Cancellations of visits persist at prisons
The Department of Public Safety again canceled visitation at the Women’s Community Correctional Center and Oahu Community Correctional Center on Sunday because of staffing shortages.
The department has been putting out visitation cancellation notices through social media between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. on the scheduled visitation day in an effort to get the word out faster.
Visitation at WCCC was also canceled Saturday because of staffing shortages, but the department said then that visitation was still scheduled for Sunday.
OCCC visitation was canceled March 29 and 30 as well, along with visitation at Halawa Correctional Facility being canceled March 30.
Guards calling in sick on weekends has been a chronic problem in the prison system, forcing the cancellation of family visits and increasing overtime expenses.
Bridge possible at Kauai stream
Construction of a bridge over Kauai’s Hanakapiai Stream, which would prevent hikers from being stranded by floodwaters, is under active discussion by the state, a state spokeswoman confirms.
"State Parks has pursued the possibility of constructing a stream crossing at Hanakapiai beach since a flash flood on Kauai on Feb. 21, 2013, when a woman was swept away and drowned as she tried to cross the swollen stream," Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman Deborah Ward told the Garden Island newspaper.
More than 120 hikers were stranded April 6, and 98 had to spend the night on the soggy Kalalau Trail.
The division has some funding to do scoping, design and construction for priority parks improvements, Ward said,
"Due to the remote location and lack of roads, any materials or prefabricated structures would need to be airlifted in, which is costly," she wrote in an email.
Burglaries drop in West Hawaii
West Hawaii had 215 burglaries over the past 12 months, down from 296 the year before, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported.
But Hilo saw an increase to 739 incidents from 577, according to police data.
There has also been an increase in auto thefts, particularly Toyota Tacomas, Assistant Chief Henry Tavares told the Hawaii County Police Commission on Friday.
Police are stepping up efforts to inform the community, working with neighborhood watch coordinators and a videographer to create a TV commercial on how people can safeguard their belongings.
