PRESS RELEASE
County of Kaua’i

County officials received word Tuesday that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) closed the re-evaluation period on the modifications to the Wailua Beach portion of Ke Ala Hele Makalae, the multi-use coastal path, and concurs with the County that the proposed changes are not substantive in size, scope, intensity, use, location and timing.

FHWA also approved the funding of $7.4 million to complete phase A of the Lydgate Park to Lihi Park portion of the coastal path. Phase A extends from the Kuhio Hwy. and Kuamoo Rd. intersection to the northerly end of Papaloa Rd. and the spur from Kuhio Hwy. to Gore Park in Hundley Heights above Kapaa town.

The agencies that were consulted in determining this decision include: the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; state Department of Land and Natural Resources, State Historic Preservation Division; state Department of Transportation, Highways Division; and the Kaua’i County Planning Department.

“I am pleased that we can now continue our work on the Wailua Beach portion of the
multi-use path,” said Mayor Bernard Carvalho, Jr. “I want to acknowledge everyone who provided input on this matter especially our Hawaiian community who shared their concerns, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Federal Highway Administration, and the state Department of Transportation, Highways Division.”

The mayor also noted that due to the cost and safety reasons, phase three of the multi- use path, from Lydgate to Lihi Park, will be aligned makai to avoid crossing Kuhio Hwy. and the mauka leg will be postponed until a later date.

This change will require several additional steps including: land acquisition; a
supplemental Environmental Assessment, a special management permit; and design work.

Source: County of Kaua’i

The Associated Press is reporting that four environmental groups say they plan to sue the St. Regis Princeville Resort here on Kaua’i if the hotel doesn’t take action to prevent ongoing deaths of rare native seabirds.

The groups Wednesday said the hotel has failed to dim artificial lights and lower window shades to protect the birds, as it had promised.

Bright artificial lights confuse Newell’s shearwater and Hawaiian petrels following moonlight out to sea.

Read more …

Source: Associated Press via the Honolulu Advertiser
Photo Source: birdinghawaii.co.uk

More news …
Luxury Hawaiian Resort Put on Notice Over Seabird Deaths (Earthjustice)
Utility not sole culprit in bird deaths (The Garden Island)
Save Our Shearwaters (Kauai Humane Society)

Princeville Shopping Center was packed by 6am Saturday morning as locals and visitors alike stocked up on food and gas in preparation for tsunami stemming from an earthquake in Chile. (credit: Scott Wamsley)

It started with a phone call from a neighbor at 4:30 a.m., jarring Maureen Goto awake at her seaside bed-and-breakfast in Hilo.

“A tsunami’s coming,” the neighbor said. A little more than an hour later, civil defense sirens sounded in coastal areas across the state, triggering the evacuation of as many as 100,000 people and a tense day of waiting for a possible disaster.

“They said, ‘You have to go inland, and up,’ ” said Goto, whose 1930s-era mansion in Hilo, on the island of Hawaii, had already withstood tsunamis that twice devastated the town.

Read more …

Source: LA Times

More news …
Tsunami Hits Hawaii With Three-foot Waves (National Geographic)
Death toll from Chile quake leaps to 700 and counting (The Independent)
No major damage, casualties from tsunami in Japan (Marketwatch)

Sirens started to sound at 6am

~ Kauai Evacuation Maps

Hawaii is bracing for a potentially damaging tsunami this morning, generated by the massive earthquake that struck central Chile.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning (its highest alert) for Hawaii, where incoming waves could cause damage along the coastlines across the island chain. A warning was also in effect for Guam, American Samoa and dozens of other Pacific islands.

The first waves are expected to arrive in Hawaii at 11:10 a.m. (4:19 p.m. EST) and to Kauai by around 11:40am.

More news …
Hawaii braces for tsunami (The Garden Island)
Hawaii under tsunami warning after 8.8-magnitude quake off Chile (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
Hawaii remains under tsunami warning … (Honolulu Advertiser)
Major earthquake rocks Chile (KHON 2)