Wheelchairs lent for MS patients
Wheelchairs, walkers and canes are among medical equipment available for short-term loans to residents with multiple sclerosis.The Equipment Loan Program was established by the Hawaii Division, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, under a restricted endowment grant from the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.
The foundation provided $15,754 for the program for the fiscal year 2000-2001.
Besides the Equipment Loan Closet on Oahu, new loan closets have been established in Lihue, Kauai; Kahului, Maui; and Hilo on the Big Island.
A physician's prescription is needed. Call the Hawaii Division, 532-0811, for more information about the program. Neighbor island residents may call toll-free 800-FIGHT-MS.
Bush reschedules official trip to Asia
President Bush has rescheduled for next month an Asian trip that was planned for last October but canceled following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.However, the White House, because of security reasons, would not say today whether the Asian trip, whose first stop will be in Tokyo on Feb. 17, will include a layover in Hawaii.
Originally, Bush, who has never been to Hawaii, had planned to spend a few days here in October.
This will be his first trip to Asia since he took office. He will visit Seoul on Feb. 19 and Beijing on Feb. 21.
Well drilling on Maui blocked by state official
LAHAINA >> The state water commission chairman has ordered a business to halt drilling for water in Kauaula Valley in West Maui.Gilbert Coloma-Agaran said in a letter Tuesday to Makila Land Co. LLC that proceeding with well construction may compromise cultural sites or artifacts.
Valley resident Keeaumoku Kapu said his native Hawaiian ancestors were buried in the general vicinity of the area, and he was also worried about the effect of drilling on stream water used by families growing taro lower in the valley.
Company official Glenn Tremble said land was cleared from about a 3,500-square-foot area, and he did not notice any damage to archaeological sites.
Tremble said the stream used by the valley residents is at the 800- to 900-foot elevation level and would not be affected by the drilling, which will tap water closer to sea level.
City water board settles contamination lawsuit
The Honolulu Board of Water Supply has reached a $19.9 million settlement after a four-year legal battle with petrochemical manufacturers and island pineapple growers.The board sued six companies in 1999 alleging that the chemicals that were produced and used on pineapple land on Oahu eventually seeped down and contaminated the ground-water supply.
The companies that produced the chemicals were Dow Chemical Co., Shell Oil Co. and Great Lakes Chemical Co. The chemicals were used by pineapple producers Dole, Del Monte and Libby McNeil Libby Inc.
>> City Councilman Duke Bainum, vice chairman of the City Council's Budget Committee, will be calling an informational hearing next week on the real property tax assessments. A Tuesday story on Page A3 incorrectly reported that City Councilman John Henry Felix was the committee's vice chairman. Corrections and clarifications
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Managing Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffCENTRAL OAHU Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
Firefighters hunt woman, 2 boys in Wahiawa range
Honolulu firefighters resumed their search this morning for a woman and two boys who failed to return from picking flowers yesterday in the East Range above Wahiawa.Fire officials said the 54-year-old Wahiawa woman and her two nephews, ages 9 and 12, went to pick flowers about 2:45 p.m. yesterday. They were reported missing just before 10 p.m. Firefighters began a search for them last night but suspended it due to darkness.
HONOLULU
Escalator accident leaves man, 22, critically injured
A 22-year-old man is in critical condition at Queen's Medical Center after falling off an escalator at Ala Moana Center early this morning.Police said the man, whom hospital officials describe as a student, was drinking at a bar on the third level of the center with friends about 12:40 a.m. As they were leaving, the man fell from the escalator to the mall-level floor below.
In May 2000, a 28-year-old man died after a fall from the escalator after having drinks at the same bar.
Police arrest student in assault on teacher
Honolulu police arrested a 15-year-old Roosevelt High School student yesterday after he allegedly "flicked" a staple at a teacher.Police reports stated that the staple caused the special-education teacher pain and that the student was arrested for second-degree assault.
Teen reports possible case of sexual assault
A 16-year-old girl told police she believes she was sexually assaulted yesterday afternoon in Palolo by three acquaintances.Between 11 a.m. and noon, the victim accompanied three suspects, aged 14 to 16 years old, to Palolo where they drank alcoholic beverages. She told police she passed out and woke up without her clothes on. Police said she ran away from the suspects and returned to school.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Japanese tourist dies in Big Island collision
WAIKOLOA, Hawaii >> A Japanese tourist became the first Big Island traffic fatality of the year yesterday when his car was struck by a tractor-trailer truck on Queen Kaahumanu Highway, police said.The victim was identified as Tadashi Ishii, 68, of Anagasaki-Shishyogo, Japan. The victim's wife, Fumiko, 61, injured in the accident, was taken to North Hawaii Community Hospital, where she was listed in stable condition with a fractured neck and ribs, police said.
At about 8 a.m., Ishii, driving a rented 2002 Nissan Maxima on Waikoloa Beach Drive, stopped at the intersection of the drive with Queen Kaahumanu Highway, police said.
Ishii was then turning left, in a northerly direction, when he was struck by the southbound truck, which was loaded with cinder soil, police said.
Police said the Ishiis were wearing seat belts and that their airbags deployed.
The truck driver, Newton Kekahio, 41, of Waikoloa, was not injured. Police said there were no Big Island traffic fatalities at this time last year.
