Kailua woman was Pali crash victim

The woman killed following a motorcycle crash on Pali Highway on Saturday has been identified by the city Medical Examiner’s Office as Amanda Kennedy, 22, of Kailua.

City officials said Kennedy died of multiple injuries due to the collision, which took place at the hairpin turn in the Honolulu-bound lanes of Pali Highway.

Police said Kennedy lost control of the 2009 Suzuki motorcycle just before the hairpin turn and hit the concrete median. She was thrown from the motorcycle and then run over by another motorcycle.

The male motorcyclist, 23, was taken to the Queen’s Medical Center with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Town-bound lanes of Pali Highway were shut down on the Kailua side for about three hours.

It was the 47th traffic fatality on Oahu this year, compared with 44 at this date last year.

Worker killed in accident identified

The Mililani Memorial Park worker who died yesterday when the backhoe he was operating overturned and pinned him to the ground has been identified by the city Medical Examiner’s Office as Robert Ichioka, 42, of Waipahu.

Firefighters said he was working a slope when the backhoe overturned and crushed him, causing internal injuries.

Shark sighting closes Kalaeloa beach

White Plains Beach in Kalaeloa was closed for two hours yesterday afternoon following a shark sighting.

An aircraft pilot reported a shark sighting to the air traffic control tower at about 1:45 p.m., said Navy Region Hawaii spokeswoman Agnes Tauyan.

Navy lifeguards closed the beach.

Tauyan said lifeguards closed the beach to observe, but did not see a shark and reopened the beach at about 3:45 p.m.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Maui, Big Isle are warned of flash floods

Heavy rain prompted the National Weather Service to issue flash flood warnings for Maui and the Big Island last night, but it canceled them later in the evening.

A low-pressure band combined with moisture from the southeast brought rainfall, said forecaster Pete Donaldson.

The chance for showers decreased as the band moved toward the mainland, Donaldson said.

On Maui, spotters reported flash flooding near mile marker 6 on Hana Highway, the Weather Service said.

Radar indicated rainfall of 1 to 3 inches per hour from Hookipa Beach Park to Huelo and Nahiku.

Other locations in the warning include Kahakuloa, Waihee, Paia, Haiku, Keanae and Nahiku.

On the Big Island, gauges showed rainfall of 1 to 3 inches in the Kau District.

The rain is helping a little with drought conditions on the southeast of the island, but the areas hardest hit by drought are on the islands’ leeward sides, Donaldson said.

Phone scam victimizes Kauai woman

Kauai police are alerting residents of a phone scam targeting seniors.

A report was filed over the weekend of a 73-year-old woman who received a call from a man claiming to be her eldest grandson. He told her he was in trouble and needed bail money because he had been arrested in Canada.

Police said the woman withdrew $1,700 from her bank account and mailed it to the address the caller provided.

When the woman told her daughter about the call, the daughter said the grandson was neither in trouble nor in Canada.

Kauai authorities called the Royal Mounted Canadian Police, who told them this type of phone scam is prevalent in Canada.

To report a fraudulent call, contact Kauai police at 241-1711.