Rental car
center to open at Honolulu airport
HONOLULU (AP) — A $377 million rental car center with room for 4,500 vehicles is scheduled to open at Honolulu’s airport this week.
The five-story facility will allow rental car companies to house their operations in the same centrally located, covered airport structure directly across from airline terminals, said Ross Higashi, the deputy director of the state Department of Transportation’s airports division.
Higashi told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser the project will make it easier for car rental companies to control and maintain their inventory. Companies will have room to store, rent, fuel, wash and repair cars.
Many customers will be able to walk to the center from the terminals, eliminating the need for rental car companies to run pickup shuttles on a constant loop. A consolidated busing system will transport remaining customers.
Higashi said the project was built with revenue from a $4.50 daily fee applied to car rentals.
Planning for the facility began in 2012 and construction started in 2016. Gov. David Ige and officials from the department are scheduled to dedicate the center at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on Tuesday. It will open for business on Wednesday.
Schools report chemical
odor in water
HONOLULU (AP) — Two elementary schools near Pearl Harbor say “chemical-like” smells were coming from water lines on their campuses, the state Department of Education said Monday.
The news came a day after the Navy said it was investigating reports of a chemical smell in drinking water at military housing near Pearl Harbor.
The odors were detected at Nimitz Elementary and Red Hill Elementary. Department of Education spokesperson Nanea Kalanai said there were no plans to close either school.
The schools have bought bottled water for students and taped off sinks. They were providing hand sanitizer so students may clean their hands. The cafeterias were preparing meals that won’t require the use of water.
On Sunday, Navy Region Hawaii said engineers visited several homes of families who reported the chemical smell and also immediately went to Navy’s drinking water wells to investigate. There was no smell or sign of fuel or chemicals in the water at the Navy’s water wells and water tanks, the Navy said.
