A single-engine plane carrying three people made a forced landing yesterday on a hillside on Lana'i, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.

There were no reports of injuries, Gregor said from Los Angeles.

The pilot of the Cessna 172 reported low engine power while en route from Honolulu to Lanai, he said. The plane landed about four miles northwest of Lana'i Airport at 5:14 p.m., Gregor said.

The extent of any damage to the plane wasn't immediately known.

10-FOOT SHARK CLOSES MAUI BEACH

KIHEI, Maui — County ocean safety staff closed Keawakapu Beach on the south side of Maui at 1:45 p.m. yesterday after a 10-foot shark was spotted feeding on a deer carcass.

The beach was reopened at 3:30 p.m. after the carcass was removed from the water, said county spokeswoman Mahina Martin.

The type of shark could not be identified.

Keawakapu was the site of a May 7 shark attack in which a 63-year-old California woman was bitten on the right leg while snorkeling about 25 yards from shore.

DROWNING VICTIM HAWAI'I KAI MAN

The Honolulu medical examiner's office yesterday identified the drowning victim whose body was found Tuesday in the water at Ka'a'awa as Larry Freed, 42, of Hawai'i Kai.

Freed was the missing diver whom fire and Coast Guard crews were searching for Sunday and Monday, police said.

TAX REVENUE UP 25.7% FOR JULY

State revenue collections for July were up 25.7 percent compared to July 2006, the state Department of Taxation announced.

General excise and use taxes — at $258.8 million — were up 34.2 percent, while hotel room tax collections ($19.3 million) were up 10.6 percent. Individual income tax collections were at $109 million, a 15.3 percent increase, while corporate income tax collections ($1.6 million) were off by 45.4 percent.

Overall, the state collected $398.8 million in revenues in July compared to $317.3 million in July 2006.

Kurt Kawafuchi, the state's tax director, said one-time collection and timing issues influenced the count. Kawafuchi said it would be premature to make full-year projections based on a single month of revenues.

U.S. AND JAPANESE MAYORS MEETING

Mayors from throughout the United States and Japan will meet in Honolulu from Sunday to Tuesday for the Ninth Japan-U.S. Mayors Fellowship Exchange Meeting.

"It's an honor to welcome my colleagues from Japan and the United States," Mayor Mufi Hannemann said.

"We'll be exchanging ideas on environmental challenges, including solid waste, facing our municipalities, as well as other matters of mutual concern."

The two top leaders of the U.S. Conference of Mayors will be participating: President Douglas H. Palmer, mayor of Trenton, N.J.; and Tom Cochran, executive director of the conference.

Hannemann is on the advisory board of the conference, a nonpartisan 1,100-member organization. He is also chairman of its Tourism, Arts, Parks, Entertainment and Sports Committee.

MOM ALLEGEDLY ENDANGERED CHILD

Police arrested a 28-year-old 'Ewa woman Wednesday for allegedly driving her vehicle into a house, two trees, a fire hydrant and other objects during a domestic dispute.

Police said the woman's 3-month-old child was in the vehicle. No one was injured. The driver was booked for investigation of child endangerment, among other potential charges.

Child Welfare Services has taken custody of the infant.

Police said the woman went to her 'Ome'o Place home Wednesday with the child following an argument the day before with her boyfriend, 30, and demanded that the man come out of the home.

When the man did not come out, the woman allegedly drove her vehicle at a tree and damaged an electrical transformer box and the house, police said.

The man came out, reached into the vehicle and tried to remove the child, but the woman reversed the vehicle into a second tree, then a fire hydrant and a neighbor's fence and gate with her boyfriend hanging on, police said.

CITY GETS $400,000 TO ID POLLUTED SITES

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Honolulu $400,000 in grants to identify badly polluted "brownfields" sites.

The city will prepare an inventory of such properties, which may contain hazardous substances, pollutants, petroleum, or other contaminants that hinder their redevelopment. Typical sites include closed gas stations, former industrial sites, dry cleaners, and landfills.

The city will prepare an inventory of brownfields sites on O'ahu and conduct environmental studies on two to five of those sites that have the best potential for redevelopment. The Department of Community Services is managing the project in cooperation with the Department of Environmental Services and the project consultant, Environmental Resource Management.

The city is seeking input from the public to identify properties that may be candidates for a brownfields review. Information is available at www.honolulu.gov/dcs/brownfields.htm.

PEARL-BASED SHIPS DUE BACK MONDAY

The USS Paul Hamilton and USS O'Kane, Pearl Harbor-based guided-missile destroyers, are scheduled to return home Monday after seven months supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa.

The guided-missile destroyers were deployed with the USS John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group, which this week concluded an eight-day exercise off the coast of Guam.

The Paul Hamilton and O'Kane left Pearl Harbor on Jan. 26 for operations in the Persian Gulf.

SAFETY PROGRAM WILL TRACK FOOD

The state Department of Agriculture has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a food safety program that involves the use of radio frequency identification tracking.

The pilot program may be expanded later for use by the state's 5,000 farms.