Governor heads to Asia on pre-APEC trip
Gov. Neil Abercrombie will leave Honolulu on Sunday for a 13-day trip to Tokyo, Okinawa and Beijing to bolster Asian relations for Hawaii and the United States before the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, his office said.
"I’m looking forward to expanding on our relationship in those regions from the perspective of not just business, but travel and foreign policy as well," Abercrombie said.
The cost of the trip for Abercrombie, his special assistant Tim McBroom and security staff is $28,642.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority arranged part of the trip to reach out to international markets in Asia, which the visitor industry of the islands rely heavily upon. HTA President Mike McCartney and Vice President of Brand Management David Uchiyama will accompany the governor. Events on the itinerary include meeting with the Japan Association of Travel Agents and the Okinawa Tourist Service.
"The Asia market is of great importance to Hawaii’s tourism economy, especially Japan, China and Korea, and the governor’s presence will strengthen the strong historical connections that Hawaii’s people and our visitor industry have there," McCartney said.
Abercrombie will then attend the National Governors Association U.S.-China Governors Forum in Beijing before returning home on Oct. 21.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
2 humpbacks seen in Maui County
A pair of humpback whales was sighted this week off the eastern coast of Lanai.
The Pacific Whale Foundation says it’s the first reported humpback whale sighting of the season in Maui County.
The two whales were seen Thursday swimming toward Maui.
The first confirmed sighting for the state was Sept. 26 off Hawaii island, several weeks earlier than expected.
Humpback whales migrate to Hawaii from their northern summer feeding area, which extends from Northern California to the Bering Sea. They come to the islands to mate, give birth and care for their young.
About 12,000 humpback whales are believed to migrate to Hawaii each winter.
Work will cause water outage
The Kauai Department of Water has scheduled a water outage on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. that will affect customers in Puhi and Lihue.
Water will be shut off so contractor Kiewit Infrastructure West can connect a newly installed waterline to the existing water system as part of the state Department of Transportation’s Kaumualii Highway widening project.
During the outage, water customers in Puhi and portions of Lihue will have no water service or low-pressure water service, the county said.
A detailed map of the affected streets can be viewed at www.kauaiwater.org.
The Department of Water will provide a portable water tank in the Komohana subdivision on Anonui Street and on Puhi Road near Leleiona Street during the shutdown. Customers will need to bring their own water containers.
For more information, call the Department of Water at 245-5461.
