Newswatch

Sit-lie ban extended to pedestrian malls

A bill that bans people from sitting or lying down at four Chinatown and downtown Honolulu pedestrian malls was signed into law by Mayor Kirk Caldwell on Wednesday.

Introduced by area Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga, the measure is designed to complement a law Caldwell signed in December that makes it a violation to sit or lie on sidewalks in about a dozen business districts across Oahu. Downtown and Chinatown merchants complained that the ordinance was pushing more people into the malls, blocking the entrances to their businesses.

Included in the new law are Kekaulike and Sun Yat-Sen malls in Chinatown, and Fort Street and Union malls downtown.

City officials said that since enforcement began in mid-December, Honolulu police officers have issued only 10 citations, along with 964 warnings, and made just three arrests for sit-lie violations in Chinatown and downtown.

Critics of the sit-lie laws say they unfairly discriminate against the homeless, and that they serve only to push the population into other areas.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Kona phone service lost when cable cut

Residential, business and cellular telephone service — including 911 — was restored in the Kona area on Hawaii island about six hours after a cable line was severed on Wednesday.

Hawaiian Telcom said its landline telephone and Internet were out of service from Waikoloa to Pahala — affecting approximately 20,000 phone and 5,500 Internet customers. Wireless carriers also experienced problems.

Service was expected to be restored to all customers Wednesday night.

Hawaiian Telcom said alarms were triggered at its network operations center at about 1 p.m., indicating problems in Kona.

A cable break occurred on Mamalahoa Highway near the intersection with the Daniel K. Inouye Highway, the company said. A contractor transporting a grader reportedly snagged and severed a 36-strand fiber cable.

Residents requiring emergency services who were unable to access 911 were asked to go to the nearest police or fire station.

Lava breakout section moves about 400 yards

PAHOA, Hawaii »While the leading edge of Kilauea Volcano’s June 27 lava flow hasn’t moved in more than two weeks, an upslope breakout area has moved about 400 yards in the past five days.

The breakout oozed over an old aa flow, moving at a rate of a bit less than 100 yards a day into forest area, said Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira.

The breakout does not pose an immediate risk to the nearby Pahoa community.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the breakout closest to the lava’s stalled tip is about 330 yards upslope of the flow front, which remains stalled about 0.36 mile from Highway 130 and the Pahoa fire and police stations.