Annual walk recalls Sept. 11
Honolulu officials will gather today for a ceremony and walk honoring the victims and first responders of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell will lead a procession this afternoon for the eighth annual Mayor’s Remembrance Walk.
Members of the local police, fire and other city departments are expected.
The event, which starts at 5 p.m., will include a blessing, wreath presentation and a bell-ringing ceremony at police headquarters.
Participants will follow a route down Beretania Street toward the fire department’s headquarters on South Street.
The evening will conclude with a procession to Honolulu Hale, where the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet Band will perform near the Eternal Flame.
Road reopened and renamed
The state Department of Transportation on Saturday opened the newest portion of Hawaii island’s former Saddle Road, a 9-mile section from mile post 42 to Mamalahoa Highway.
It also marked the completion of a $290 million project that has covered 41 miles since 2004. Under a Senate resolution, the 41-mile stretch was renamed the Senator Daniel K. Inouye Highway. The opening Saturday was on what would have been Inouye’s 89th birthday. He died in December.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie joined members of the Inouye family, former colleagues and other government officials at the ceremony.
“Once one of the most precarious highways in the state, the Senator Daniel K. Inouye Highway is now a safer and more efficient travel route connecting East and West Hawaii communities,” Abercrombie said in a statement.
Kerosene found in leaking tank
The leaking 100-gallon tank that washed ashore on Kauai last month contained small amounts of kerosene, a fuel toxic to marine life but which floats and eventually evaporates.
The Garden Island, quoting the state Department of Health, said the tank contained about 3 gallons of liquid, a combination of seawater and residual kerosene.
“The translation of the Chinese writing (on its side) was ‘lantern oil,’” said Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo.
It is unknown if the tank is debris from the March 2011 Japanese tsunami.
