HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Police standoff closes H-1 viaduct
Advertiser Staff
Police closed off the airport viaduct on H-1 last night after a man in a hotel room fired a weapon and threatened to kill himself.
The man was the subject of a missing persons report.
When he was reported to be in a room on the 11th floor of the Best Western Plaza Hotel on N. Nimitz Highway, police investigated at shortly after 6 p.m.
The man pointed a gun at his head and threatened to kill himself. Police closed the viaduct for safety reasons while negotiators talked to the man. That backed up people who were trying to leave Aloha Stadium after last night's UH football game.
BREAK IN PIPE DISRUPTS TRAFFIC
A break in a water main near the Prince Kuhio Federal Building closed three lanes of Ala Moana all day.
The break was reported shortly after 5 a.m. Police said water rising through the pavement caused it to crack. Traffic on the 'ewa-bound lanes of Ala Moana was diverted.
Su Shin, spokeswoman for the Board of Water Supply, said the break was in a 12-inch main. Crews spent most of the morning digging through the thick paving to expose the main, then cut out a section and replaced it.
Water service disruption was limited to the federal building and harbor areas. Service was restored by mid-afternoon. Crews were expected to work into the night to cover the main and pave the area.
O'AHU
CHILD SEAT SAFETY CHECKED FOR FREE
Free car-seat checks are being provided by the Department of Transportation to ensure child safety seats are not on a recall list, are appropriate for the child and installed properly.
Checks will be held:
WILSON TUNNEL MAY REOPEN
Weather permitting, the town-bound side of the Wilson tunnel could reopen today or tomorrow. Department of Transportation officials said motorists should watch for electronic message signs that will announce the tunnel's status.
The Honolulu-bound side of the tunnel has been closed since Sept. 6 to allow crews to lay a new concrete surface. It was scheduled to open on Oct. 6. The Kane'ohe-bound side was closed for similar work last month.
The work is part of a $13.8 million project to overhaul the Wilson Tunnel, which was built in the 1950s. Work, begun in Spring 2004 and is expected to conclude at the end of the year.
MO'ILI'ILI
FIRE DESTROYS MO'ILI'ILI HOME
The Honolulu Fire Department responded to a two-alarm Mo'ili'ili fire early yesterday in which a two-story home at 852 Hauoli Street was destroyed.
HFD Capt. Emmit Kane said the 1:30 a.m. blaze caused an estimated $200,000, as well as $18,000 in exposure damage to two homes next it.
The home had three residents — an elderly man, his nephew, and the nephew's girlfriend — but only the older man was home, Kane said.
"He was aroused by a neighbor and was able to get out safely," he said.
Kane said investigators believe the fire started under an exterior stairway leading to the upstairs.
