bank and credit accounts.
Police describe the man as in his 20s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and about 180 pounds. Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cell phone.
Suspect arrested in Waikiki robbery
An 18-year-old Salt Lake man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly robbing two women on a Waikiki sidewalk in April.
Police said two men went up to two women, ages 29 and 27, in Waikiki at about 12:10 a.m. April 17 and took their purses. After a brief struggle, the two suspects fled in a waiting vehicle, police said.
The men were positively identified, and police arrested the 18-year-old, the second of the two suspects, Wednesday for investigation of two counts of second-degree robbery. The first suspect had previously been arrested.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
84-year-old hit by truck on Kauai
ELEELE, Kauai » An 84-year-old Eleele woman was struck yesterday by a pickup truck in the parking lot of the Eleele Shopping Center and suffered a serious head injury.
Lena Mendonca was crossing the entrance of the shopping center, near the western end, when a pickup, driven by 46-year-old Carlo Salvador, also of Eleele, struck her, police officials said.
Mendonca sustained serious head injuries and was transported to Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital. She was later airlifted to the Queen's Medical Center for further treatment, county officials added.
Police said that they are still investigating the incident.
Fire damages facilities in Paia
Fire caused an estimated $60,000 in damage to an abandoned building and three trailers containing bicycles in Paia, but spared a nearby retail store and other buildings yesterday, according to Maui County.
No one was injured in the fire.
The fire was reported at 9:42 a.m. yesterday and brought under control at 11:01 a.m.
Three fire engines, a hazardous materials unit and a fire rescue unit responded to the fire. The 50-by-40-foot abandoned building was burned, and the trailers were damaged.
The fire did not reach a retail store about 10 feet away, as well as other buildings, acting Battalion Chief Allen Duarte said.
The store was not yet opened, and no employees or customers were affected, the county said.
A portion of Baldwin Avenue, between Puakou Place and the Paia Mill, was shut down during the incident.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.