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Tai chi group invites all to join celebration

The public is invited to a gathering of tai chi groups that will celebrate World Tai Chi & Quigong Day with exercises at 10 a.m. Saturday at Heeia State Park.

The purpose of the event is to educate people about the benefits of the traditional Chinese medicine exercises.

World Tai Chi Day will begin in New Zealand and spread by time zone with tai chi groups practicing their exercises in 60 countries across six continents.

Dong-style tai chi practitioners will gather with the Tajiquan at Kaleo O Ke Aloha group at 9:30 a.m. at Heeia State Park for group exercises and demonstrations and all members will practice their tai chi or quigong exercise at 10 a.m.

Further demonstrations are planned of different styles of tai chi and weapons until noon.

The Tajiquan at Kaleo O Ke Alohi consists of about 75 Kaneohe and Kailua residents ranging in age from the late 40s to mid-80s. They practice tai chi Mondays and Fridays at the Heeia State Park.

The exercises have been shown to reduce anxiety, depression and chronic pain, boost the immune system, improve respiratory function, improve balance, provide cardiovascular benefits and slow aspects of the aging process, according to the Tajiquan group.

For more information, call instructor Dieter Runge at 372-8132, or e-mail him at dieterr@aloha.net.

Free talks focus on weight loss, varicose veins

Varicose veins and weight management will be discussed in two free community lectures Wednesday sponsored by the Queen's Medical Center.

Drs. Kenric Murayama, Queen's medical director for minimally invasive surgery, and Edie Ramsdell, associate director of the Queen's Comprehensive Weight Management Program and Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery, will speak at 5 p.m.

Murayama will discuss the latest weight management treatment options, including surgery for morbid obesity, Queen's Comprehensive Weight Management Program and his experience performing more than 200 gastric bypass surgeries.

At 6 p.m., Dr. Clayton Yamada, interventional radiologist for Pacific Endovascular at the Queen's Medical Center, will describe conditions and causes of varicose veins and surgical therapy and laser treatment.

Both lectures will be in the second-floor auditorium of the Queen's Conference Center, 510 S. Beretania St.

Call the Queen's Referral Line at 537-7117 for information or to register. Space is limited and registration is required.

Parking is available for $5 in the Miller Street parking garage.

Specialist offers free legal advice for seniors

Seniors and caregivers needing help to make end-of-life decisions are invited to a free meeting from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. tomorrow at Harris United Methodist Church on Nuuanu Avenue and South Vineyard Boulevard.

Katie Lambert, with the University of Hawaii-Manoa Law School's Senior Law Program, will discuss legal tools to help prepare seniors and caregivers for incapacity.

The Kokua Council is sponsoring the meeting. A lunch of pizza, salad, drinks and dessert is available for a $5 donation.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

2 in copter crash swim to shore

A 19-year-old helicopter pilot and his 39-year-old passenger swam safely to shore after making an emergency landing in the north side of Honokohau Harbor in Kailua-Kona yesterday.

Acting fire Capt. Miles Kawazoe said the Robinson 22-R helicopter landed in about 10 feet of water about 30 yards offshore at Honokohau National Park.

Kawazoe said the aircraft may have been a training helicopter.

The Kona fire station received the call at about 4:58 p.m., but while firefighters were responding, the men had already swum to shore.

Kawazoe said the aircraft belonging to Mauna Loa Helicopters experienced mechanical failure at about 1,300 feet altitude, so the pilot performed an "emergency auto rotation to set the chopper down with a controlled landing in the water."

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are expected to investigate the incident today, Kawazoe said.

Body of Kahului man found on Haiku coast

Hikers found the body of a 31-year-old Kahului man along the rocky coastline near Holokai Road in Haiku.

Maui police said the man's body was recovered within a mile of the body of a 20-year-old woman discovered April 17.

Police are withholding the names pending notification of next of kin.

Police do not suspect foul play. An autopsy will be performed to determine the exact cause of death.

LEEWARD OAHU

Makaha brush fire takes a day to put out

A brush fire in the upper Makaha Valley that started at 12:08 a.m. yesterday was extinguished by about 7:30 last night.

About 30 firefighters, three tanker trucks and a water-drop helicopter worked on the fire in the vicinity of 84-626 Makaha Valley Road.

Card players report robbery by stranger

A group of people playing cards on a lanai in the 1400 block of Waipahu Street early yesterday told police that a man they didn't know robbed them of an unknown amount of cash.

The victims told police the man showed a gun and demanded money at 3:30 a.m. They described the suspect as a Filipino man in his late 20s, about 5-foot-6 and 200 pounds.

WINDWARD OAHU

Driver injured in crash on Kapaa Quarry Road

A 44-year-old Kailua woman was in critical condition at Queen's Hospital yesterday after she was injured in a one-car wreck on Kapaa Quarry Road before 4:30 a.m. yesterday.

Police said the woman was driving a blue four-door 1992 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme northbound on Kapaa Quarry Road when the car veered onto the left shoulder and hit a tree.

Police said speed appeared to be a factor in the accident; the posted speed limit on the road is 25 mph. It wasn't known whether alcohol or drugs played a role, police said.

The woman was wearing a seat belt and the road was dry. Kapaa Quarry Road was closed between Kalanianaole Highway and Mokapu Saddle Road until 7 a.m.