Bill would reunite Filipino families

U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka has reintroduced a bill that would allow the children of Filipinos who fought with the U.S. during World War II to join their citizen parents in the United States.

Akaka said Thursday that U.S. Sens. Daniel Inouye and Robert Menendez of New Jersey are co-sponsoring the Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act of 2011.

The children would be exempt from quotas that have delayed their immigrant visas. Some children face waits of 20 years or more because so many Filipinos hope to emigrate and the limits are set by nationality.

In 1990, Congress provided the veterans with a waiver from certain naturalization requirements. Many became citizens, but allowances were not made for their children.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

No sharks near beaches

Hawaii County lifeguards reopened two Kona-area beaches Thursday morning after an aerial survey of the area turned up no sightings of sharks.

Two Big Island women were attacked by sharks this week. No one was injured in the incidents Sunday and Wednesday in the Holualoa Bay area. But the attackers, believed to be tiger sharks, took a bite out of a paddleboard and left a bite mark on a surfboard.

Following the latest attack, Big Island lifeguards closed Kahaluu Beach Park and Laaloa Beach Park Wednesday.

The county helicopter surveyed the beaches in the area Thursday morning and saw no sharks. Shark sighting signs will remained posted through the Memorial Day weekend.

‘Pop’ heard before crash

Witnesses saw a powered-glider maneuvering near a cliff off of Kauai and heard a loud “pop” before the aircraft plunged into the ocean, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

Pilot instructor Steve Sprague, 48, of Kalaheo and passenger, Ray Foreman, 53, of Vista, Calif. were killed in the May 17 crash. According to the report, the aircraft left Port Allen Airport 50 minutes before the accident occurred.

At about 10:58 a.m. the aircraft, described to be a four-cycle engine, Pegasus Quik 912S manufactured by P&M Aviation Ltd., plummeted into the ocean, about 100 yards off Honopu Beach.

The Star-Advertiser had reported that ocean tour operator Robert Butler saw the aircraft bank within 60 feet of the cliffs along the Na Pali Coast before he heard a pop similar to the sound of a rifle shot. He then saw the powered glider fly out of control and fall into the ocean.

Sprague was the owner of Kauai Aerosports, a company that offers flying lessons on the light sports aircraft.

Doctors graduate

The Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center will hold a graduation ceremony for its first class of nine osteopathic doctors Saturday at 10 a.m. at its facility at 86-260 Farrington Highway. The doctors were trained under a cooperative program with A.T. Still University of Mesa, Ariz.