Water station repairs to affect Windward side
The Board of Water Supply is asking Windward Oahu residents from Kahaluu to Waimanalo to use water sparingly from 8:30 a.m. to late afternoon tomorrow.The Waihee Line Booster Station will be out of service temporarily to allow replacement of two leaking valves.
The BWS is asking residents to restrict their water usage to essential needs such as cooking, drinking and hygiene.
Court hears arguments over training in Makua
Arguments were heard today in federal court in what environmentalists hope is the first step to permanently close Makua Valley's live-fire infantry training range.In 1998, the Army suspended operations after a mortar started a fire that burned 800 acres of the valley. Malama Makua, a group of Leeward Oahu residents, wants the Army to conduct more rigorous studies on the impact on the valley before resuming operations.
An Army supplemental environmental assessment last year concluded there would be "no significant impact" to renewed training. That finding is supported by state historical preservation officials and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which says reopening the range would not jeopardize cultural sites or endangered species if the Army modifies its training.
The Army says an environmental impact statement requested by Malama Makua and Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund is unnecessary and would cost $2 million and take up to three years to complete.
Malama wants a temporary injunction to halt any further training until its case for an environmental impact statement is heard.
TEACHERS GET THE SCOOP ON NEWS
DOT awards contract for work on Kauai road
The state Department of Transportation has awarded a $2.2 million contract to Jas. W. Glover Ltd. for an improvement project along Kaumualii Highway from Omao Road to Koloa Road on Kauai.The project includes resurfacing; reconstructing weakened pavement areas; removing and installing guardrails, traffic signs and pavement markings; and constructing a concrete gutter.
Work is scheduled to begin by September 2001.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Publisher and Editor in Chief John Flanagan at 529-4748 or email him at jflanagan@starbulletin.com. Corrections and clarifications
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHonolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
HONOLULU
Chemical scare closes Sand Island Matson yard
Members of the Honolulu Fire Department's Hazardous Materials Unit responded to the Matson yard on Sand Island yesterday after fluid was spotted coming from a container carrying test torpedoes.Bal Dreyfus, vice president of Matson Navigation Co., said workers were unloading containers from the SS Maui, which has just arrived from Oakland, Calif., when the flat rack shifted. Fire crews responded at 10:53 a.m. while Matson officials closed the yard for safety reasons. Fire Capt. Richard Soo said the fluid was determined to be water. Matson officials reopened the yard around 3 p.m.
Man accused of beating his landlord to death
Wesley K. Chong, 47, was scheduled to make his initial court appearance this morning on a charge of second-degree murder.Chong is accused of beating to death his landlord Edgar Lum, 64, after Lum evicted him. Police said Chong told them that he beat Lum with a can of food in Lum's Kupaa Drive home in Palolo on June 25. Lum's body was not discovered until June 30. Chong's bail is $150,000.
3 men charged in stabbing at Zippy's in McCully
Police this morning arrested a 20-year-old Pearl City man and two Salt Lake men, ages 21 and 24, in connection with a stabbing last night at Zippy's Restaurant at 1725 S. King St. in McCully.Police said the victim, 20, and two friends walked out of the restaurant just before midnight and were challenged to a fight by 15 males. During the fight the victim was stabbed twice in the back. The suspects fled in several vehicles. Police stopped two vehicles about an hour later in Salt Lake and arrested the three men. The victim was taken by ambulance to Queen's Medical Center in serious condition.
Woman is accused of reckless endangerment
A 45-year-old Honolulu woman was arrested for reckless endangerment then taken to a Queen's Medical Center for a psychological evaluation yesterday after allegedly throwing items out of her 18th-floor apartment injuring a man 15 floors below.Police said a man in a third-floor apartment at 2333 Kapiolani Blvd. heard objects landing and went outside to investigate at 1:30 p.m. yesterday. When he looked up, he saw a dumbbell falling toward him and was unable to get out of the way. Police said the dumbbell hit the man in the leg breaking his ankle. He was also taken to Queen's where he was treated and released.
WAIKIKI
Homeless man charged with robbery
A 43-year-old homeless man is in police custody after allegedly stealing bottle of vodka from a Waikiki convenience store and fleeing by swimming across the Ala Wai Canal last night.Police said the man entered the ABC Store at 2456 Kalakaua Ave. at 6:40 p.m. and left the store without paying for the vodka. When he was confronted outside, the man hit the store security person on the head with his backpack, fled on foot on Kaiulani Avenue then swam across the Ala Wai, leaving the backpack and the vodka behind, police said.
Police arrested the man on Maunuwai Place after witnesses spotted him at Kaimuki High School nearby. He was arrested for robbery.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Man's nude body found floating at Maui beach
WAILUKU >> Police are investigating the death of a man whose naked body was found yesterday near the mouth of a stream at Kanaha Beach.Acting Capt. William Fernandez said today there were no apparent signs of foul play and an autopsy is scheduled to determine the cause of death. Fernandez said police have been unable to identify the man and police did not notice any vehicle in the vicinity.
"They never found any clothing or campsites nearby," Fernandez said.
Police said the man appeared to be Caucasian and 25 to 35 years old.
A fisherman found the body close to 7:30 a.m. yesterday and fire rescue workers retrieved it about 30 to 40 feet offshore, authorities said.
