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Update hotline fails as OCCC visits resume
A day after staff shortages resulted in another cancellation of visitations at Oahu Community Correctional Center, the facility was again open for family and friends wishing to visit with inmates Sunday — provided they got the word via social media.
According to a Department of Public Safety announcement, the department was unable to update the visitation hotline due to a malfunction. Updates were available via the department’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The visitation updates have become important in recent months as ongoing staffing problems — related to sick leave usage and other factors — have resulted in frequent cancellations of scheduled visitation times, most recently on Saturday.
Schatz introduces transit station bill
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz announced Friday that he’s introduced a bill designed to help foment communities that are more walkable and bikeable around transit stations.
Schatz’s "Transit-Oriented Development Infrastructure Financing Act," co-sponsored by three of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate, would enable a U.S. Department of Transportation program to provide loans, loan guarantees and lines of credit for public infrastructure projects in neighborhoods adjacent to transit stations, according to a release from Schatz’s office.
The bill comes as amid a push for more walkable communities and affordable housing along Oahu’s future 20-mile transit line. The bill was supported by Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Geoff Anderson, CEO of Smart Growth America, a coalition of advocacy groups pushing for communities designed to work better for their residents.
Texan injured in road crash
A 24-year-old Texas man was seriously hurt Sunday in a crash on Kuhio Highway in Kauai’s Aliomanu area.
The man was heading south on a moped shortly before 1 p.m. near the North Aliomanu Road junction, Kauai County said in a news release. He tried to make a turn from the southbound shoulder and was struck by a Ford sedan heading in the same direction.
Medics transported the victim to Wilcox Hospital, where he had surgery.
The driver of the Ford, a 49-year-old Kapaa woman, and her female passenger were not injured.
Kuhio Highway was closed in both directions following the crash while police investigated. The highway was reopened at about 3:45 p.m.
Space center to alter plans
The Hilo-based Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems will scale down its plans after lawmakers approved less funding than requested.
The space research office will receive $900,000 in funding for the next fiscal year, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports. It sought $1.7 million.
Among its requests, PISCES sought funding to acquire land for a research park and matching funds for a planetary sustainability research partnership with California. Neither was approved.
PISCES has a staff of nine. "The good news is we won’t have to lay anybody off," PISCES Executive Director Rob Kelso said.
The approved funding amount will likely slow growth of a robotic village, he said. The project is intended to demonstrate how rovers can extract regolith — lunar soil — and turn it into fuel or other material.