Newswatch
5,600 without phone service
Nearly, 5,600 Verizon customers statewide were without phone service yesterday as technicians continue to try to keep up with problems caused by the heavy rainfall over the past week.Hardest hit thus far is Oahu with 4,900 phone customers needing repairs, said Verizon spokesman Bill Kula in Dallas.
“Pearl City and Aiea have that highest amount of phone trouble this month followed by Kaimuki and Aina Haina,” he said.
Hawaiian Electric Co. reported that the last storm-related outage occurred at about 4 p.m. Tuesday when 700 customers in Waianae were without power for almost two hours.
Kula said 300 Verizon technicians have been working overtime to restore phone service, but “as repair lines have been restored, new calls come in for repairs.”
“Since Dec. 1 more than 6,500 lines have been repaired.”
The number of phone outages reflect this week’s heavy rain with Verizon reporting that on Monday 3,300 customers statewide were without service, including 2,000 on Oahu. That figure climbed to 5,000 statewide Tuesday, with 4,300 affected on Oahu. The total rose by 600 yesterday.
Kula said he expects service to be restored within 24 to 48 hours, but said some areas might take longer.
Several stores at Pearlridge Center lost service, causing long lines at functioning cash registers. Some businesses had their telephone service restored Tuesday while others continued to deal with interference on their lines.
BRAVE HEART
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Rochan Pinho, 13, held the FBI Community Leadership Award given to him yesterday at the Federal Building by Charles Goodwin, special agent in charge. Pinho raised $25,000 for the New York State World Trade Center Relief Fund while undergoing treatment for inoperable brain and spinal cancers.
Post office prepares for holiday onslaught
Post offices in Hawaii and the nation expect Monday to be the busiest mailing day of the year as the offices handle two to three times the normal mail volume.Wednesday will be the biggest mail delivery day of the year. That day is also the mailing deadline for out-of-state packages to arrive by Christmas, using priority mail service. The mailing deadline for in state is Dec. 22. Express mail service for packages is still available to many destinations after these dates.
The U.S. Postal Service offers these mailing tips:
>> Print complete name and address and your return name and address on all mail, and on one side of the package only. Include your return address on the inside of the package.>> Use boxes or packages strong enough to protect the contents with no marking on the outside. Do not use boxes with liquor or chemical markings.
>> Cushion contents with newspaper, bubble wrap or Styrofoam, and pack tightly.
>> Remove batteries from toys. Wrap and place them next to the toys.
>> Do not use wrapping paper, string, masking tape or cellophane tape outside the box. Use nylon- or glass-reinforced packing tape.
Goodwill welcomes last-minute donations
Goodwill Industries of Hawaii is accepting donations at its retail stores and attended donation centers on Oahu and in Hilo and will provide receipts for tax purposes.Attended donation centers and retail store donation drop-off areas are extending hours of operation until 9 p.m. on Dec. 30 and 31 to accommodate last-minute donors.
Visit www.higoodwill.org or call 863-9675 for donation locations or more information about Goodwill.
Kalaeloa displays mark the centennial of flight
An air show on Saturday and Sunday at Kalaeloa Airport will celebrate 100 years of powered flight.Gates will open at 10 a.m. on both days, and opening ceremonies will begin at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
It was on Dec. 17, 1903, when brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright lifted the Flyer -- the first heavier-than-air manned aircraft -- off the ground.
An aircraft display including a number of vintage planes will be set up at the event.
Parking is free at Kalaeloa Airport. Additional parking and a shuttle bus will be available from Kapolei High School.
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[Taking Notice]
Isle managers honored for stellar weather work
Karl Turner and Derek Lee Loy, program managers with the National Weather Service Pacific Region Office in Honolulu, have been awarded Bronze Medals by the U.S. Department of Commerce.They were honored for superior leadership in management of weather service data collection networks throughout the U.S.-affiliated Pacific islands.
The medal is the highest honorary award given by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is part of the Commerce Department.
Turner is chief of the NWS Pacific Region Data Systems Branch, and Lee Loy manages the region's cooperative-observer, upper-air and volunteer ship-observing programs.
"Through their personal initiative, commitment and competence, the accuracy and availability of information from the data acquisition network have improved significantly during the past year," said Jeff LaDouce, NWS Pacific Region director.
Better environmental monitoring and data collection help to improve weather forecasts and warnings and climate change predictions, he said.
"Taking Notice" runs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffNEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Pickup driver dies in Saddle Road wreck
Big Island police said a 31-year-old Hilo man died Monday when he crashed his pickup truck on Saddle Road.Kevin Kukona, 31, was driving his Mazda pickup truck west on Saddle Road near the 33-mile marker when he lost control of the vehicle, which ran off the roadway and overturned, police said yesterday. Kukona was taken to the Hilo Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 7:55 a.m.
Police are investigating the accident and ask anyone with information to call Officer Robert Hatton at 961-2332. Kukona's death was the 32nd traffic fatality on the Big Island so far this year, according to police.
Puna fisherman, 82, dies in fall from cliff
An 82-year-old Puna man died Tuesday after falling 35 feet from a cliff onto a rocky beach at Wittington Beach Park in Honuapo, Kau, on the Big Island. Police said the victim, Alexander Harris Jr., of Pahoa, Puna, was fishing when he slipped.Harris was taken to Kau Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:15 p.m.
LEEWARD OAHU
Alleged knife threat leads to man's arrest
Police arrested a 36-year-old man Tuesday after he allegedly threatened his ex-wife at knifepoint at her Pearl City home last month.The 36-year-old woman told police her ex-husband had entered the home on Nov. 28, and the two were arguing when he pulled out a knife and threatened to kill her.
The woman then grabbed the man's wrists and struck him in the groin with her knee, police said. During the struggle the victim was cut on her left arm and left thigh, police said. The man then fled, police said.
The suspect was arrested for suspicion of burglary, terroristic threatening and assault.
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[The Courts]
Indictment alleges aid to shooting suspect
A Honolulu woman has been indicted for allegedly hindering the prosecution of a man connected to a shooting in Aiea last month.Chantal Villamor is accused of providing money, transportation, a weapon and a disguise to 22-year-old Rosalino Ramos, one of five men indicted last month in the murder of Aiea resident Greg Morishima.
Ramos and two others have been charged with second-degree murder, first-degree robbery and several firearms offenses in the Oct. 26 shooting at a Pamoho Place house.
Tongan labor case adds 2 alleged victims
A federal grand jury has listed two new alleged victims in a 36-count superseding indictment against a Waipahu man accused of smuggling Tongan nationals into Hawaii to work at his tree-trimming and rock wall businesses.Lueleni Fetongi Maka, 50, faces six counts of human trafficking, involuntary servitude and forced labor. He was also charged with alien smuggling and harboring aliens in an indictment released yesterday.
Maka pleaded not guilty in June to an earlier 24-count indictment. He was first indicted in February and has been in custody since.
Prosecutors say Maka is a Tongan citizen living in the United States as a permanent resident and has been in Hawaii since 1976.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Shipley has said Maka could be the first Hawaii resident to be charged under the federal "forced labor" statute passed by Congress as part of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
