Newswatch
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin Staff
Sunday paper credit offered to customers
Production problems Saturday at the Star-Bulletin printing plant prompted changes in some sections, resulting in a different makeup and look for the Sunday edition.In addition, the difficulties meant that the paper was delivered later than usual to many readers.
Customers who did not get their papers can get credits by calling the Circulation Department at 529-4848.
Vehicle causes outage in utility pole accident
Customers in Iwilei suffered a brief power failure yesterday after a vehicle struck a utility pole at Dillingham Boulevard and King Street sometime before 8 a.m.The pole struck another utility pole, causing both to fall, said HECO spokeswoman Likelike Davis. Power was restored 20 minutes later.
Kauai and Niihau area attracts more dolphins
LIHUE >> A survey of the dolphin population in Hawaiian waters found that the greatest numbers of rough-tooth and bottlenose dolphins are found off Kauai and Niihau.Dolphins may find Kauai and Niihau more desirable because there is a greater food source of squid and fish in waters around the two islands, said National Marine Fisheries Service researchers.
Data collected from May 3 to June 13 could help with the conservation of the two dolphin species.
Researchers tried to assess whether certain species of dolphins and small whales move throughout the islands or whether they stay around a certain island, scientist Robin Baird said.
"We want to understand their population with the intent of ensuring they can be properly conserved and managed," he said.
The roughtooth and bottlenose dolphins were spotted between the shoreline and 30 miles offshore, Baird said.
A final report on the dolphin survey is expected to be completed by August.
Roughly 60,000 homes here use solar heating
Hawaiian Electric Co. has announced that 20,000 residential solar water heaters have been installed under its rebate program that helps defray installation costs.HECO and its neighbor island subsidiaries, Maui Electric Co. and Hawaii Electric Light Co., began the program in 1996 to encourage homeowners to install solar water-heating systems.
"This milestone highlights a six-year program which has put Hawaii out in front as the nation's leader in per capita use of solar energy," said Karl Stahlkopf, HECO's senior vice president for energy solutions and chief technology officer.
"Hawaii has benefited significantly," he said. "Customers will save nearly $90 million on their electricity bills over the life of their systems. And our environment benefits from the savings of 1.35 million barrels of imported oil, enough to power Honolulu for two months."
In all, almost 25 percent of single-family island homes, or about 60,000 homes, use solar as their primary water-heating system, HECO said.
A well-designed and properly sized solar water heater can reduce the cost of heating water by 90 percent for an average family, HECO said.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffNEIGHBOR ISLANDS
A 25-year-old man who was killed Saturday in a head-on collision in North Kona has been identified as Ogden Ingalls, of Honokaa.
Victim of car accident in Kona is identifiedAt about 10:54 a.m., Ingalls was driving northbound on Mamalahoa Highway in a 1990 Ford pickup truck when the vehicle crossed the center line and slammed into a 2003 Dodge sport utility vehicle driven by Maria Walley, of Ookala, police said.
Ingalls was taken to Kona Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Walley, 32, was taken to the North Hawaii Community Hospital in South Kohala and later flown to the Queen's Medical Center where she is listed in critical condition.
An autopsy will be performed on Ingalls to determine exact cause of death.
Firefighters contain brush fire on Molokai
MAUNALOA, Molokai >> A brush fire that threatened homes in Maunaloa and forced the temporary evacuation of Molokai Ranch campsites was contained yesterday, authorities said.Maui County firefighters reported no loss of property from the blaze, which started Saturday afternoon.
Residents in the area returned to their homes Saturday night.
The fire was the most serious of a series of brush fires that began Wednesday afternoon in a remote section of Moomomi Avenue at Hoolehua.
LEEWARD OAHU
Speed is believed to be a factor in a single-car crash in Makaha that sent two Waianae men to the Queen's Medical Center in critical condition Saturday night.
Speed possibly caused auto crash in WaianaeAt about 10:14 p.m., a 27-year-old man traveling northbound on Farrington Highway in a blue 1992 Ford Thunderbird with a 21-year-old male passenger man lost control of the vehicle, police said. The car went off the road and crashed into a fence and a telephone guide wire before it overturned and struck a tree near Lawaia Street.
HONOLULU
A medical examiner has identified the 24-year-old woman who died Saturday in a single-car accident on Pali Highway as Kahala O Mapuana Fernandez, of Kaneohe.
Woman in fatal wreck Saturday is identifiedFernandez was driving town-bound when she hit a metal guardrail near Nuuanu Pali Drive, crossed both lanes and struck the raised dirt shoulder about 2:20 a.m.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
