Repairs to close Punchbowl offramp for 2 nights

The Punchbowl Street offramp from the eastbound H-1 freeway will close at 9 tonight until 4 a.m. Thursday and again from 9 p.m. Thursday until 4 a.m. Friday for guardrail and shoulder improvements.

The state Department of Transportation advises motorists to plan ahead and use alternate routes to access the downtown Honolulu area, such as the Pali Highway offramp (Exit 21). The ramp connecting ­Honolulu-bound Pali Highway to Punchbowl Street will remain open at all times.

Electronic message boards have been posted to notify motorists of the closure.

Hawaii island

Major traffic crashes decline, deaths rise versus last year

The number of major accidents on the Big Island is down slightly so far this year, but fatal accidents are up, the Hawaii County Police Department reported Tuesday.

There have been 1,068 major accidents this year, compared with 1,109 during the same period last year, a decrease of 3.7 percent, Sgt. Robert Pauole of the Traffic Services Section said by email.

To date, there have been 25 fatal crashes — one of which had multiple deaths, resulting in a total of 27 fatalities, compared with 20 fatal crashes — three of which had multiple deaths, resulting in 23 fatalities for the same time last year. That translates to an increase of 25 percent for fatal crashes and 17.4 percent for fatalities, Pauole said.

So far this year, there have been 907 DUI arrests, compared with 863 during the same period last year, an increase of 5.1 percent.

During the week that ended Sunday, ­Hawaii County police arrested 21 motorists for driving under the influence of an intoxicant. Four of the drivers were involved in a traffic accident. One of the drivers was under the age of 21.

Kauai

Police chief gets scam letter, warns others to not to be duped

The rip-off artists sent their letter to the wrong hombre.

Police are warning the public of a scam after Police Chief Darryl Perry received a letter claiming that his distant relative had died in Spain and left a safe deposit box containing $7.8 million.

“The letter goes on to explain that I could inherit half of the money if I make a claim for its contents,” Perry said in a statement Tuesday. “We want the public to be aware of this scam and others like it, and know how to guard against falling victim.”

Many financial scams promise the victim a large payout, but only after he or she wires money to the requester, supposedly to cover taxes or processing fees.

Kauai police advise residents not to answer or return calls from unknown numbers; use caution when responding to unsolicited calls or emails, or unknown individuals on social networking sites; and to check bank, credit card and phone statements regularly for unknown or unauthorized charges.