Governor to sign OHA settlement
Gov. Neil Abercrombie is scheduled to put his signature on a historic $200 million settlement between the state and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs on Wednesday.
The ceremony will take place at Washington Place, the former home of Hawaii’s last reigning monarch, Queen Liliuokalani.
The settlement transfers to OHA about 30 acres of prime waterfront real estate in Kakaako. In return, OHA will waive all past claims to ceded-land payments. By law, OHA should receive a share of the revenue generated on land formerly owned by the Hawaiian monarchy.
Zoo retrieves wandering dove
The Honolulu Zoo has recovered the second of three missing birds but is still searching for the last one.
The buff-headed ground dove native to Saipan was found only about 500 feet from its cage.
The zoo’s Mary Harbold said Thursday that workers had been monitoring the dove for a few days trying to coax it back to its home.
The birds escaped more than a week ago when vandals cut holes in 24 zoo cages. No suspects have been arrested.
The zoo retrieved an exotic parrot last weekend after hikers spotted it on a trail to Diamond Head.
The third bird — a tawny frogmouth — is still missing. Zoo officials are urging anyone who thinks they may have seen it to call 971-7174. The frogmouth resembles an owl and, as it name implies, has a froglike mouth.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Book drive will aid sister cities
WAILUKU >> Maui County wants to collect at least one ton of new and used books to be sent to the Philippines.
Mayor Alan Ara-kawa announced Wednesday the book drive for Maui’s sister cities in the Ilocos Norte region.
In February a delegation of Maui officials traveled to the Philippines to formalize a sister-city agreement with Badoc. Maui’s other sister cities in the Philippines are Bacarra, San Nicolas and Sarrat.
During the visit, mayors told the delegation that the region has a shortage of books written in English.
Managing Director Keith Regan says there’s a strong desire for the people of Ilocos Norte to learn the English language and that a shortage of books in English makes learning challenging. That prompted Arakawa and Regan to come up with an idea for a book drive, the county said.
