The Honolulu Advertiser from Honolulu, Hawaii • 23

PAGE B3 WEDNESDAY I June 14, 2006 CITY DESK I 525-8090 i H-1 GAINS ONE LANE KGMB outranks KHO for 10 p.m. newscasts Eastbound traffic will get one more lane from the Liliha Street on-ramp to the Pali Highway. i WESTBOUND (TO WAI'ANAE) a 25 School Street on-ramp School Street exit 1 TV RATINGS RATING SHARE fc; Pali 5 p.m. KHON 7 20 KITV 7 19 KGMB 6 16 KHNL 2 6 6 p.m. KHON 15 33 KGMB 7 15 KITV 6 13 KHNL 4 9 10 p.m.

KGMB 1 1 26 KHON 10 22 KITV 5 12 KHNL 5 12 Source: Nielsen ratings Liliha Street on-ramp Source: state Department of Transportation Additional H-1 Advertiser staff Motorists may get to use the new fourth eastbound lane on the H-1 Freeway today between the Liliha on-ramp and the Pali Highway off-ramp. The opening of the extra lane was postponed yesterday as work crews needed one more day to finish striping the road. "We needed one more night to do the re-striping," said Scott Ishikawa, Department of Transportation spokesman. Crews worked overnight Monday, but Chun anchoring sports. Observers had anticipated a deterioration of the dominance by Moore and KHON, despite Fox's strong "American Idol" viewership during the May sweeps.

While the talent contest set viewership records each week, three CBS staples Thursday's "CSI," Monday's "CSI: Miami" and Sunday's "Cold Case" helped KGMB become No. 1 in prime time. KHON still leads the early newscasts at 5 p.m. in a tie with KITV and also is No. 1 at 6 p.m., but KGMB has affirmed a solid No.

2 ranking at 6 p.m., the only station showing growth in key demographics at 6 p.m. "We're proud of the team effort that brought us to this point," Gennaula said. "We've been working very hard for many years to offer what we think is an excellent news product for Hawai'i and we're honored our viewers are watching." Reach Wayne Harada at wharadahonoluluadvertiser or 525-8067. Joe Moore, KHON's anchor at 5:30, 6 and 10 p.m., said he's been oblivious to ratings since the 1990s. "I've been walking around with a bull's-eye on my shirt; always the target for the other guys, who've said they'd beat me the next round," he said.

"My only concern is the quality of our newscast, and I think the quality is as high as ever. I'll let the marketing and sales people take care of the spin. You can't win one newscast and (proclaim to be) the winner." Blangiardi applauded veteran Channel 9 anchor Kim Gennaula, "who is the mainstay, the driving force, in our news," he said. "(Co-anchor) Keahi Tucker joined us last March and they've been a good match. But it's not about one or two persons; it's a validation of a news team not just anchors, but producers, reporters and the behind-the-scene team that makes the magic happen." Chris Archer is KGMB's news director.

The station calls itself the "severe weather station," with Guy Hagi, Gennaula's husband, heading the weather, and Liz May sweeps' results for Channel 9 are best in two decades BY WAYNE HARADA Advertiser Entertainment Writer KGMB has overtaken KHON as the ratings leader in the 10 p.m. television newscast, after the stations were in a virtual tie in the previous ratings in February. The May sweeps gave KGMB its highest numbers in more than two decades, which could help lure a potential buyer. The station has been on the sales block for several months. "I am extremely proud of the men and women of the KGMB-9 newsroom," said Rick Blangiardi, senior vice president and general manager of KGMB.

KGMB posted an 11 rating and 26 share for the late news, compared with KHON's 10 rating and 22 share, in the ratings period from April 27 to May 24. "We've had steady momentum but the competition has been in- tense and keen," Blangiardi said. "It's not very common for two stations in one marketplace to post double-digit figures." AROUND THE ISLANDS SINK OR SKIM IN WAIKlKI i Highway ij, exit EASTBOUND TO HONOLULU I The Honolulu Advertiser lane striped were unable to complete the job in time for traffic, he said. "We don't want to do half of it and leave the other half the way it was," Ishikawa said. "It just takes a while to do sometimes." The extra lane is expected to relieve congestion at a point where drivers enter the freeway at the Liliha on-ramp and may exit a quarter-mile later.

Crews created the new lane out of the shoulder lane and by narrowing the other three lanes. Kona man, was taken to Kona Community Hospital with minor injuries. About 3,240 lose electrical power Three electrical failures disrupted power to about 3,240 customers on the Big Island on Monday. The first incident happened at 6:07 a.m. when about 1,500 residents of the Hawaiian Beaches and Hawaiian Shores subdivisions experienced a blackout because of a problem on the distribution circuit, said Hawaiian Electric Light Co.

Power was restored at 6:59 a.m. to 600 customers, and by 11 a.m. to the remaining customers. At 9:20 a.m., about 1,200 customers from Honomu to the 'O'okala area lost power when a tree fell across power lines in Pa'auilo, HELCO said. By 10:40 a.m., power was restored to 1,100 customers, and two hours later, the remaining 100 customers had power back.

In order to isolate the downed distribution lines caused by the fallen tree, HELCO cut off power to 540 customers in Pa'auilo at 11:15 a.m. An hour later, power was restored to all but 40 customers in the area. By 2:42 p.m., repairs were complete and power was restored to the remaining customers, HELCO said. MAKIKI Armed man, woman steal car A 56-year-old man told police he was robbed at gunpoint in Makiki on Monday morning. He said he was standing beside his rental car about 8 a.m.

when a stranger approached, drew a gun and demanded his personal property. The man told police that after he complied with the demands, the robber struck him, causing him to fall to the ground. He said the robber and a woman then got into the rental car and drove away. I i BIG ISLAND Hilo woman, 23, struck by car, dies A 23-year-old Hilo woman died early yesterday after she was struck by a car as she walked along the Pana'ewa stretch of Highway 11 outside of Hilo. Julia T.I.

Nishimoto was struck shortly before 4:23 a.m. by a 1991 Toyota station wagon that was traveling toward Hilo. She was pronounced dead at 6:40 a.m. at Hilo Medical Center. Big Island police said they believe Nishimoto may have been walking in the roadway when she was struck, but said the case is still under investigation.

The 72-year-old woman who was driving the station wagon was not injured. Officers closed one Hilo-bound lane from about 4:30 to 7:30 a.m. while they investigated the scene of the collision. Police said they did not believe speed or alcohol were factors in the crash. Nishimoto's death was the 16th traffic fatality this year on the Big Island, the same number as on this date last year.

Tanker truck spill closes road A tanker truck hauling a load of water overturned yesterday morning, closing one lane of the Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway for almost two hours. The tanker, from the E.M. Rivera Sons Inc. construction company, was turning right on to the highway from Hi-nalani Street when it tipped onto its side, blocking the merge lane and the northbound lane, police said. Oil and diesel fuel leaked from the truck onto the southbound lane.

Traffic in both directions alternated using the southbound lane until the highway was cleared and the northbound lane was reopened at 10:15 a.m. The driver, a 49-year-old Pets on the Net: An online community REBECCA BREYER The Honolulu Advertiser College, says he has been skim-boarding for four years. He brought his 1 1 -year-old and 1 4-year-old brothers to the beach for this outing. Kaulana Vares, 20, of Mo'ili'ili, skim-boards the waters off Kapi'olani Beach in Waikiki. Vares, a sophomore at Kapi'olani Community making Congress run official sional District who is very well aware of the needs of the 2nd Congressional District." To Hanabusa, the district's needs include addressing military issues such as live-fire training at Makua Valley or the Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island and adding a Stryker Brigade to Schofield Barracks.

Unfunded mandates affecting the schools, such as the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, also need to be addressed, Hanabusa said. Many of the schools facing the biggest challenges in meeting the goals of these two federal laws are in the 2nd Congressional District. "It is in the rural schools and the Neighbor Island schools," Hanabusa said. "We get all these needs from the feds and they are not meeting the needs of the people of the state." Hanabusa would also like to see more attention paid to universal services that could particularly help former plantation Hanabusa Legislator will point to Wai'anae roots in announcement today BY TREENA SHAPIRO Advertiser Government Writer State Sen. Colleen Hanabusa is expected to officially announce her candidacy for the U.S.

House seat in the 2nd Congressional District this morning at the Wai'anae service station that bears her family's name. Hanabusa, 55, a labor attorney who has represented the Senate district that includes Nanakuli and Makaha for eight years, expressed interest in the congressional seat as soon as U.S. Rep. Ed Case announced in January that he would not seek re-election and would run for U.S. Senate instead.

However, as the pool of official candidates has grown, Hana-busa's name has been absent from the list of those who have pulled or filed papers to run in the Democratic primary. Prominent names on that list include East Honolulu Suzanne Roig 395-8831 sroig HonoluluAdvertiser.com workers, veterans and recent immigrants, such as healthcare and Social Security. With the Native Hawaiian Recognition Bill receiving national attention after a failed attempt to bring it to the U.S. Senate floor for a vote, Hanabusa, currently chairwoman of the Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs committee in the state Senate, said she thinks her record will show an understanding of Hawaiian issues and entitlements. Hanabusa, the Senate majority leader, has introduced several pieces of key legislation including bills that called for a repeal of the controversial traffic camera law, a comprehensive ceded land inventory and tax credits to stimulate construction and jobs in Ko Olina.

The senator is in the middle of a four-year term and will not have to resign to run for federal office. Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapirohonoluluadvertiser or 525-8014. Maul Christie Wilson 244-4880 cwilson HonoluluAdvertiser.com City Councilman Nestor Garcia, state Sen. Clayton Hee, former Lt. Gov.

Mazie Hi-rono, state Sen. Gary Hooser, former state Sen. Matt Mat- Hanabusa sunaga, state Sen. Ron Menor and state Rep. Brian Schatz.

While most other candidates have picked spots in downtown Honolulu to make their announcements, such as the steps of the federal building, Hanabusa selected a different type of symbol for her backdrop. "I'm doing it in Wai'anae, where my roots are," she said yesterday, pointing out that her family has been in the 2nd Congressional District for four generations. "We know that there's a difference between rural O'ahu, the Neighbor Islands and urban Honolulu," she said. "What we need is someone in the 2nd Congres Urban Honolulu Mary Vorsino 525-8021 mvorsino HonoluluAdvertiser.com Our new Web feature, Pet Project, is for people who love their dogs, cats and other animals so much they want to show them off to everyone. At Pet Project, you can submit a photo of your pet, read the latest news about pets, learn about new books on pets or join a discussion group with other pet owners in the community.

Go online to www.honoluluadvertiser.com and click on the link to be a part of our Pet Project. Kaua'l Jan TenBruggencate 245-3074 jant HonoluluAdvertiser.com Windward O'ahu Eloise Aguiar 234-5266 eaguiar HonoluluAdvertiser.com Big Island Kevin Dayton 935-3916 kdayton HonoluluAdvertiser.com Cwitral O'ahu Rod Ohira 535-8181 rohira HonoluluAdvertiser.com LMward O'ahuN. Shore Will Hoover 525-8038 whoover HonoluluAdvertiser.com i. ai i t.h i nft irfti iiiAnf-i fc waWhiia i.