Keaau parents urged to put students on bus
KEAAU, Hawaii -- Traffic jams at the new Keaau Elementary School south of Hilo have police and school officials appealing to parents to send their children to school by bus.Parents carrying children in the family car have created 45-minute traffic backups since school opened Monday, said Officer Michael Leite.
The backups block traffic from Hilo trying to funnel through Keaau to lower Puna.
State Department of Education District Superintendent Dan Sakai said the school opened last year with kindergarten and first-grade children.
Monday was the first day for the second through fifth grades.
Sakai said he hopes the problem will settle down in a few days. But Leite noted that traffic will get worse when Keaau High School across the street opens next Tuesday.
Sakai said traffic flow through the area is designed to work, provided non-school traffic bypasses the area. But a bypass highway around Keaau is still under construction.
District Highway chief Stanley Tamura said the bypass is expected to be completed Jan. 26. But then additional work will be done on the old road in front of the schools, meaning more inconvenience until April, he said.
Frosty under wraps
Gov. Locke to speak at isle Dem's fund-raiser
Washington state governor Gary Locke, the first Chinese-American governor elected on the mainland, will speak in Hawaii at a Democratic Party fund-raising event this month.Elected in 1996, Locke made education a priority by creating the Washington Reading Corps to help children learn to read, hiring more teachers, reducing class size and creating scholarships. He also helped reduce business and occupation taxes.
The fund-raiser is scheduled for Jan. 22 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel.
Tickets are $100 each and tables are $1,000. For more information call 596-2980.
Host families needed for Okinawa students
The State Department of Education is seeking families of Oahu public or private high school students to host students from Okinawa in March as part of the 10th annual Hawaii/Okinawa Sister-State Student Exchange Program.About 30 host families are being sought for students visiting March 4-18. The ability to speak Japanese is not required.
The Okinawan students, who are responsible for personal expenses, will stay in the host families' homes on Oahu from March 4 to 15. They will also attend school with the families' high school-aged students.
Host families will need to provide food, amenities and transportation. They also are encouraged to include the students in family activities.
The Okinawan students will travel to the Big Island March 15-17, returning to Oahu to stay overnight at the Hawaii Okinawa Center on March 17 before heading back to Okinawa.
Families interested in hosting the students must submit applications to the Department of Education by Jan. 14.
Hawaii students interested in traveling to Okinawa in June must apply by March 10. Participants must be able to pay airfare and costs of $975. For more information or an application, call student activities specialist Lana Mito at 394-1304.
Corrections
The United States has won eight medals in previous Olympic judo competitions. A story Monday in Sports gave an incorrect total.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Car's windows smashed in case of 'road rage'
A 36-year-old man was arrested and another man was injured in what police call a "road rage" incident on the Pali Highway during yesterday's evening rush hour.The two men were involved in a traffic altercation while traveling in the Kailua-bound lanes of the Pali Highway at 5:30 p.m., police said.
Near Kamehameha Highway, the suspect got out of his car armed with a golf club and smashed the rear and front windows of the 21-year-old man's car.
The suspect then used the shaft of the golf club and jabbed the man in the neck before driving away.
He then turned himself into police a couple hours later. He was arrested for first-degree criminal property damage and unlawful entry into a car.
The younger man suffered minor injuries.
Two pipe bombs found at JC Penney warehouse
Police bomb squad units recovered explosive devices yesterday at the JC Penney warehouse in Kalihi.An employee discovered a pipe bomb near the loading docks of the Umi Street warehouse at about 12:10 p.m., police said.
Bomb technicians recovered the bomb. Another bomb, which had been detonated, was found 30 feet away.
Police said they have no suspects in the case.
Pearlridge Liberty House robbery suspect charged
Police charged a 30-year-old man yesterday for allegedly robbing the Pearlridge Liberty House store on New Year's Eve.Shannon K. Ciu was charged with first-degree robbery, police said. He is being held on $50,000 bail.
Ciu allegedly walked out of the store without paying for clothing.
When confronted by a security guard, he attempted to assault her with a martial-arts weapon, police said.
Ciu was identified Tuesday and arrested yesterday.
Police seek teen escapee from Kailua facility
Police are searching for a 16-year-old boy who escaped from the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility in November.The teen-ager escaped from the Kailua facility on Nov. 23, police said.
He was being held for auto theft and a firearms offense.
Police consider the boy dangerous.
He is described as 5 feet 9 inches tall, 160 pounds with short dark brown hair and a fair complexion. He has a scar on his left arm and an "R" tattooed on his left ankle. He also has three dots tattooed on his left hand.
If anyone has information about the boy's whereabouts, call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.
The Courts
Another suit filed over rock slide
A Canadian man has sued the state for negligence in the death of his wife and injury to his son in the rock slide at Sacred Falls on Mother's Day.Terri Zerebeski was killed and her son, Colin, suffered serious injuries in the May 9 tragedy that killed seven others and injured more than 30 other hikers.
The suit alleges the state failed to take precautions and adequately warn hikers of the danger of rock falls at the popular nature park.
The state had previously been sued over the fatal rock slide. In October, Rodney E. Woodington filed the first suit after his wife suffered serious injuries and his daughter had to have toes amputated.
The state has closed the Sacred Falls trail until it is deemed safe.
