Traffic stays smooth as students return

State transportation officials reported “no major incidents” Monday as about 40,000 university, community college and private school students and their parents jamming Oahu highways for their first day of classes.

Dan Meisenzahl, state Transportation Department spokesman, said traffic on island highways “was going pretty much as expected.”

In preparation, the state Department of Transportation postponed freeway construction this week and modified the H-1 freeway Zipper Lane requirements to allow more cars to use it.

Traffic was reported “heavier than it was last week,” but there were no major tie-ups reported by police.

It was the first day of classes for 1,800 students at ‘Iolani School and for the more than 20,400 students at University of Hawaii-Manoa, 4,150 students at Honolulu Community College, 9,200 students at Kapiolani Community College, 5,750 at Leeward Community College, 1,800 students at Windward Community College and 2,600 students at Chaminade University.

Another 1,400 students will start classes today at Maryknoll School, and Punahou School, with 3,750 students, returns to the classroom on Thursday.

Punahou alumna to lead school’s trustees

Claire Olsen Johnson was elected chairwoman of the Punahou School Board of Trustees, becoming the first woman to lead the board in the school’s 170 years.

“I am very honored to be in this position during these exciting times,” Johnson, an alumna, said in a news release from the school. “Punahou is such a special place and it is a pleasure to collaborate with the administrators, faculty, students and the board. I like being involved with a school that produces students who are well prepared, hardworking, creative and have the desire to give back to their communities.”

A Punahou board member since 1974, she was elected to a two-year term.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Big Isle rethinks coqui frog fight

State funding to control small, noisy frogs on Hawaii island is drying up as researchers are now resigned to focusing on preventing them from spreading to other Hawaiian islands.

The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported Sunday that researchers say the coqui frogs have proved difficult to remove from Hawaii island. Researchers say the invasive species is spreading to new areas of the island, but its population numbers seem to be leveling off and dipping slightly in areas it has thrived.

Arnold Hara of the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources says the island is fairly well infested with coqui and that eradication is impossible.

The coqui is beloved in its native Puerto Rico, but residents here have complained about its shrieking mating calls.