Ala Moana tennis courts to be resurfaced

The tennis courts at Ala Moana Regional Park will be closed for resurfacing starting Wednesday, according to the city Department of Parks and Recreation.

Weather permitting, 10 play courts and the practice court are scheduled to be closed on a rotating basis in order to allow public access to those courts not being actively renovated. No more than five courts are expected to be closed at a given time.

The resurfacing project will begin at the practice court and the adjacent court on the mauka-Diamond Head side of the facility and progress in the Ewa direction. The project is expected to be done by the end of March.

The $249,200 contract for this project is being completed by All Court Hawaii as part of Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s Kakou for Parks initiative to resurface public play courts across Oahu. To date, the initiative has resulted in 189 resurfaced play courts at 43 parks, 68 new or refurbished play apparatus and 63 renovated comfort stations.

Follow the initiative’s progress at parks.honolulu.gov.

Rocks falling cause explosion in crater

A rockfall caused an explosion Friday in the Overlook crater at the summit of Kilauea Volcano.

The rockfall happened just after 7 a.m., according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Video of the explosion is on the observatory website, volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/kilauea_multimedia_15.html.

Rocks falling into the lava lake agitated the surface and caused the lake to “slosh” back and forth for at least 15 minutes following the collapse. Explosive events triggered by rockfalls occur with no warning and are among reasons why the Halemaumau Crater rim remains closed to the public, the observatory said.

Kilauea continues to erupt at its summit and from the Puu Oo vent on its east rift zone. The so-called 61g lava flow is producing scattered surface flow activity, and lava is not entering the ocean. Even though the Kamokuna lava delta is not currently active, it remains hazardous to visitors, federal geologists say. The lava flows pose no threat to nearby communities at the moment.