Cayetano released after night in hospital
Former Gov. Ben Cayetano was released from the hospital Tuesday, one day after checking himself into the emergency room for undisclosed reasons.
“I’m fine,” Cayetano said by telephone.
He declined to say why he went to the emergency room and did not specify where. “I’m a retired politician now,” he said. “This is a private matter.”
Cayetano recently wrapped up a hard-fought campaign, finishing second to Mayor-elect Kirk Caldwell.
The former two-term governor also was hospitalized for three days in August — the week of the primary election — with a bleeding ulcer. Doctors examined the affected area of his stomach and cauterized a blood vessel to prevent further bleeding. No further treatment was needed, and Cayetano resumed the campaign that week. He suffered a similar event in 1997, as governor.
State, feds investigate boat’s origins
State officials are investigating whether a boat that washed up on Windward Oahu is debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami.
The boat, about 20 feet long, was seen floating whole in Kahana Bay on Thursday.
By Friday afternoon, when it was reported, it had broken into pieces on rocks on the north end of the bay, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
The department said its staff retrieved pieces of the boat from the rocks and brought them ashore Saturday.
More pieces were recovered Tuesday — pieces containing Japanese words on the boat’s bow and Japanese registration numbers on the stern, department spokeswoman Deborah Ward said.
Ward said the department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are working with the Consulate-General of Japan in Honolulu to verify whether the boat is tsunami debris. If confirmed, it would be the fourth piece of tsunami debris to have reached Hawaii shores and the 17th for the U.S. and Canada.
Schatz fills in as Abercrombie has surgery
Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie is taking a short break from his duties to have minor shoulder surgery.
His office says the governor will undergo surgery today. Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz will fill in for him as acting governor.
The next event on the governor’s schedule is a National Guard birthday celebration in Waikiki on Friday evening.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Blaze blamed for power loss
About 1,000 customers in Lahaina lost power Tuesday as a result of a fire at Maui Electric Co.’s Puukolii substation just before 6:38 a.m.
Power was restored in increments starting at 7:50 a.m. and was back on before 1 p.m., according to company spokeswoman Kau‘i Awai-Dickson.
Fire officials said the blaze at the substation and a small area of surrounding brush was put out by 8:59 a.m.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Supreme Court heads to Maui
The Hawaii Supreme Court will make a rare appearance on Maui.
The court said this is believed to be the first time the high court has convened on the Valley Isle to hear a case since the mid-1800s. The appearance is part of the Courts in the Community program, aimed at educating students and the public. Arguments will be heard Thursday in a drug case at Baldwin High School’s auditorium in Wailuku.
Man is charged in Kona robbery
Hawaii County police have arrested a second suspect in a Kona robbery in which the victim’s jaw was fractured.
Alexander Miller, 21, of Kailua-Kona was arrested Monday night and charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree assault and third-degree theft. On Thursday police charged Alexander Cho, 20, with the same charges.
A 25-year-old Kealakekua man said a man at a bar took him to a corner of the Alii Sunset Plaza parking lot, where five to six men punched and kicked him and stole his backpack, police said.
