Honolulu woman diagnosed with hepatitis A dies
HONOLULU (AP) — A Honolulu woman who contracted hepatitis A after eating scallops identified as the likely source of the state’s outbreak has died.
The state Department of Health said the woman, who was not identified, died earlier this week at a hospital. A spokesman would not provide further information, citing an ongoing investigation.
Bill Marler, an attorney for the woman’s family, said the 68-year-old was in and out of the hospital since becoming ill this summer after eating at Genki Sushi.
The sushi chain closed its restaurants on Oahu and Kauai after officials linked the outbreak to frozen scallops served raw by the business. The restaurants have since reopened.
The state’s hepatitis A outbreak has sickened 291 people since it began in late June.
No new cases were reported this week.
Rail transit authority tabs interim leader
HONOLULU (AP) — The agency overseeing Oahu’s multibillion-dollar rail transit project hired a Los Angeles engineer as its new interim executive director.
The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation announced Thursday that Krishniah Murthy was selected to lead the agency.
Murthy said he has 40 years of experience in the management of rail projects, most recently with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority. He helped get rail lines up and running throughout Southern California, as well as in Phoenix and Atlanta.
Murthy will replace acting Executive Director Mike Formby, who took over for Dan Grabauskas.
Grabauskas stepped down in August amid concerns about his leadership.
Murthy will take the helm Dec. 5. He said he’s ready to take on what will be the largest public works project in state history, despite facing a budget shortfall of at least $1.8 billion.
Murthy will serve as interim executive director for a year while officials look for a permanent replacement. Murthy will be paid a base salary of $400,000 with the potential for a 10 percent bonus if he hits certain benchmarks, board member Colbert Matsumoto said.
Pilot: Waves, darkness hindered search for sailor
KAPOLEI, Oahu (AP) — Waves, wind and darkness hampered the search for a Chinese man reported missing while attempting to set a sailing record, the U.S. Coast Guard pilot who was the mission’s air commander said Thursday.
“It was pretty frustrating not to find him, not to hear him,” Lt. Ben Powers said at Air Station Barbers Point in west Oahu, the morning after the Coast Guard called off its search for Guo Chuan.
Guo, 50, was attempting to set a sailing record from San Francisco to Shanghai. The search was suspended after a U.S. Navy crew from the USS Makin Island went aboard Guo’s 97-foot trimaran about 620 miles northwest of Oahu and found only his life jacket.
As one of the pilots of one of the HC-130 Hercules planes that participated in the search, Powers spent hours scanning the ocean for Guo through 4- to 6-foot waves. There was no moon, he said, so illumination was low even with night-vision goggles.
Rescuers radioed Guo every 15 to 30 minutes, Powers said. There was no response.
Guo’s sailboat, the Qingdao China, is adrift, and its main sail was taken down, the Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard says it broadcast a warning to mariners to beware of the drifting boat.
Guo’s racing team plans to recover the sailboat, the Coast Guard said.
