Volunteers build playground in Kailua
More than 200 volunteers assembled a playground Saturday at the Windward YMCA in Kailua.
The project, which took less than 41⁄2 hours, used children’s drawings of their “dream playground,” according to a news release.
The volunteers were from the YMCA, the Armed Services, the Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, the Kailua community and nonprofit organizer KaBOOM! Over 40 volunteers from the Armed Services helped out with the event.
“We are thrilled to have a new KaBOOM! playground at our Windward YMCA Branch,” Michael Broderick, resident and chief executive officer of the YMCA of Honolulu, said in a statement. “Our Windward Y serves thousands of children and families every year through our A+ after-school and Intersession programs, Summer Fun, swim lessons and health and fitness memberships. The addition of the new KaBOOM! playground and adjacent garden will provide a fun and exciting way for Windward Oahu children to be active and healthy.”
A national nonprofit, KaBOOM! has brought together community interests and businesses to construct more than 2,200 new playgrounds across North America since 1996. The new playground is one of dozens made possible with support from Disney.
Diver who disappeared is found on Niihau
A missing diver was found safe on Niihau Friday after a four-hour search.
The diver and his wife were aboard a Seasport Divers charter boat, based in Koloa, Kauai, the Garden Island reports. The group was diving at Lehua, a small, uninhabited island
0.7 mile north of Niihau.
“We are very happy that he was found in good condition,” said Coast Guard Lt. Kevin Cooper in Honolulu. “It is still uncertain as to what caused him to be separated from the group.”
The diver, reportedly a tourist, was reported missing around 10:15 a.m., according to Cooper. A helicopter and rescue boat from the Nawiliwili Coast Guard station were dispatched to the scene.
The Kauai Fire Department sent a helicopter and rescue boat to join the search around 12:20 p.m. A Seasport Divers vessel spotted the diver on Niihau around 2 p.m.
“He was jumping up and down on the shoreline when he was spotted,” Cooper said.
Problems could delay opening of UH-Hilo dorm
Nearly 300 University of Hawaii at Hilo students could find themselves without accommodations in the fall because a new $28 million dormitory might not be ready in time.
A number of quality and safety issues, including some regarding the dorm windows, could stall the opening, set for August, and increase costs, West Hawaii Today reports.
The newspaper cited a letter May 16 from project manager Gary Nakatsuka of Mitsunaga & Associates to Robert Yamada, construction manager for phase one of University Village.
“It’s a big concern,” Jerry Chang, UH-Hilo spokesman, said Thursday without elaborating.
