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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
KOKO CRATER FIRE BURNS 100 ACRES
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
A 100-acre brush fire mauka of Sandy Beach yesterday burned the side of Koko Crater and closed Kalanianaole Highway and a portion of Sandy Beach for several hours because of smoke. The fire was reported at 10:27 a.m. and brought under control by 1:15 p.m. without any injuries or damage to buildings, said fire Capt. Emmit Kane.
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Lower Hamakua Ditch regains its water flow
PAAUILO, Hawaii >> Water is flowing again in the Lower Hamakua Ditch, the 25-mile irrigation channel that state Rep. Dwight Takamine (D, Hawi) calls the "lifeline for diversified agriculture" on the Big Island's Hamakua Coast."The hope is flowing again," said Bill Beach, president of the 92-member Hamakua-North Hilo Agricultural Cooperative.
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye and others dedicated about $10 million in repairs during ceremonies yesterday at the 10-million gallon Paauilo Reservoir, 37 miles northwest of Hilo. That is the first phase of reconstruction, with more to follow, Beach said.
Built in 1910 to irrigate sugar fields, the ditch was already crumbling when Hamakua Sugar Co. went out of business in 1994.
A section of a nine-mile tunnel above Waipio Valley, the first leg of the ditch, collapsed into the valley in 1989, leading to illegal emergency repairs that shut off Hakalaoa Falls, a twin to storied Hiilawe Falls.
Farther downstream, two of the numerous flumes that carry the ditch across gulches collapsed early this decade.
Those damages have now been repaired and Hakalaoa Falls again drops down the 1,800-foot-high Waipio Valley wall.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffHONOLULU
Bystanders catch teen in purse-snatching
Bystanders chased down and captured a 15-year-old boy who dragged a woman 20 feet down a Kalihi sidewalk as he attempted to steal her purse Monday, police said.The suspect approached the 43-year-old woman as she waited to cross the street at North King Street and Gulick Avenue at 1:35 p.m. He allegedly grabbed the victim's purse and tried to run away, dragging the woman down the sidewalk. The boy released the purse and tried to flee on foot, but was captured and held down by bystanders who witnessed the crime, police said.
The victim sustained minor injuries, police said.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
