AARP offers shredding help

Citing concerns about identify theft, AARP Hawaii has joined with Shred-it Hawaii to offer a free shredding service to the public on Saturday.

Drive through and drop off up to two boxes or bags of papers per vehicle from 10 a.m. to noon on Beretania Street at the state Capitol. All documents will be destroyed on site.

AARP Hawaii also suggests placing a security freeze on credit reports as one way to protect important personal information.

A security freeze, allowed under Hawaii law, prohibits the three credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — from releasing information to unauthorized parties, says AARP. The fee is $5, but it is free to victims of identity theft, AARP says.

Queen's needs student volunteers

The Queen's Medical Center needs high school and college student volunteers for the summer.

Volunteers must be 15 years of age or older for the Summer Volunteer Program, which has existed for 150 years. They can choose to work from May 27 through July 14 or June 15 through Aug. 2.

Space is limited. Call Sharon Kanegawa at 547-4397 or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Xcel will donate to isle cancer center

Xcel International Inc. will donate a percentage of proceeds from national sales of Xcel UV Protection Care through Dec. 31 to the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii.

“;As a brand headquartered in Hawaii, where the sun shines strong ... we've been designing our UV Protection Gear specifically for maximum sun protection and performance,”; Ed D'Ascoli, Xcel president and founder, said in a news release.

CRCH Interim Director Michele Carbone said the partnership “;is an excellent example of how companies, as well as individuals, can help in the fight against cancer.”;

Xcel International Inc., a global wet-suit brand, was founded in 1982 with offices on Oahu's North Shore, two retail stores on Oahu and the neighbor islands and a warehouse/repair facility in California.

Free estate planning session offered

A free public session sponsored by the state Judiciary on “;Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning”; will be held from noon to 1 p.m. tomorrow at the Supreme Court Conference Room, 417 S. King St.

Speaker Judy Lee is a partner at law firm Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel. Her practice includes estate planning, trust administration, estate and trust dispute resolution, probate and conservatorship. Lee is a director of the Hawaii Estate Planning Council and has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Hawaii School of Law, and is a certified financial planner.

The session is part of the “;Lunch 'n' Learn the Law”; program, a series of free seminars featuring topics relating to specific areas of the law and the courts.

Call the Judiciary Public Affairs Office at 539-4909.

Neighbor island watch

PUHI » A house fire caused by a malfunctioning fan caused an estimated $15,000 in damage to a bedroom and its contents, according to a news release. A man doused the fire at Komohana Place at about 2 a.m. yesterday, after being rousted from his bed by relatives.

WAILUKU » Water customers in Central and South Maui were asked yesterday to turn off irrigation systems and use water only as needed for health and safety purposes because of a power failure that affected six water wells in Waiehu and Waihee. Officials were hoping to refill storage tanks today.

VOLCANO » Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory are once again using a Global Positioning System to track changes on Big Island volcanoes.

Data from GPS surveys at about 100 locations supplement information from more than 60 continuously recording GPS receivers at permanent sites. The technology measures ground movement or surface deformation to help determine, among other things, whether a volcano is likely to erupt.

A biennial survey of Hualalai was finished early this month, while the annual surveying of Kilauea and Mauna Loa will be finished in May.