Local
» State occupational safety investigators said Friday they found nearly a dozen unsafe work conditions and practices at a fireworks-handling business where five workers were killed in an April 8 explosion at Waikele Self Storage. The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said Donaldson Enterprises could be subject to a $415,000 fine.
» Damien Memorial School, an all-boys school in Kalihi for nearly 50 years, will begin accepting girls beginning next year, the school announced Friday.
» Entertainer Cecilio Rodriguez pleaded not guilty Wednesday in a Los Angeles-area court to charges of sex offenses against two girls under age 14 that allegedly took place between 1996 and 1999 in California. Rodriguez, 66, pleaded no contest in 1994 in Hawaii to a charge of attempted sexual assault, but was given the chance to have the conviction erased from his record if he stayed out of trouble for 10 years.
» The Hawaii Supreme Court rejected Tuesday the teachers union’s request for a speedy ruling on whether it deserves immediate relief from a new contract implemented by the state. The court also ruled that teachers could exercise their right to strike after the labor board resolves their prohibited-practices complaint.
» Hawaii drivers paid 75 cents more per gallon for gas than the average mainland motorist, according to a report from AAA.
» A City Council committee approved Tuesday the installation of 34 security cameras in Waikiki, downtown and Kapolei for November’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference. The full Council will take a final vote Wednesday.
» Jonah Kaauwairesigned Monday as chairman of the Hawaii Republican Party. He had difficulty with fundraising and was seen as steering the party to the Evangelical right, while others sought a more centrist tone.
Mainland
» Workers began testing the Washington Monument last week in a search for small cracks from the powerful earthquake that hit the mid-Atlantic region last month.
» Raising prospects for a major election-year ruling, the Obama administration launched a Supreme Court defense of its landmark health care overhaul Wednesday, appealing an appeals court decision that declared the law’s central provision unconstitutional. At the same time, the 26 states that won the case also asked for high court review, saying the entire law should be thrown out.
» The House gave quick approval Thursday to a stopgap spending bill that will finance the government for the first four days of October, until lawmakers can return this week and vote on a more ambitious seven-week spending bill.
» The trial of Conrad Murray, the doctor charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of singer Michael Jackson, started Tuesday.
World
» U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and another American al-Qaida propagandist were killed Friday in a U.S. airstrike in Yemen. The drone attack was believed to be the first instance in which a U.S. citizen was tracked and killed based on secret intelligence and the president’s say-so.
» International forces in Afghanistan released new data Thursday showing violence trending downward in their favor, only a day after the United Nations reported significantly more clashes and other attacks per month than last year.
Local
>> Tuesday: The state Board of Education’s Finance and Infrastructure Committee will discuss the school consolidation process and possible consolidation of elementary schools in the McKinley complex, 10:30 a.m., Liliuokalani Building, 1390 Miller St., room 404.
>> Tuesday: The University of Hawaii at Manoa will hold an open house to discuss developing campus transportation options, 4 p.m., Campus Center Ballroom. Results of an April campuswide transportation survey will be presented.
>> Tuesday-Wednesday: The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation will hold town hall meetings on the rail project Tuesday at Castle High School and Wednesday at Blaisdell Center, Maui Room. All meetings are from 6 to 8 p.m. For information, go to www.honolulutransit.org.
>> Thursday: The Hawaii Athletic Trainers Association will hold a free coaches clinic on concussion awareness, 6-8 p.m., McKinley High School’s Scott Auditorium. Register at doe.k12.hi.us/healthsafety/concussions.
>> Next Sunday: The sixth annual Hawaii Fishing & Seafood Festival will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Honolulu Fishing Village Pier 38. Go to www.hawaiifishingfestival.com.
