Off the News

A park grows in Waikiki?

What’s not to like about this story? A crowded neighborhood of densely packed hotels and condos could get a new urban park that’s been years on the community wish list.

It’s good news that the lot at Seaside Avenue and Aloha Drive, which the city acquired 10 years ago, could soon be converted into what’s been dubbed Aloha Park. The delay in part has been due to the wastewater disaster in the Ala Wai of a decade ago — the parcel has been used to store equipment and such for the series of sewer-system projects undertaken in response to the crisis.

Now the city is stowing away all that stuff in the lot, which means a grassy haven can take its place. Nearby residents and businesses seem determined to cooperate in the ongoing effort to keep it clean.

Let’s wish them luck — and hope there’s no more need for massive sewer rehabs in Waikiki. That spill thing couldn’t happen again, could it?

A good month to look out for tsunamis

A magnitude-6.0 undersea earthquake hit off eastern Japan on Monday, a reminder that April is Tsunami Awareness Month in Hawaii, as proclaimed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie. Fortunately, that jolt produced no threatening wave, damage or injury.

Tsunamis have killed more people in Hawaii than any other natural disaster, and the most recent warning here came last October, after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck the coast of Canada. Monday was the anniversary of the tsunami that hit Hilo in April 1946, killing 159 people.

The Hawaii State Civil Defense, the Honolulu Department of Emergency Management and the National Weather Service, which runs the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, participated in a ceremony at the state Capitol to promote awareness of a tsunami possibility. Now’s also a good time to review the "disaster preparedness guide," printed in the opening pages of your telephone book, about tsunami evacuation zones and other emergency information.