Coast Guard honors Matson crew members
The Coast Guard is honoring container ship crew members who rescued three people from a sailboat stranded in a hurricane off Hawaii.
The crew of Matson Inc. container ship Manukai will receive a public service award from the Coast Guard on Monday.
Three men were sailing the 42-foot Walkabout from California to Hawaii when they got caught in waters roiled by Hurricane Julio in August.
The Coast Guard coordinated the rescue with the container ship, which was on its way to Honolulu to deliver goods. The container ship’s crew pulled the stranded sailors aboard to safety.
The meritorious public safety award is the second-highest award presented by the Coast Guard.
The presentation by Rear Adm. Cari Thomas, 14th District commander, will be at 10 a.m. at the Matson terminal building, Pier 2, second floor.
On-street parking begins along cycle track
The city will allow on-street parking next to the King Street bike lane starting Monday.
Motorists who want to park along the route still need to feed the meters, which remain on the curb.
Tow-away zones and hours will also remain in place. Vehicles are barred from parking on the track, even though it is not yet open.
The opening ceremony is Saturday, Dec. 6, for the 2-mile stretch of South King from Alapai to Isenberg streets. The dedicated, bike-only lane will be marked with bright green paint — indicating "caution" areas — at intersections and driveways.
Construction dominates lava flow costs
The slow-moving lava flow from Kilauea Volcano so far has cost Hawaii County taxpayers about $14.5 million, and the tab will certainly rise, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports.
The money is mostly being spent on construction costs for emergency roads.
Reopening Chain of Craters Road where it was buried by past lava flows could cost $12 million to $15.5 million. That project will connect communities to the rest of the island. It’s expected to be done in early December.
The county also spent $3 million to open Government Beach Road, which was a one-lane dirt road, and to connect Railroad Avenue between two subdevelopments.
The tally as of Oct. 31 included $800,000 for miscellaneous expenditures, mostly to refit the old Pahoa fire station, which was being used as a senior center, back for use as a fire station. That gives the community a fire station on each side of Highway 130.
Kauai residents with no water receive help
Residents of Makaweli, Kaumakani and Pakala, Kauai, have been without water since Saturday due to a pump failure in the water system that is owned and managed by Gay & Robinson.
The county Department of Water has provided two water trucks for essential needs, at the Pakala Post Office and the Kaumakani Thrifty Mart. Residents will need to bring their own containers.
Gay & Robinson is also making nonpotable water available to residents for uses such as flushing toilets. Employees of Gay & Robinson are alerting residents in the affected communities to the available resources.
