Newswatch
Verizon still has about 4,800 customers to go
About 4,800 Verizon Hawaii phone customers are still without service after a series of heavy rainstorms earlier this month.Verizon crews are working mandatory overtime shifts to restore phone service to more than 4,300 Oahu residents, 330 on Maui, and 100 each on the Big Island and Kauai.
The phone company restored service to 9,644 local phone lines, including retail customers at Pearlridge Shopping Center, said Verizon spokesman Bill Kula.
"This work is quite tedious and laborious," Kula said. "When rain hits and it saturates our equipment, it can have a lasting impact on the ability for us to provide service."
He said the service disruptions could be the most debilitating that the state has seen. The areas heaviest hit by the service disruptions include Aiea, Pearl City, Kalihi, Puuloa, Puunui and Alakea, he said.
65,000 gallons of sewage spill in pond
About 65,000 gallons of untreated sewage spilled into Kuapa Pond in Hawaii Kai yesterday morning.The spill, the result of a valve failure at a privately owned waste-water facility, lasted about 40 minutes.
Water quality samples were being taken yesterday and residents upstream of Wailua Bridge were notified of the spill.
The waste facility, operated by Hawaii American Water, serves 10,000 households in the Hawaii Kai area.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffLEEWARD OAHU
Suspect arrested for firing at neighbors
A man was arrested on three counts of attempted murder after he fired a gun at his neighbors early yesterday morning in Waipahu, police reported.The 26-year-old suspect drove at high speed into his Kupuohi Street apartment building yesterday, almost hitting two parked cars, police said. Three alleged victims, a 37-year-old man, a 28-year-old woman and an 18-year-old woman, confronted him about his driving.
The suspect then went into his apartment and had an argument with his girlfriend. When the three people in the parking lot approached the suspect's home because of the yelling, the suspect came out with a handgun and fired a shot.
The suspect fled the area and was arrested a few hours later by patrol officers.
2 motorcycle riders injured in accident
Two people were hurt, one critically, in a motorcycle accident last night on a service road near Iroquois Point, Emergency Medical Service personnel said.The accident occurred about 8 p.m. on federal property. The motorcycle's 50-year-old male driver was flown to the Queen's Medical Center in critical condition, with head and internal injuries. His passenger, a woman in her 30s, was taken to the hospital in serious condition.
Neither was wearing a helmet.
Motorcyclist hits car near Leeward College
A 22-year-old motorcyclist was in critical condition at the Queen's Medical Center yesterday after his motorcycle hit the back of a car that was turning into Leeward Community College from Alike Street, police said.The accident occurred at 1:45 p.m. and speed may have been a factor, police said. The motorcyclist, who was heading east on Alike Street, was not wearing a helmet.
The 25-year-old car driver, who was also headed east on the street, was not injured in the accident.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
