Coqui frog is captured in Manoa

State officials have captured a coqui frog hiding out in Manoa.

The invasive frog had been living in the yard of a home on a quiet dead-end road on the east side of the valley for the past few weeks.

The coqui's shrieking mating calls had disturbed neighbors and triggered worries a colony could be established if the frog had companions.

Plant Quarantine inspectors and a member of the Oahu Invasive Species Committee went to the area last week and captured the amphibian by hand.

The coqui is native to Puerto Rico. In Hawaii, the frogs have no natural predators and have formed large colonies on Maui and the Big Island. They haven't become established on Oahu.

State will get 300 acres in Kalaeloa

The state is in line to get about 300 acres of land in Kalaeloa, the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station.

The land consisting of six parcels will be conveyed to the Hawaii Community Development Authority.

The agency's chairman, Scott Bradley, said Monday that the parcels contain irreplaceable Hawaiian archaeological and cultural sites. He says most of the parcels will be designated as preservation and open space with minimal development.

The air station closed in 1999. Three years later, the authority assumed responsibility for planning the redevelopment of the 3,700 acres at Kalaeloa.

Big Island adult store trial date set

HILO » A Big Island judge has set a July 26 trial date for a lawsuit seeking to close an adult video and lingerie store that opened in January at Keaau Plaza.

In setting the date last week, Circuit Judge Glenn Hara denied landowner W.H. Shipman Ltd.'s request for an injunction to shutter the store called Private Moments.

Shipman claims Keaau Plaza owner Jerry Nagakura violated terms of his lease by subleasing an 800-square-foot space to the boutique.

The lease prohibits “;any illegal, immoral or offensive purposes”; without the prior written consent of Shipman.

Shopowners Ford and Jane Pascual say they didn't know Keaau Plaza was on Shipman land and were never told of any morality clause.

Military Reserves retirees to meet

The Military Reserves Retiree Association will hold its bimonthly meeting at Hickam Air Force Base's passenger terminal at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The speakers will give an update on the status of getting military space-available flights from Hickam Air Force Base and Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

The meeting is open to all retired military personnel and their spouses from the Reserves and National Guard. For additional information, e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call 261-8752.

Liver specialist to speak at meeting

Naoki Tsai, liver specialist at Hawaii Medical Center East, will speak at a free public meeting on hepatitis C at 6:15 p.m. tomorrow at the center, 2230 Liliha St.

The HepCats, a support group for people with hepatitis C, is sponsoring the event in the Sullivan boardroom in the main lobby, next to the gift shop.

A general discussion on the hepatitis C virus will be conducted by Leena K. Hong and Tim Fedorka.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Big Isle keeps loaning out frog sprayers

HILO » Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi has announced an extension of the program that loans 26 county sprayers to groups that control noisy coqui frogs in their communities.

The county had planned to stop the program at the end of April with a public auction of the equipment that sprays citric acid to control the pests.

The county also employs its own two-member crew for coqui control.

But after April 30, the financially strapped county will no longer be doing its own spraying to control coqui frogs.

Community groups may continue using the equipment at no cost.

But the mayor's office says they will be responsible for costs related to the sprayers, including repairs and spraying materials.

2 mayors plan lower budgets

The mayors of Maui and Kauai counties have proposed fiscal 2011 budgets that are lower than the current year's budgets.

Maui County workers would see their first-ever furlough days under a $530 million budget proposed by Mayor Charmaine Tavares.

She told the County Council on Monday that everyone — including department heads, janitors and homeowners — will have to make sacrifices.

The budget that would begin July 1 is $33 million less than the current budget, with the bulk of the funding going to operating expenses, such as employee pay.

Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. submitted to the County Council his proposed budget.

The mayor is seeking approval of a $146 million operating budget and a $100 million capital improvement program.

Carvalho's proposed operating budget is 5 percent below the current operating budget.