A 37-year-old crew member from the cruise ship Norwegian Star was in critical condition yesterday at Straub Clinic from burns received aboard the vessel Tuesday. Cruise ship worker
scalded by steamA Coast Guard helicopter transported him yesterday morning from the cruise ship, which was about 30 miles south of the Big Island, to Kuakini Medical Center. The man was burned by steam while performing maintenance on one of the ship's boilers, the Coast Guard said.
He was reported to have second-degree burns over 75 percent to 80 percent of his body. At the time, the Norwegian Star was about 350 miles south of the Big Island.
The Coast Guard helicopter picked up the crew member about 6:15 a.m. and dropped him off at Kuakini at 7:35 a.m. He was then taken to the Straub Clinic Burn Unit.
Fargo pays courtesy call
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Hawaii's trail program wins national awards
The state's Na Ala Hele Trail and Access program has won a national award from the Coalition for Recreational Trails.Na Ala Hele, which means "trails to go on," won its award in the statewide category for the excellence of three projects: a "Hiking Safely in Hawaii" brochure; the Na Ala Hele Trails Web site, www.hawaiitrails.org; and its report, "Hawaii Trail Analysis."
"In Hawaii, trails are so much more than just recreational features," said Curt Cottrell, Na Ala Hele Trails manager. "They also provide access to combat wild-land fire, for hunting game species, researching native flora and fauna, and to experience our unique cultural history -- and now, there is a growing tourism interest. Balancing all of these interests is challenging. This award demonstrates that the Hawaii trail program is as innovative as the mainland trail programs."
There are 94 trails and 20 four-wheel-drive access roads currently under Na Ala Hele management statewide, totaling about 400 miles.
The program is part of the Department of Land & Natural Resources' Division of Forestry and Wildlife.
The Coalition for Recreational Trails is a national organization, formed in 1992 in support of the federal Recreational Trails Program, which provides funding for state trails programs across the country.
Brown dwarf symposium is planned for Waikoloa
WAIKOLOA RESORT, Hawaii >> Seven years ago, astronomers had never seen brown dwarfs, objects partway in size between planets and stars.Now astronomers have found they are so common that dozens have been seen in the Orion nebula alone, the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy said.
Beginning Monday, 150 astronomers from 16 countries will spend the week at the Outrigger Waikoloa Beach Hotel at the Brown Dwarfs Symposium, the institute announced.
The objects are "brown" because they emit a very faint light caused by gravity shrinking them.
Astronomers are not sure how they are formed.
One theory is that they are created, like stars, from clouds of molecules.
An alternate theory says matter first forms in a disk around a star and then clumps together to form a dwarf.
Scientists have not decided yet what is a small dwarf and what is a very large planet.
Discussion about the dividing line between the two will be one topic of the conference, the institute said.
For more information, visit anansi.ifa.hawaii.edu/iau211.
Learn to manage asthma in sports camps
The American Lung Association of Hawaii has scheduled Asthma Sports Day Camps statewide this summer and is accepting applications from participants and volunteers.Children ages 5 to 12 learn how to live with and manage their asthma at the three-day camps while participating in various sports activities.
The camps will be held as follows: Oahu, July 19-21, Kalama Beach Park; Kauai, June 28-30, Lydgate State Park; Big Island, July 25-27 at a Pahoa site to be determined; Maui, Aug. 9-11, Kahului YMCA.
All children with mild to severe asthma are invited to attend and can register at Lung Association offices.
Parents should call 537-5966 on Oahu, 244-5110 on Maui, 245-4142 on Kauai, 935-1206 in Hilo.
A $20 fee per child covers all activities, refreshments and gifts. Financial assistance is available, said Gregg Kishaba, asthma education director for the Lung Association.
Kishaba said more than 200 volunteers in various specialties are needed to assist with the camps. They include physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists and pharmacists and people to oversee sports clinics, act as counselors and asthma educators, and help with registration and other administrative work.
Sponsors for camps include the Building Industry Labor Association, AlohaCare, Fred Baldwin Memorial Foundation and the Kapalua Maui Charities/2003 Mercedes Championships.
Big Isle welcomes new health center for rehabilitation
Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific (REHAB) has expanded to the Big Island with a permanent 2,300-square-foot clinic in Kealakekua, Kailua-Kona.An open-house reception and blessing for the facility will be held from noon to 3 p.m. May 24 in the new Crossroads Complex at 75-1029 Henry St., Suite 101.
The clinic, which formerly operated in a temporary location, already is open at its new quarters. Another REHAB clinic is located in Kailua.
John Bason, REHAB at Kailua-Kona clinic supervisor, said a second clinic was needed in the district because there are more patients there than in any other major area of the island.
Former patients who want to continue their exercise routine may use the fitness center for a small fee.
Specialist challenges repetitive-stress myths
It's a myth that doing something repetitively causes carpal tunnel syndrome, a specialist in ergonomics said at a recent safety and health conference here."If that were true, every job in the world would cause carpal tunnel," said Alexandra Charish of Charish Ergonomics Inc. in Los Angeles.
The problem occurs when angle and force are combined with repetition, she said. "If you do something correctly, there is no injury. If you do something wrong, it is physically stressful."
For example, she said people tend to bend their wrists sideways when hitting a backspace, delete or shift keys when typing. Bending the wrist at an angle forward also loses 80 percent strength, she said.
Her advice: "Type with fingers relaxed, bending the arm instead of bending the wrist, and you will have no problems."
St. Francis to found breast cancer internship
St. Francis Medical Center's Cancer Screening and Education Program plans to establish an internship for breast cancer screening.The intern, funded by a grant from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, will provide information on breast cancer screening programs to medically underserved women and health care providers.
The intern also will focus on outreach and partnerships with agencies serving Hawaiians.
St. Francis operates the largest Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program in Hawaii. It is the only hospital that has designated a Cancer Screening and Education Program.
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>> According to 2000 Census figures, 22,101 families, or about 7.6 percent of families in Hawaii, are at or below the poverty level, an increase of about 38 percent from the 16,053 families in 1990. A Page A6 story in Tuesday's afternoon edition had an incorrect percentage increase. Corrections and clarifications
>> Officials with Waste Management Inc. said last week that the height of the city's Waimanalo Gulch landfill would reach the 400-foot level in three months. A Page A14 story in yesterday's paper incorrectly reported that company officials said it last month.
>> The Building Owners and Managers Association sponsored the Tuesday Legislature update at the Hawaii Prince Hotel. A Page A3 story yesterday incorrectly identified the organization.
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 staffHONOLULU Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
2 arrested in using bogus $10 bills at Pawaa 7-11
Two men were arrested this morning after one of them tried to use counterfeit money at the Pawaa 7-Eleven store.Police said a police officer, in uniform and taking a break, happened to be standing in line at the store when a 38-year-old Niu Valley man tried to use counterfeit $10 bills to pay for a 12-pack of Diet Coke and $5 worth of gasoline.
Police said the officer followed the man out of the store and arrested him and a 41-year-old Pawaa man who was standing outside waiting to pump gas.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Police seek 2 hitchhikers missing since last week
Big Island police are looking for two men who have been missing since May 8, when they were seen hitchhiking near the scene of a single-car accident in Kau.
One of the missing men has been identified as Cassidy M. Toole, 20, of a Fern Acres address in Puna.
The other has been tentatively identified as his roommate, Wesley Alan Matheson, also 20.
The two were believed to have been in a black 2001 Honda Civic LX two-door sedan about 7 a.m. May 8, when the car ran off the road and into a ditch near the 70-mile marker of Mamalahoa Highway in the South Point area.
The two apparently left the car in the ditch and were last seen being picked up by a red sedan as they were hitchhiking along the highway.
Neither man has been seen or heard from since.
Their sedan was later found stripped of its tires and rims, gray bucket seats, stereo and battery.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Puna Patrol nonemergency at 966-5835, the Kau Patrol at 939-2520 or the police number at 935-3311.
WAIKIKI
Man held for extortion after theft of computer
A 41-year-old Waikiki man was arrested for extortion and theft Tuesday night after he allegedly asked for and accepted money for returning a missing computer to its owner.Police said the victim, a 41-year-old woman, arrived in Honolulu on April 14.
Somewhere between the airport and her hotel, her computer was either lost, misplaced or stolen.
On Monday, police said the woman called them after she said she received a telephone call from the suspect asking for money in return for her computer.
The woman met the suspect at the Waikiki Post Office, where police arrested him.
