Newswatch

Unique koa doors stolen from hall at Coco Palms Resort

Four koa doors were reported stolen from the historic Coco Palms Resort on Kauai over the weekend.

Site manager Bob Jasper, who holds tours at Coco Palms, said the theft occurred sometime between Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon.

Each door — about 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide — are hand-carved with different palm tree designs.

Each door is one-of-a-kind, Jasper said.

The doors were at the resort’s Queen’s Hall, where banquets were held.

When Jasper arrived at the site late Sunday afternoon, he found a big gap in the wooden wall at the back of the hall. He said he thinks the thieves removed the doors, each weighing about 200 to 300 pounds, from the property through the gap.

Jasper called the police and filed a report.

Coco Palms shut down after it was damaged by Hurricane Iniki in September 1992.

Anyone with information on the theft is asked to call police at 241-1711.

Chicken causes power to fail at Maui airport

WAILUKU » A power outage at an airport on Maui was caused by a chicken.

It’s unclear whether the chicken got fried.

The bird got into a Maui Electric Co. transformer in the rental car area at Kahului Airport on Tuesday afternoon.

It caused a power outage at 2:07 p.m. that forced some passengers to disembark their planes the old-fashioned way: by mobile stairway.

The airport tower and air traffic were not affected, the Maui News said.

Maui Electric Co. spokeswoman Kaui Awai-Dickson said most of the power was restored about a half-hour later. The outage affected the airport and nearby businesses, including the rental car companies, a hotel and a department store.

All power was restored at 3:25 p.m.

During the outage, security screenings were done manually and some electronic doors were staffed by Transportation Security Administration officials, said Maui District Airport Manager Marvin Moniz.

Search to go on for Kauai man who is missing

The Coast Guard and Kauai fire and police departments are expected to search for a third day today for a 55-year-old Kilauea man reported missing Tuesday night near Ninini Beach.

An air, land and sea-based search turned up no sign of the man, a Kauai County news release reported.

The search began at 8 p.m. Tuesday when the man’s vehicle was found at the beach where he normally swims. His family said the man had not returned home after going for a run and swim.