Maunalua fireworks get help from donor
An anonymous donor has stepped in to help rescue Independence Day fireworks at this year’s Maunalua Bay Festival. Festival Chairwoman Dianne Glei said the donor is providing half of the $45,000 needed to put on the fireworks show and that she’s hopeful others will contribute the rest.
Maunalua Communities Foundation announced Thursday it would hold the sixth annual festival but didn’t have the means to do fireworks. The event will be from noon to 7 p.m. July 4 at Maunalua Bay Beach Park.
Man who died while hiking is identified
Hawaii County police have identified a man who died Tuesday while hiking across a lava field as Canadian visitor Riccardo Scagliati, 57, of Victoria, British Columbia.
Scagliati and a companion set out from the Kalapana viewing area Tuesday morning. On their return trip they got lost, police said Thursday.
Scagliati became disoriented and overheated, and fell to the ground. His 57-year-old male hiking companion went for help and water but was unable to find his way back to Scagliati’s location.
Nualolo Cliff trail’s condition forces closure
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has closed for an indefinite period the 2.1-mile Nualolo Cliff hiking trail in the Na Pali-Kona Forest Reserve on the northwest coast of Kauai. The closure began Thursday.
Officials deemed the trail unsafe because of washed-out and eroded conditions near the 1.5- and 1.75-mile markers. The trail is only 6 inches wide in some places, the state said.
Division of Forestry and Wildlife Na Ala Hele Trails program staff will post trail closure signs and install temporary barriers for public safety.
The Nualolo Cliff trail starts near the 3-mile point on the Awaawapuhi Trail in the Na Pali-Kona Forest Reserve and meets the Nualolo Trail between the 3- and 3.25-mile markers. The trail skirts the upper rim of the precipitous Nualolo Valley and permits a “loop” route from the Awaawapuhi Trail to Kokee Park headquarters.
