The Yokohama Bay area on the west shore of Oahu will remain closed through the weekend due to high surf, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources said Friday.
At Makua Beach the road that crosses over the dry riverbed was under 2 to 3 feet of water.
The surf has pushed sand into low points a side road at the bay and is about a foot deep in places.
The National Weather Service said wave heights dropped Friday and a high-surf warning was canceled.
A high-surf advisory in effect until 6 a.m. today said surf on the west shores of Oahu and Molokai was expected to be between 8 and 12 feet. The advisory also said surf on north- and west-facing shores of Kauai and Niihau and north-facing shores of Oahu, Molokai and Maui was expected to drop late Friday night to 12 to 18 feet.
1 of 2 murder charges dropped
HILO >> County prosecutors have dropped one of two murder charges against a Hawaii island man accused of beating a baby to death and strangling the child’s mother.
The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported Thursday that a judge dismissed the charge against Xavier Cortez Jr. in connection with the September 2011 death of Sommer Ferreira. Prosecutors had requested the dismissal after failing to gain witnesses’ cooperation.
Prosecutors can choose to refile charges at a later date.
Cortez is still charged with the January 2011 death of Ferreira’s 18-month-old daughter, who died a week after being admitted to a hospital for breathing problems. His trail in that case is scheduled for May 3.
Cortez’s attorney says his client wants to prove his innocence.
Mortar round found in home
Kauai police evacuated a Lihue home and neighboring properties Thursday morning after a man found a 60 mm mortar round at his father’s home, Kauai County police said in a news release.
The unexploded ordnance was found at a home on Hili Street in the Ulu Mahi subdivision.
A federal Transportation Security Administration explosive specialist identified the ordnance.
The man told police he was cleaning out his father’s home when he found the round at about 10 a.m.
The Army’s 74th Explosive Ordnance Disposal team arrived from Schofield Barracks on Oahu shortly after 6 p.m. and used equipment to determine that the mortar did not contain explosives.
The team disassembled the device and removed it from the home.
Police cleared the scene at about 7 p.m.
Missing tourist is Chicago man
A man swept into the ocean at Queen’s Bath on Kauai on Thursday morning was identified as 28-year-old Mykola Grebeniuk of Chicago.
The Coast Guard and Kauai County have been searching for Grebeniuk, last seen wearing a white T-shirt and green shorts.
A Kauai fire official said Grebeniuk was visiting the tide pool in Princeville at about 10 a.m. Thursday with his wife and friends when he was swept out to sea by a wave.
