The state Department of Health has been awarded $361,956 in federal funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for its childhood lead poisoning prevention program.
The funding will enable the Hawaii Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program’s efforts to reduce lead exposure for children under the age of six.
Nearly 60,000 children under age 6 in Hawaii were tested for lead from 2011 to 2015, according to department data — and 1,700 children, or about 3 percent, had elevated blood lead levels. Sources of lead exposure for children include paint in houses built before 1978, fishing sinkers, jewelry, toys and glazed pottery.
Repair of Kaneohe water main completed
Board of Water Supply crews on Monday finished repairs to a break in a 16-inch water main on Lilipuna Road in Kaneohe.
A spokesman said service had been restored to all customers except for two homes at the break site, where service lines need to be reconnected. Work to reconnect the two homes was expected to take several hours, after which road restoration work will begin.
The board expects to reopen the closed stretch of Lilipuna Road by today.
HECO warns of Kaneohe traffic stalls
Traffic interruptions are scheduled for Likelike Highway today and Oct. 17 as Hawaiian Electric Co. replaces power transmission equipment in Kaneohe.
Between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., there will be two to three 10-minute traffic interruptions as follows:
>> All lanes of traffic in both directions on Likelike Highway on the mountain side of the H-3 overpass will be closed intermittently.
>> The Kaneohe-bound H-3 exit ramp to Likelike Highway will be closed intermittently.
Contractors for HECO will be using a helicopter to carry equipment, ropes and cables from a transmission structure adjacent to the highway to another one on the mountain ridge.
In addition, a single-lane closure on Likelike Highway is expected between 8:30 a.m and 3 p.m. weekdays. The Kaneohe-bound right lane of the highway will also be closed from the juncture of the Kaneohe-bound H-3 exit ramp to a short distance beyond the H-3 overpass.
The project is expected to continue through the end of the month. For more information, motorists can call 543-4004.
HAWAII ISLAND
Volunteers sought to install Waimea playground gear
Volunteer crews last week leveled the original Anuenue Playground in Waimea in preparation for the installation of new equipment Oct. 23-29.
With county permits in hand and after a successful, $400,000 fundraising initiative, Friends of the Anuenue Playground, a nonprofit group, is asking community members of all skill levels to help install the new equipment, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports. The grand opening will be Oct. 29.
The original playground, which opened in 1992 in the town center, quickly became a magnet for children in Waimea.
“It was an incredible experience,” recalled Vicki Missien, a longtime resident who helped build the original. “We remember it with so much emotion when we think about it. When you talk to people who helped, we all have that same thought — just being able to say ‘I helped build it’ meant a lot.”
But after years of heavy use, the wood began to splinter and rot. Various parts broke beyond repair, spurring the county to gradually board up the equipment.
In 2013, Missien and other volunteers formed Friends of the Anuenue Playground, which launched a drive to construct a modern playground.
After raising funds for about a year, the group met its goal of $400,000 in June. That included several grants and donations from local businesses and residents.
The new playground, designed by New York-based Play by Design, will have a similar “look and feel” to the original, group member Mimi Kerley said. But the engineered wood material will be more weather-resistant.
The new equipment includes a rock climbing wall, a climbing net, an additional slide and new climbing structures.
