Pumping continues after Honolulu dam scare
HONOLULU — Workers continued to pump water out of a Honolulu dam after heavy rains prompted an evacuation warning.
Officials warned Thursday 10,000 people may need to evacuate if water continued to rise after heavy rains from a tropical storm. Later in the day, they said the century-old reservoir wasn’t in immediate danger of collapsing.
Honolulu Board of Water Supply spokeswoman Kathleen Elliot-Pahinui said Friday pumping will be ongoing through the weekend and into next week as needed. She says workers always aim to keep water levels low well before any storm hits.
Water levels in Nuuanu Dam No. 1 rose rapidly during the storm.
There was intermittent rain in the area Friday morning. Meteorologists say there will be passing showers in the coming days, but heavy rains aren’t likely.
Man sentenced in 2016 crime spree on Kauai
LIHUE, Kauai — A man who went a one-day crime spree on Kauai after escaping a correctional facility was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison.
Walter Mills, 45, was sentenced Tuesday for the Nov. 3, 2016 crimes that included robberies of a bank and a pharmacy.
Mills escaped from the Kauai Community Correctional Center in Wailua, and the next day he visited the First Hawaiian Bank in Lihue, U.S. Attorney Kenji Price said.
He handed the bank teller a note: “This is a robbery I have a gun count all the money in the drawer no die pack or mark money.”
Mills received $480 in cash, which he used to buy a BB gun. With the BB gun, he then committed a series of carjackings, according to the federal prosecutor.
On one of the carjackings, Mills demanded the driver to take him to a pharmacy in Koloa, where he demanded painkillers. He continued on the crime spree until his arrest outside Kokee Lodge later that day.
“I have to look at the safety of the community. The community is not safe when you are out and about,” U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor said at sentencing.
Mills was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and to pay $630 in restitution.
Earlier this year, Mills was sentenced to five and six years in prison for two separate thefts in 2015. These sentences will run concurrently.
Relief supplies delivered to Guam on world’s largest plane
HAGATNA, Guam — Emergency supplies for Typhoon Mangkhut relief were delivered to Guam on the world’s largest aircraft.
The Pacific Daily News reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency chartered the Antonov Airlines AN-255 to transport food and water supplies from Moffett Field, California, landing on Guam on Wednesday.
The Ukraine-based cargo airline required special permission for the trip from the U.S. Department of Transportation. According to its application last week, the airline stated “civil aircraft operated by U.S. carriers are apparently not available to meet FEMA’s requirements.”
Guam was hit by the typhoon Monday, knocking down houses, power lines and trees. Officials said about 88 percent of the island had power by Thursday morning.