By Associated Press Three Hawaii beaches are on an annual list of the best beaches in the country, but a New York beach is ranked No. 1.
By News Services MOORE, Okla. » Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin spoke directly to citizens in her devastated state Monday night, saying "we are looking under every single piece of debris" for the missing after a massive tornado tore across parts of Oklahoma City and its suburbs.
By Jennifer Sinco Kelleher Hawaii's Department of Education is scaling back a move to provide extra learning time for struggling schools.
By Associated Press Biking to the top of the 13,796-foot Mauna Kea volcano might seem like a daunting undertaking for many people, but it’s just another adventure for a globetrotting Swiss couple with their four children.
By Becky Bohrer The five western states affected by debris from the 2011 tsunami in Japan are about to receive an initial $250,000 each from a $5 million gift from Japan for cleanup.
By Anita Hofschneider A bill awaiting Gov. Neil Abercrombie's signature could increase competition among pharmacies and make getting medications easier for some residents.
By Associated Press Two Hawaii island residents would like to turn late Hawaii artist Herb Kane's Honau­nau home into a bed-and-breakfast.
By Jennifer Sinco Kelleher A helicopter's crash-landing in downtown Hono­lulu that badly damaged a parked car and left a cut on a passenger's head could have been deadly.
By Associated Press A plan to update Kauai's single-lane Opae­­kaa Bridge has officials and residents discussing how much of the bridge's history should be preserved while structural changes are made to enhance safety.
By Jennifer Sinco Kelleher Amie Lou Asuncion recalled running across the H-1 freeway after being shot in the back while driving in 2011, and then hiding in some plants because she feared the shooter was following her.
By Associated Press Federal budget cuts are forcing Pearl Harbor to cancel its July 4 fireworks and the Marine Corps to cancel its annual Bayfest event at Kaneohe Bay.
By Associated Press A group of Hawaii fishermen is asking the federal government to remove northern Pacific humpback whales from the endangered species list, saying the population has steadily grown since the international community banned commercial whaling nearly 50 years ago.
By McClatchy News Services LOS ANGELES » The ratio of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere is flirting with 400 parts per million, a level last seen about 2.5 million to 5 million years ago, according to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.
By Karen Herzog MILWAUKEE » Glowing bacteria in the tiny Hawaiian bobtail squid may shed new light on the role bacteria play in the human body to synchronize daily tasks such as sleeping and eating, and keeping the immune system healthy, research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests.
By Associated Press The Army has finished an environmental study on the proposed construction of a live-fire training facility at Poha­ku­loa Training Area.
By Star-Advertiser Staff and News Services Trial has been delayed for a man accused of burglarizing "South Park" co-creator Trey Parker's home on Kauai after Parker didn't show up for a recent hearing.
By Associated Press Hawaii island received a failing grade for particle pollution in the air, according to an American Lung Association report card released Wednesday.
By Star-Advertiser staff The Honolulu Star-Advertiser strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Ed Lynch, managing editor/news, at 529-4758.
By Associated Press The lanky, charcoal-gray dog with a distinctive, wiry hairdo would stand out in most other animal shelters, but no one gave him a second look on Kauai.
By Anita Hofschneider State House lawmakers are proposing a new draft of the state shield law that would limit the law's scope but maintain protections for free, online publications. The proposal is part of ongoing negotiations about whether to extend the legislation that protects journalists from having to reveal their sources.
By Audrey McAvoy / Associated Press A second group of about 200 U.S. Marines and sailors to spend six months in Australia will be leaving Hawaii this weekend, the Marine Corps said Friday.
By Associated Press Records show the Army commander of a former soldier who gunned down two California police detectives had allowed him to resign from the military instead of face a court-martial when he was twice accused of rape.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Ed Lynch, managing editor/news, at 529-4758.
By Associated Press A project to improve Kawaihae Small Boat Harbor is moving forward after years of delays caused by environmental concerns.
By Mackenzie Elmer DES MOINES, Iowa » Thanks to work by state employees and a nonprofit group, more than 450,000 state documents dating back to Iowa's early history are now online and available to anyone with computer access.
By Audrey McAvoy / Associated Press The United States sent its most powerful airplanes to the Korean Peninsula in recent weeks in part because it wants North Korea to know what the American military is capable of doing, the top U.S. Air Force commander in the Pacific said.
By Jennifer Sinco Kelleher The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii claims the state Department of Public Safety is illegally withholding public records that attorneys representing families in wrongful prison death lawsuits have paid thousands of dollars to receive.
By Audrey McAvoy / Associated Press A plan by California and Canadian universities to build the world’s largest telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea received approval Friday from the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.
By Associated Press Low-lying atolls in the Pacific Ocean will likely be inundated by seawater sooner than previously anticipated as the planet warms, a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey suggests.
By Audrey McAvoy / Associated Press A veteran rescue swimmer has been charged with desertion after he disappeared for three months and triggered a massive search, the Coast Guard said Wednesday.
By Donna Cassata and Richard Lardner U.S. defenses could intercept a ballistic missile launched by North Korea, the top U.S. military commander in the Pacific said Tuesday as the relationship between the West and the communist government hit its lowest ebb since the end of the Korean War.
By Brock Vergakis NORFOLK, Va. » A third of the U.S. Air Force's active-duty force of combat planes including fighters and bombers will be grounded due to federal budget cuts, and only the units preparing to deploy to major operations, such as the war in Af­ghani­stan, will remain mission-ready, a top general said Tuesday.
By Audrey McAvoy / Associated Press A defense contractor accused of giving military secrets to his Chinese girlfriend will be allowed to stay at a halfway house while he awaits trial, a federal judge ruled Monday.
By Star-Advertiser Staff and News Services Model and TV host Heidi Klum helped save her oldest son from being dragged out to sea on the North Shore of Oahu on Easter Sunday, according to "Entertainment Tonight."
By Oskar Garcia A wrongful-death and negligence lawsuit for the family of a New York teen swept to sea during an excursion on Hawaii island will stay in Hawaii, a federal judge in Hono­lulu has ruled.
By Associated Press  The 33-year-old Molokai man accused of fatally shooting his estranged girlfriend was once institutionalized in Alaska.
By Associated Press An Arizona judge Friday refused to grant a divorce for a transgender man originally from Hawaii who gave birth to three children after beginning to change his sex from female.
By Associated Press State natural resources officials are asking a federal judge to overturn a Hawaii County ban on aerial hunting, at least when it is conducted by the state or its contractors.
By Audrey McAvoy / Associated Press The top U.S. military commander in the Pacific hosted Japan's most senior uniformed officer this week for talks on regional security and strengthening the U.S.-Japa­nese alliance.
By Anita Hofschneider A Hawaii House committee has shot down a resolution asking the state to study the potential social and economic effects of gambling in Hawaii.
By Associated Press The future is looking bleak for the Steven Tyler Act. The state legislative proposal pushed by the Aerosmith lead singer would allow celebrities to sue people who take photos or videos of their private moments.
By Mary Pemberton U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz introduced a bill Wednesday that seeks to expand Hawaii's national parks while preserving the state's special places and bringing in more tourism dollars.
By Associated Press The Technology and Consumer Protection committees in the state Senate have approved a bill to prohibit employers from requiring employees or job applicants to provide access to personal social media accounts.
By Associated Press The House Labor Committee passed a bill Friday that strays from the Senate's approach to managing state funds needed to cover employee and retiree benefits in the future.
By Associated Press The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is backing away from considering a ban on Waikiki's offshore parties, also known as "floatopias" or flotillas.
By Associated Press Proposals aimed at decreasing the influence of private money on state elections are making headway in the state Legislature.
By Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine » The only state to provide laptops to public school students statewide said Thursday the contract it's negotiating for new devices can be used by other states, such as Hawaii, if they're interested in following suit.
By Associated Press Four years from the end of the Obama presidency, Chicago and Honolulu are ramping up major campaigns to build the center that will house the records of America's 44th president.
By Associated Press Kauai residents were reassured by county officials last week that their drinking water is safe from the chemical herbicide atrazine.
By Associated Press A former soldier who killed two Santa Cruz police detectives last month was not prosecuted in Hawaii on two rape charges dating back to 2006 because there was not enough evidence, an Army spokes­man said Thursday.
By Associated Press Former Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold was led in handcuffs from a courtroom to a county detention center Thursday after a judge sentenced him to 30 days in jail and 30 days of home detention for misconduct in office.
By Jason Hoppin Following up on comments at last week's memorial for two slain Santa Cruz police officers, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is calling for the release of the accused killer's court-martial records.
By Donald G. McNeil Jr. The United States government is buying enough of a new smallpox medicine to treat 2 million people in the event of a bioterrorism attack, and took delivery of the first shipment of it last week.
By Gardiner Harris CHERRAPUNJI, India » Almost no place on Earth gets more rain than this small hill town. Nearly 40 feet falls every year — more than 12 times what Seattle gets. Storms often drop more than a foot a day. The monsoon is epic.
By Anita Hofschneider The House Judiciary Committee is planning to consider a bill today to include all military members when drawing district lines for state Senate and House seats.
By McClatchy News Service While the automatic federal budget cuts have spurred a blame game and little action in the nation's capital, in the Air Force's Pacific command, they've triggered an apology from the top man.
By McClatchy News Services One hundred fifty years after their Civil War ironclad sank, two unknown sailors from the warship Monitor were laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday.
By Julie Watson The California Coastal Commission on Friday rejected a Navy explosives and sonar training program off the Southern California coast and extending to Hawaii that critics said could harm endangered blue whales and other sea life.
By Audrey McAvoy / Associated Press Linguists say they have determined that a unique sign language, possibly dating back to the 1800s or before, is being used in Hawaii, marking the first time in 80 years a previously unknown language — spoken or signed — has been documented in the U.S.
By Associated Press The state Senate honored Friday three members of the Tuskegee Airmen, the celebrated group of African-American combat pilots who fought in World War II.
By Star-Advertiser Staff and News Services Hawaii-born dancer Cole Horibe has been tapped to star in the lead role of Bruce Lee in Tony-winning David Henry Hwang’s new production titled “Kung Fu,” according to the dancer’s mother, Wanda Horibe, who lives on Oahu.
By Associated Press It is the king of sushi, one of the most expensive fish in the world — and dwindling so rapidly that some fear it could vanish from restaurant menus within a generation.
By Anita Hofschneider Hawaii lawmakers are debating a bill to give the counties more control over the development of geothermal energy resources.
By Anita Hofschneider The state Senate Ways and Means Committee is advancing a proposal that would make it easier for people to rock-climb in Hawaii, one of some 150 bills the committee considered in a two-day sprint that ended Friday.
By Eric Talmadge Dead mice laced with painkillers are about to rain down on Guam's jungle canopy. They are scientists' prescription for a headache that has caused the tiny U.S. territory misery for more than 60 years: the brown tree snake.
By Tracie Cone The towering giant sequoias at Yosemite National Park would go unprotected from visitors who might trample their shallow roots; tours of the USS Arizona Memorial would be reduced; sections of Cape Cod National Seashore's Great Beach would close to keep eggs from being destroyed if natural resource managers are cut.
By Anita Hofschneider The state Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to get rid of the heavily criticized Public Land Development Corp.
Christine Claudia Akau-Siliga • Christy Lurana Bond • Felix B. Cadiz • George Henry Kekahulilani Catobus Jr. • Richard Y.T. Char • Karen Ann Clifford • Camelo Robert Delaries • Jesse M. Doyle, and more
By Kim Severson CHARLESTON, S.C. » In this Southern coastal city that runs on history and hospitality, a raucous civic debate belies its genteel veneer.
By Star-Advertiser staff A service will be held Tuesday for Hiroyo Klink, 52, at Nuuanu Memorial Park and Mortuary.
By Jim Kuhnhenn President Barack Obama reached out to an online audience Thursday, taking questions on serious subjects like drones and gun violence while also musing about the anachronism of pennies and the "chill" factor in Hawaii.
By Associated Press From the parishes of Poland to the churches of Chile, Roman Catholics around the world were stunned Monday at the first papal resignation in six centuries, even as many prayed for a charismatic new pontiff who could lead the church into a new era after decades of disaffection.
By Associated Press A state judge on Maui sentenced a Wai­luku man who sexually assaulted a child through five years to spend 100 years in prison.
By Anita Hofschneider Environmental groups are urging state lawmakers to require all genetically modified food to carry boldface labeling. House lawmakers debated the bill Monday, which proposes mandatory labeling of any genetically modified agricultural commodity sold in Hawaii.
By Star-Advertiser staff The Labrador retriever is again the top dog in Hono­lulu, ousting the Chihuahua in the annual American Kennel Club's rankings of the most popular dog breeds.
By Anita Hofschneider Hawaii lawmakers want to spend $100,000 to get unwanted guns off the streets, saying it will help the state avoid a mass shooting like those seen in Colo­rado and Connecticut last year.
By Audrey McAvoy / Associated Press Maj. Gen. Richard Burr salutes with his palm facing out, like he's shielding his eyes from the sun. He wears a wide-brimmed felt "slouch hat" with a brown and green camouflage uniform.
By Anita Hofschneider More than two-thirds of Hawaii's state senators have signed onto a bill to protect celebrities from paparazzi, giving them power to sue over unwanted beach photos and other snapshots on the islands.
By Associated Press The coffee borer beetle that was first confirmed on Hawaii island three years ago is damaging crops and could jeopardize the region's position in the global coffee market, a grower and processor said.
By Associated Press Ronaiah Tuiasosopo fell in love with Manti Te'o and said all his energy went into pretending to be the woman the Notre Dame linebacker came to know as Lennay Kekua.
By Mike Stobbe NEW YORK » Add those cute little hedgehogs to the list of pets that can make you sick. In the past year, 20 people were infected by a rare but dangerous form of salmonella bacteria, and one person died in January.
By Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. » The Arkansas Senate voted Thursday to prohibit most abortions if a heartbeat is detected, ignoring warnings from opponents that banning the procedure as early as six weeks into a pregnancy would invite lawsuits.
By Anita Hofschneider Hawaii gun enthusiasts are organizing to stop gun control bills from gaining any traction at the state Legislature.
By Tom Coyne Dr. Phil McGraw says Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, who masterminded the dead girlfriend hoax involving Manti Te'o, told him the Notre Dame linebacker was not involved in the scheme and that he ended up falling "deeply, romantically" in love with the football player.
By Associated Press The actor best known for playing the TV character Gomer Pyle in the 1960s has married his male partner of 38 years.
By Associated Press A South Dakota state senator had hoped a sensational trial that aired details of a prosecutor's romance would help him in his decade-long quest to get rid of a state law that allows people to seek financial damages from someone for stealing a spouse.
By David Crary NEW YORK » The Boy Scouts of America may soon give sponsors of troops the authority to decide whether to accept gays as Scouts and leaders — a potentially dramatic retreat from a nationwide no-gays policy that has provoked relentless protests.
By Star-Advertiser news services Quick, someone call the waaambulance for Scott Caan. Apparently, working on a TV show that once earned him a Golden Globe nomination is a terrible burden since he has to work in Hawaii.
By Anita Hofschneider State lawmakers are pushing to reform the state election process after a series of mishaps caused polling places to run out of ballots and open late last year.
By Associated Press Several Hawaii lawmakers want tougher ethics laws for lobbyists and public officials.
By Philip Elliott WASHINGTON » Breaking new ground, the U.S. Education Department is telling schools they must include students with disabilities in sports programs or provide equal alternative options.
By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar WASHINGTON » Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.
By Associated Press Four Hawaii lawmakers have proposed a statewide tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. The Democratic senators said the consumption of sugary drinks contributes to obesity.
By Anita Hofschneider Lawmakers in both chambers of the state Legislature want to charge a 10-cent fee for paper and plastic shopping bags, and four representatives are sponsoring a bill to ban single-use checkout bags altogether.
By Associated Press Several key Hawaii lawmakers want to legalize marijuana in the Aloha State.
By Thom Shanker WASHINGTON » Iran's political and military elite boasted last month that their forces shot down a U.S. intelligence-gathering drone, a remotely piloted Navy vehicle called ScanEagle that they swiftly put on display for the Iranian news media.
By Fernanda Santos HIDALGO COUNTY, N.M. » A white pickup truck rumbled along the barbed-wire fence that divides the United States and Mexico, toward a crude gate nicknamed Mingas, carved by drug smugglers to bring their supply across the border.
By Associated Press A couple behind a once-prominent Maui mortgage brokerage is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from debts that include unpaid mortgages and loans against more than two dozen properties in Hawaii and Idaho.
By Anita Kumar WASHINGTON » President Barack Obama was officially sworn into office for a second term Sunday in a small ceremony at the White House as the nation's capital geared up for a full inauguration today.
By Kate Brumback ATLANTA » President Barack Obama plans to use a Bible that belonged to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as he takes his oath of office on the holiday honoring the slain icon, marking what some say is an inextricable tie between the nation's first black president and the civil rights movement.