Residents and businesses along part of Harding Avenue in Kaimuki may experience an interruption in their water service as crews repair a broken valve in that area.

Honolulu Board of Water Supply workers late yesterday afternoon were at the scene. Water was shut off about 8:30 p.m. It was not known how long people would be without water.

About 100 customers between 4th and 12th avenues will be affected.

The problem began at about 9:30 a.m. yesterday when a city contractor inadvertently damaged a valve during repaving work on Harding, said Devon Nekoba, Board of Water Supply spokesman.

MAN CHARGED IN ATTEMPTED MURDER

A 24-year-old Hilo man has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly pointing a handgun at another man last month.

Cyrus Ramo of Hilo was arrested Friday at the Hilo police station and charged Saturday with attempted second-degree murder, assault and two firearm charges in connection with a March 11 report that a man was attacked at a Kaumana park.

Witnesses later told police the suspect pointed a loaded handgun at the 20-year-old victim and tried to shoot him, but the gun failed to fire.

Police have the gun. Bail for Ramo was set at $62,500.

TREE REMOVED AT KAILUA RESERVOIR

The Hawai'i Army National Guard was called on yesterday to perform emergency work at the old Kailua Reservoir dam in Waimanalo.

Troops removed a tree from a 25- to 30-foot-deep sinkhole that blocked the flow of water through a pipe.

The reservoir overflowed April 2, prompting the evacuation of a dozen families.

The state wants to tear down portions of the reservoir built for irrigation in the 1930s.

Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, the state director of civil defense, said the dam isn't structurally sound. He said the priority is to ensure the reservoir empties whenever it rains.

It was decommissioned in 1993 after the 60 million gallon Waimanalo reservoir was built.

Sandra Kunimoto, chairwoman of the state Board of Agriculture, has asked the Legislature for $2.5 million to cover the cost of necessary work at the Kailua Reservoir.

MAYOR TO SPEAK IN NATION'S CAPITAL

Mayor Mufi Hannemann is in Washington, D.C., this week to speak at a gathering of top travel industry and government leaders at the sixth annual Global Travel and Tourism Summit.

The World Travel and Tourism Council, the Travel Business Roundtable and the Travel Industry Association of America sponsor the meeting to bring together leaders of the world's top travel and tourism companies, foreign tourism and health ministers, senior U.S. officials and journalists from around the world.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors, which is a member of the Travel Business Roundtable, is underwriting the cost of his trip.

Hannemann said he will be spreading the word that Hawai'i's recent weather problems are over.

The mayor will be in Washington until tomorrow. While there, Hannemann will also meet with federal transportation officials to update them on Honolulu's progress in developing a mass-transit system for O'ahu.

MAN SUSPECTED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

A 56-year-old Wai'anae man was arrested Sunday evening after a 33-year-old woman told police the man tried to sexually assault her.

The woman, who described the man as an acquaintance, said she accepted a ride home from the him. But he took her to his home and tried to attack her between 6 and 7:15 p.m., police said.

The woman said she struggled with the man, who she said tore her clothes and head-butted her. She said she persuaded the man to stop and to drive her to a relative's house and drop her off.

Police said the woman and her husband then began chasing the man in their car when a police officer saw what was happening and was able to stop the suspect on Farrington Highway and Wai'anae Valley Road.

NORWEGIAN AMBASSADOR VISITS

Norway's ambassador to the United States paid a visit to Hawai'i last week to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the arrival of Scandinavian contract workers in the Islands.

While on Maui, Ambassador Knut Vollebaek and his wife, Ellen, stopped by a stone monument, or bautastein, at McGregor Point that marks where the Norwegian ship Beta anchored on Feb. 18, 1881, with 400 Scandinavians, mostly Norwegians, who were recruited to work in the sugar fields and mills. A second ship, the Musca, followed three months later with about 230.

The Vollebaeks met with Mayor Alan Arakawa and toured the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. mill in Pu'unene and the Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum, where they viewed original documents from the migration.

Steve and Patty Mazingo of Kula hosted the visit. The Vollebaeks also stopped on O'ahu.

PAIR OF FREE TALKS AT PUBLIC LIBRARY

Author, professional speaker and consultant H. Stanley Jones is hosting free 90-minute programs today and tomorrow at Kapolei Public Library starting at 6:30 p.m.

Jones, a Kapolei resident, is founder and director of Quality of Life Institute.

He will speak today on identity theft and what the "fraudsters don't want you to know," and will offer tips tomorrow on balancing family, career and personal time in Hawai'i.

The library is at 1020 Manawai St. Call 693-7050 for information.