When the city put out the call for fresh flower lei donations for Memorial Day last week, the public response was overwhelming.
The city had requested 38,000 lei of between 20 and 24 inches to place on the graves of veterans for the 67th Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.
As of Saturday, private groups and individuals had dropped off tens of thousands of lei at designated sites around the island, according to Jeanne Ishikawa, deputy director of the Department of Parks and Recreation. Others took part in the “Sew a Lei” campaign at Honolulu Hale, the Makua Ali‘i Center, Waipahu District Park, Kailua District Park and the Kaneohe Senior Center.
Those two drives produced a total of 43,500, she said.
Ishikawa offered a hearty “mahalo” to the donors and volunteers and said the extra 5,500 lei will be given to the veterans cemeteries in Kaneohe and at Schofield Barracks.
The ceremony at 8:30 a.m. Monday is free and open to the public.
New postage stamp depicts Haleakala
The U.S. Postal Service will commemorate the issuance of a Forever stamp depicting Maui’s Haleakala National Park at a special public event on Thursday at the Makawao Post Office.
The stamp, part of a sheet of 16 Forever stamps depicting various national parks, will be unveiled at an 11 a.m. dedication event.
Sheets of the stamps will be issued nationwide on Thursday to celebrate the National Park Service centennial.
Attendees at the dedication event in Makawao will be able to purchase sheets and have them hand-canceled for free with a special commemorative postmark. Dedication ceremonies will take place at or near each of the other national parks depicted on the stamps.
The image of Haleakala National Park on the stamp was from a photograph taken by Kevin Ebi of Seattle.
Man charged in drug case
A 39-year-old Hilo man is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday on multiple drug and weapons charges after officers pulled him over for reckless driving, Hawaii County police said.
Officials charged Cory Young on Friday with first-degree methamphetamine trafficking, other drug charges and eight firearm offenses. He is also charged with reckless driving, driving without a license and driving without insurance.
After pulling him over near the Route 190 intersection on Wednesday, officers discovered he was wanted in a narcotics investigation, arrested him after finding 0.2 grams of methamphetamine and $4,425 in his possession, and obtained a search warrant for his car.
Detectives executed the warrant on Thursday at the South Kohala police station and recovered a loaded 9 mm semi-automatic pistol, 29 rounds of ammunition, 189 grams of methamphetamine packaged for distribution, 0.6 grams of cocaine, 18 hydrocodone pills, four morphine pills, 202 grams of marijuana packaged for distribution, and paraphernalia associated with the use and distribution of methamphetamine and marijuana.
Young’s bail was set at $297,000.
Vehicle fire scorches brush
A vehicle abandoned in a grassy field caught fire early Saturday, causing a brush fire that scorched an acre near homes in north Kihei, Maui.
The Maui County Fire Department said the vehicle was likely set on fire.
Kihei firefighters arrived at the end of Kaiwahine Street at 3:10 a.m. and found a vehicle and brush on fire in an open field south of Hale Piilani Park. Crews had the fire under control by 3:28 a.m. and out at 4:48 a.m.
