HAWAI'I BRIEFS
100 parking stalls getting makeover
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Parking stalls on the top floor of the interisland parking structure at Honolulu International Airport will be temporarily cordoned off for resurfacing work. The work began yesterday.
About 100 stalls will be closed to the public, the state Department of Transportation said.
The start of the $999,000 project was delayed until the holiday travel season was over.
The project will continue through May, weather permitting.
KOKO HEAD
ARCHERY RANGE TO BE DEDICATED
From slinging arrows to building a better traffic commute, Mayor Mufi Hannemann will spend tomorrow talking about both, dedicating an archery range in the morning and taking the first step toward building a transit system from Kapolei to Manoa in the afternoon.
Hannemann's office said he will preside over ceremonies at the Koko Head Archery Range at 9:30.
The $460,921 range was completed recently in response to community requests. Hannemann said the East Honolulu site was chosen only after studies that included the community, parks officials and the staff of the Koko Head Regional Park Shooting Complex.
At 1 p.m., Hannemann will hold a public signing of Bill 79, which authorizes the city to begin the long-debated mass transit system approved by the City Council in a 7-2 vote on Dec. 22.
The measure selects a fixed-guideway system between Kapolei and the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. Community and government leaders have been invited to attend the transit bill signing at Kapolei Hale. Hannemann will travel to Washington, D.C., later this month to meet with federal transit officials about the plan.
WAIKIKI
'CLICK,' 'CODE' AT SUNSET ON BEACH
The year's first Sunset on the Beach will be held 3 to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Queen's Surf Beach.
The featured films will screen at about 6 p.m. both days. Saturday: "Click," the Adam Sandler comedy about a workaholic architect who uses a universal remote control to click forward or rewind to different moments of his life. Sunday: "The Da Vinci Code," with Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatou.
Food booths will open at 3 p.m.; entertainment starts at 4 p.m. A craft fair, adjacent to the movie screening site, will open at 9 a.m. and continue through sunset.
Freesound will perform at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday. Simplicity will perform at the same times Sunday.
Tesoro Hawai'i and the Sony Open in Hawai'i are sponsors of the first Sunset on the Beach. Tesoro is the new presenting sponsor for the 2007 series.
MAUI
GET CHILD SEATS INSPECTED FOR FREE
Free keiki car-seat inspections will be conducted from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 20 near Borders in the Maui Marketplace.
Past inspections have shown that nine out of 10 child seats are improperly installed, said Capt. Charles Hirata of the Maui Police Department. Child safety seats are required in vehicles for all children age 7 and under, unless the child is 4 foot 9 or taller.
Child photo IDs that can be attached to car seats will be provided at the event. This can be helpful in identifying a child in the event of a crash, when the driver, who may not be the child's parent, is unconscious or otherwise not able to provide information, Hirata said.
The car-seat inspections are sponsored by MPD, the Keiki Injury Prevention Coalition, Safe Community of Maui and Geico.
STATE
ARMY TO CONDUCT EIS ON STRYKER
The Army yesterday issued a public notice announcing its plans to conduct an environmental study for the transformation of a Hawai'i-based light infantry unit into a Stryker brigade.
The public has 45 days to comment on the prospect of a Stryker brigade being based in Hawai'i or at the other possible locations mentioned by the Army: Alaska, Washington state, Colorado and Kentucky.
The notice in yesterday's edition of the Federal Register said an environmental impact statement would assess the potential consequences of transforming the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry (Light) on site in Hawai'i or doing so in another state.
The step comes after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in October that the Army violated federal environmental law when it decided to transform the Schofield Barracks brigade in Hawai'i without properly considering alternatives elsewhere.
A U.S. District judge last week ruled the Army could move forward in Hawai'i with most of the scaled-down training it wanted to complete, but ordered it to take special mitigating measures to protect the environment.
The Army is currently transforming all of its light infantry brigades into fast-response brigades centered around its new armored Stryker vehicles.
They are designed to be light enough to load on planes for quick transport to battle zones but heavy enough to protect soldiers from attack.
The Army says the brigades are expected to be able to deploy anywhere in the world within four days.
SUSPENDED LAWYER RESIGNS
A lawyer has resigned from the practice of law rather than face disciplinary proceedings, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel has announced.
Dale Bennett, 65, who was admitted to the Hawai'i bar in 1989, had been suspended from practicing law since 2004 for his failure to cooperate with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel in an investigation of 10 cases, the office said.
The Hawai'i Supreme Court granted Bennett's request to resign. The resignation took effect Dec. 29.
NI'IHAU
CREWS RETRIEVE HAZARDOUS ITEMS
The cleanup of diesel, propane, batteries, refrigerant and other hazardous materials from a damaged fishing boat that ran aground near the southeast point of Ni'ihau was completed Wednesday, the Coast Guard said.
The 44-foot fishing vessel Wahine Kepaloa II ran aground Dec. 29 off Ni'ihau.
Pacific Environmental Corp. used a helicopter with a sling to move nine batteries, two refrigerant cylinders, a propane cylinder and nearly 1,000 gallons of fuel to an offshore barge. A Coast Guard site-safety supervisor on the barge ensured proper storage of the hazardous materials.
The Coast Guard's Pacific Strike Team supervised the cleanup.
