Newswatch

4 safe after boat flips off Kewalo Basin

The Honolulu Fire Department rescued four people late Saturday night after their boat capsized off Kewalo Basin, a spokes­man said Sunday.

The boat is still stuck on a reef.

Fire Capt. Tyler Chan said a rescue crew got the people safely to shore, where they were examined by paramedics, after the 9:15 p.m. call.

A spokesman for the Coast Guard said the owner of the boat hired a salvage company to attempt to save it. The Coast Guard planned to remove six gallons of fuel from the vessel.

Arboretum to sell plants, seeds, honey

The University of Hawaii’s Lyon Arboretum will hold its annual Holiday Plant and Craft Sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 23, the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

Various nurseries will be selling colorful ti varieties, cactuses and succulents, orchids, anthuriums, heliconia, gingers, tillandsia and other bromeliads, Hawaiian plants and native ferns, vegetable and herb plants, as well as UH variety vegetable seeds and many other plants for homes and gardens. Ceramic pots and planters will also be available.

Arboretum volunteers from Hui Hana Hawai‘i will sell one-of-a-kind dry and fresh holiday wreaths. There will also be jams and jellies and Hawaiian honey.

The arboretum is at 3860 Manoa Road. Admission is free.

A free shuttle service to the arboretum has pickup and drop-off points at the intersections of Poelua Street and Manoa Road, and Nipo Street and Manoa Road.

More information is available at 988-0456 or www.ha­waii.edu/lyonarboretum.

State gets green light for harbor work

A favorable environmental assessment has paved the way for $133 million in improvements at Kawaihae Harbor on Hawaii island.

The assessment, released Friday, concluded there would be no significant impacts associated with the project, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports.

The state Department of Transportation will oversee the work, which will improve vehicular traffic, install secure fencing, demolish the small-craft dock and dedicate land for a new small-boat harbor and perimeter road, grade the Coral Flats area, build a bathroom, rebuild and extend Pier 2-A by 340 feet, and dredge and extend Pier 2-C by 325 feet.

Label indicates buoy piece of tsunami debris

A buoy found Friday at Hanamaulu Beach Park could be tsunami debris from Japan, Kauai County officials say.

Japanese characters on a label at the bottom of the light as well as on the plastic body indicate it may have originated in Osaka, the Garden Island reports.

The buoy was recovered by John Martin and Scott Nakata of the county Department of Parks and Recreation. They notified the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration about the find.

Nakata said the buoy, more than 6 feet tall, was still in the water when he arrived.

"Luckily, a wave came and turned it so the ballast side came up and I was able to grab the anchoring eye," he said. "But I almost fell while trying to pull it out."