State experts free juvenile humpback whale

State wildlife experts freed a juvenile humpback whale that was entangled in fishing equipment yesterday off Haleiwa.

The whale was about 30 feet long, said David Nichols, marine mammal specialist with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

State wildlife experts freed a juvenile humpback whale that was entangled in fishing equipment yesterday off Haleiwa.

The whale was about 30 feet long, said David Nichols, marine mammal specialist with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Blown engine aborts flight

A United Airlines flight bound for Chicago yesterday was aborted due to a blown engine, a state Department of Transportation spokeswoman said.

United Flight 2, scheduled to take off at 4:24 p.m. on the Reef Runway, had one of its two engines malfunction, Transportation spokeswoman Tammy Mori said.

The plane exited at Taxiway RG at the east end of the Reef Runway with emergency responders on scene.

The aircraft was towed to the overseas terminal at 5:25 p.m., and passengers got off the plane. No one was injured.

The Reef Runway remained partially closed overnight as a safety precaution. A thorough check of the runway will be made this morning in the light of day to ensure all the debris from the blown engine has been removed.

Negligence in X-ray disposal probed

The Department of Health is investigating whether the owner of an X-ray machine for animals was negligent in its disposal, allowing a Kahala resident to get his hands on it.

The man was taking apart the machine, which he got from a Kaimuki demolition site, for use in an art piece when an oily substance spilled onto his shoes and pants in his garage last Friday. Firefighters cleaned up the spill.

Lab tests showed the liquid contained a low level of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCB, a carcinogen, said Janice Okubo, Department of Health spokeswoman.

The liquid did not contain beryllium, a toxic and corrosive material, as some had suspected.

The department is looking to see if the machine's previous owner was negligent by not disposing of it properly, Okubo said. The man who took it apart does not face any citations.

  Home life may contribute to Hawaii childhood obesity

 

The state says it has made strides in some areas when it comes to improving the health and well-being of students.

 

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Community called key in health effort

First lady Michelle Obama told a Punahou seventh-grader and a national television audience that the government can't mandate better eating habits and exercise for children.

Matthew Shimura won a C-SPAN student video contest with an eight-minute film on childhood obesity and got a chance to ask Obama a question yesterday during a C-SPAN live broadcast from the White House with other contest winners and students.

Shimura said he picked child obesity as his topic after thinking about how Furlough Fridays are affecting nutrition and exercise for students.

Obama launched a national effort to fight child obesity in February and has been speaking out on the topic.

In answer to Shimura's question about how the government can improve nutrition and physical activity in the schools, Obama said fighting childhood obesity is a community effort.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Novel plan would let residents fix Big Isle roads

HILO » Hawaii County Councilman Dominic Yagong admits his solution to fixing rural dirt roads on the Big Island is “;a little bit different.”;

Yagong has come up with a nonbinding proposal calling on the county to provide free gravel, cinders and other materials so rural residents can fix the roads leading to their homes.

His resolution was approved Tuesday on a 5-4 vote by the Public Works and Intergovernmental Relations Committee. The full Council is expected to adopt the measure at its April 20 meeting.

Yagong says the public-private partnerships would save money and expedite repairs to the dirt roads that are vulnerable to erosion.

Councilman Donald Ikeda opposes the resolution, saying he feels nothing is going to happen even if it is passed.