Briefs 1-27-12

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By local and wire sources

Missing woman found in Puna

Big Island police Wednesday evening located a 54-year-old Hilo woman who was reported as missing.

Darlene Santos was found unharmed in Puna, according to the Hawaii Police Department.


Convoy may cause traffic delays

Oahu-based military units will convoy from Pohakuloa Training Area to Kawaihae Harbor on Saturday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. via Saddle Road, Mamalahoa Highway, Waikoloa Road, Queen Kaahumanu Highway and Akoni Pule corridor.

The convoys include large military vehicles, some with trailers. Motorists are advised to be alert and drive with care.

The PTA Department of Army police are working closely with local authorities and military units to coordinate this activity in support of unit training.

For more information, call Bob McElroy, Public Affairs Officer, at (808) 969-2427 or (808) 756-2501, e-mail: Robert.h.mcelroy@us.army.mil.


FAA investigating hard landing at Honolulu airport

HONOLULU — The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a flight student’s hard landing of a Cessna at Honolulu International Airport.

FAA spokeswoman Lynn Lunsford says the pilot was on a training flight and lost control while trying to land Thursday. The Cessna 172 veered off the left side of a runway, went into a grassy area and come to a stop on another runway with the landing gear collapsed.

The state Department of Transportation says the 20-year-old female flight student was the only person on board. She was not injured but the plane has substantial damage.

Airport firefighters helped her out of the plane, which was removed during a brief closure of the runway.

Transportation spokesman Dan Meisenzahl says there were no disruptions of any aircraft landings or departures.

Hawaii lawmakers nix sweeping Web tracking plan

HONOLULU — State lawmakers decided Thursday to leave online piracy legislation to Congress after hearing vehement opposition to a bill that called for keeping records of Hawaii users’ Internet activity.

The proposal was introduced to assist authorities in combatting online crimes such as identity theft. However, aside from law enforcement officials the measure received support from only one person at a public hearing.

The overwhelming amount of testimony opposing House Bill 2288 said the measure would harm business interests, violate privacy and undermine efforts to expand technology use around the state.

Underscoring these concerns was Gordon Bruce, Honolulu’s information technology director, who said the bill would force the city to shut down the free Wi-Fi service it provides on Oahu through voluntary public-private partnerships.

With no single company in charge of the system, Bruce said, “the requirement of capturing and storing this data will make it cost-prohibitive to those who volunteer to participate in this very successful program.”

Yuka Nagashima, executive director and CEO of the High Technology Development Corporation, said the proposal would also undermine Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s broadband initiative, which aims at providing affordable high-speed Internet across the state.

Nagashima mentioned the heavily-debated online piracy measures being considered in Washington, known as the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act, saying, “Compared to this bill, those bills are mild.”

Several major Internet companies, including Google and Twitter, have criticized SOPA and PIPA as overreaching. Several sites, including Wikipedia and Reddit, staged temporary shut downs in protest.

The Hawaii proposal would have required Internet service providers with customers in the state to record all subscriber data, including the Internet Protocol addresses, domain or host names for all websites they visit.

By local and wire sources