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Police, Fire, Courts
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
City seeking 50,000 leis for Memorial day
The city needs 50,000 leis to place on the graves of veterans for Memorial Day, May 31, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl and all state veterans cemeteries.The leis can be dropped off at designated community parks and fire stations on Oahu on Friday, May 28, and the Parks Permit Office downtown.
The Mayor's Memorial Day Service will be held at 8:30 a.m. May 31 at the Punchbowl cemetery. The graves will be decorated by the Boy Scouts with leis.
All leis must be made of fresh flowers or ti leaves, and must measure 20 to 24 inches before tying. All leis must be tied into a circle. Floral sprays, such as ti leaf and anthurium bouquets, are also welcome.
Leis can be dropped off at these community parks between 9 and 11:30 a.m.: Ala Wai, Halawa District, Makua Alii Senior Center, Waianae District, Wahiawa District, Waiau District, Waipahu District, Kaneohe Community and Senior Center, and the Waikiki Community Center.
These fire stations will be available for collection of lei between 6 a.m. and noon: Kalihi, Waipahu, Waialua, Kaneohe, Kailua, Waimanalo and Hawaii Kai.
The permit office, located on the ground floor of the Honolulu Municipal Building at 650 S. King St., will accept leis between 8 a.m. and noon.
Schofield get-together to link troops with kin
A May 29 military appreciation event for the families of Hawaii-based troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan will include video communication between troops overseas and loved ones at home."Operation Ohana" at Schofield Barracks will also feature a picnic, games and entertainment from the 25th Infantry Division Band, the Hawaii Pacific University International Voice Ensemble, a magic and clown show, and a "Hawaiian Ohana Idol" karaoke contest.
Five thousand family members, including an estimated 1,500 children, have been invited to the free 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. event, Gov. Linda Lingle's office said in announcing it yesterday.
"These family members make tremendous and sometimes overlooked sacrifices on behalf of our state and our country," Lingle said. "Operation Ohana is our way to demonstrate how much all the people of Hawaii care for our military families."
The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii is co-sponsoring the event as part of the 19th annual Military Appreciation Month. Other supporting organizations include the state Department of Defense, Hawaii Army National Guard, U.S. Army 25th Infantry Division (Light) and Hawaii Pacific University.
Sony Hawaii will provide video screens and equipment to enable troops to communicate with families and various community organizations will participate.
"Support Operation Ohana" bumper stickers and lapel buttons are available from the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. For more information or to volunteer for the event, contact Linda Wheeler or Charlie Ota at 545-4300.
Kaneohe-bound Likelike lanes closed
Motorists traveling to the Windward side will have to take another route besides Likelike Highway today. The Kaneohe-bound lanes of the highway will be closed between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. between Valley View Drive and Burmeister Overpass to install a movable steel gate system.The Kaneohe-bound lanes of Likelike Highway will also be closed from 8 p.m.-4 a.m., tonight-Friday, for roadway reconstruction and paving.
Other roadwork this week includes:
>> Nuuanu Avenue resurfacing between School and King streets; 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-May 25. Work will require closure of three lanes of traffic in the construction area. Off-duty police officers will direct traffic.>> South King Street, no left turns onto Punchbowl Street; 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., through May 21, while Hawaiian Electric Co. works on the Punchbowl side of Honolulu Hale. Mauka-bound lane of Punchbowl between King and Beretania streets are being used for HECO equipment, with traffic contraflowed to adjacent makai-bound lane. No parking on Ewa side of this segment of Punchbowl.
>> Kapiolani Boulevard, between Old Waialae Road and South King Street, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, lane closures for seismic retrofitting.
>> H-1 Freeway westbound, between Kapiolani Avenue off-ramp and King Street off-ramp, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, lane closures for seismic retrofitting of highway footings at piers 18 and 19.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffWINDWARD OAHU
Flare sparks road closure in Hauula
Kamehameha Highway between Puhuli Street and Pokiwai Place in Hauula was closed about an hour yesterday while firefighters and military personnel removed what appeared to be a phosphorus marker flare from the roadside.Firefighters got a call at 11:40 a.m. that a cylindrical object with "Navy" and "phosphorus" written on it was emitting smoke and flames, said Honolulu Fire Capt. Kenison Tejada.
"It was some kind of military marker flare, about 2 feet in length and 6 inches in diameter," Tejada said.
Residents told firefighters that children had been looking at the cylinder on the beach and a man had moved it to the roadside, Tejada said. After it was moved, it began smoking, he said.
Because breathing phosphorus fumes can be dangerous, police closed the roadway and were about to evacuate nearby homes, Tejada said. However, firefighters were able to move the cylinder away from the road and it stopped smoking, so evacuations were not carried out. The highway was reopened at 12:30 p.m.
Marines from Kaneohe removed the cylinder about 1 p.m., Tejada said.
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