Japanese quake generates no tsunami threat

No tsunami resulted from a strong earthquake that struck yesterday off Japan.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the magnitude at 7.1.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach notified Hawaii Civil Defense that data from the region indicated no Pacific-wide tsunami was expected, and there was no threat to Hawaii.

The quake struck at 12:56 a.m. Hawaii time, near the Izu Islands of Japan.

Destructive tsunamis that hit Hawaii have traditionally come from the Kuril Islands north of Japan, Kamchatka in the Russian Far East, and the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. The 1960 tsunami originated off Chile.

Tourist, 76, dies in Poipu resort pool

A 76-year-old hotel guest apparently drowned yesterday in a Poipu resort swimming pool, a Kauai County news release said.

The man, who was not identified, was found at the bottom of the swimming pool at 1:53 p.m. and brought to the surface by another resort guest, the release said.

Hotel security and firefighters performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the man. He was pronounced dead at Wilcox Hospital.

Homelands agency gets EPA grant

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is awarding a $200,000 cleanup grant to the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and $93,256 in funds from the Community Action for a Renewed Environment program to a Waianae community project.

The grant for the department will be used to clean up its East Kapolei site that will be used for affordable housing for native Hawaiians.

The CARE funding will be used for the Ka Wai Ola o Waianae Moku project to assess how human activities in and near streams are affecting subsistence and recreation use of near-shore waters along the Waianae Coast.

Abercrombie to speak at ceremony

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie and retired Marine Lt. Gen. Wallace C. “;Chip”; Gregson will be the guest speakers Sept. 2 at the 64th anniversary of the signing of Japan's formal surrender ending World War II.

The ceremony will take place at 8 a.m. on the decks of the Battleship Missouri Memorial at Ford Island.

Representatives from 10 nations signed Japan's formal instrument of surrender officially ending the war on Sept. 2, 1945, aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

Gregson is U.S. assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs and former commanding general of the Marine Forces Pacific, based at Camp Smith in Hawaii. He retired from the Marines in 2005.

Abercrombie, D-Urban Honolulu, is chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Land and Air Forces.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Layoffs could hurt Maui agriculture

KAHULUI, Maui » Layoffs looming for state Department of Transportation inspectors spell trouble for maritime shipments to Maui, officials warn.

Should the layoffs go forward in November as planned by Gov. Linda Lingle, not all Maui-based inspectors will disappear, said Carol Okada, manager of the Plant Quarantine Bureau in the state Department of Agriculture.

But the Maui News reported yesterday that six positions paid from the state general fund are on the budget-cutting hit list.

What's more, six Transportation Department inspectors whose jobs are safe must work at Kahului Airport, which means they cannot perform maritime inspections, according to Anna Mae Shishido, Maui County supervisor of the Maui Plant Quarantine Branch.

As a result, shippers carrying produce, animal feed and other agricultural material would need to go to Honolulu first for inspection, Shishido said. Diverting that cargo to Oahu would add delays and costs for consumers.