Fewer pests found in tree containers

State agriculture inspectors found slugs in six of 60 shipping containers of Christmas trees arriving over the past weekend in Hawaii and held them.

Last year, 50 percent of containers were infested.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture increased its monitoring this year over the harvesting, handling and shipping of Christmas trees to Hawaii, the state Department of Agriculture said in a news release Tuesday.

The state will use hot water to treat the trees.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

2 female nene killed by drivers on Haleakala

Speeding motorists killed two adult female nene recently in Haleakala National Park, the park said in a news release.

One was found Friday on Crater Road near the Hosmer Grove intersection. The other was discovered Nov. 12 outside the park near mile marker 9.

“This is a truly worrisome start to the nene breeding season,” park Superintendent Natalie Gates said. “We didn’t just lose two birds; we lost several potential generations of an endangered species.”

Girl’s injury leads to arrest of police officer

Maui authorities have charged a police officer with abuse of a family and household member after his
13-year-old daughter fell Tuesday and suffered a concussion.

Nelson Johnson, 46, was arrested and charged Wednesday. His bail was set at $2,000.

The 18-year county police department veteran got into an argument with his daughter, police said. The girl fell and hit her head on a wall-mounted air-conditioning unit and was taken to the Maui Memorial Medical Center, and later released in good condition.

In 2004, the family of 27-year-old Lisa Kaina criticized Johnson for fatally shooting her in the head in Paia.

Police said she refused to stop, and tried to reverse a stolen car into another officer.
The case is still being investigated, police said in a news release.