LOCAL

» Four high-level staff members for Gov. Neil Abercrombie announced last week they were leaving their jobs, continuing an exodus of administration officials. The latest to leave are chief of staff Amy Asselbaye, deputy chief of staff Andrew Aoki, communications director Josh Levinson and civil defense vice director Ed Teixeira.

» A 65-year-old pilot survived Friday when he had to ditch his two-engine Cessna into the ocean 13 miles east of Hawaii island. The plane ran out of fuel near the end of its flight from Monterey, Calif.

» The state Board of Education indicated it will approve a proposed increase in school lunch prices to $3.35 from $2.50 for middle and high school students, and to $3.10 from $2.25 for elementary students.

» The Army and Coast Guard announced they have suspended their on-base bingo games to conduct internal legal reviews of the activity. The Navy discontinued its two bingo activities at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in July and September.

» Hawaii became the first state in the nation to make surfing an official high school sport, officials announced Monday. The Hawaii High School Athletic Association needs to raise an estimated $150,000 to stage the first championship meet in spring 2013.

» The state Attorney General’s Office said it might join a probate dispute case in which charities that once stood to receive the bulk of a Maui man’s $70 million estate say a 42-year-old gas station owner persuaded the millionaire to adopt him and leave his fortune to him two months before he died.

» The French government awarded Thursday its highest civilian honor, the Legion of Honor, to Kauai resident Masao Tamura, who fought in France during World War II with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

MAINLAND

» Steve Jobs, who built the world’s most valuable technology company by creating devices that changed how people use electronics, died Wednesday at age 56. Jobs resigned as Apple Inc. CEO on Aug. 24.

» Healthy men should no longer receive a PSA blood test to screen for prostate cancer because the test does not save lives overall and often leads to more tests and treatments that needlessly cause pain, impotence and incontinence in many, a key government health panel said.

WORLD

» As the United States and NATO marked 10 years of war in Afghanistan on Friday, the country showed failings in two major areas: security and good government. Emphasizing the instability, insurgents attacked four U.S. outposts Friday. The U.S. has already spent hundreds of billions of dollars on the war, with thousands of American troops injured and nearly 1,700 killed.

» Amanda Knox, a former American exchange student in Italy, had her murder conviction in the death of her roommate overturned. Knox, 24, returned to her hometown of Seattle on Tuesday, a day after a court freed her and her Italian former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. She had been in custody since 2007.

» The Nobel Peace Prize for 2011 was awarded Friday to three women from Africa and the Arab world, a recognition of their nonviolent role in promoting peace, democracy and gender equality. The award capped a week of Nobel honors for recipients in the arts and sciences.

THIS WEEK, OCT. 9-15

LOCAL

» Monday: AARP will hold a free seminar on long-term-care issues, 9 a.m., Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii in Moiliili. Register at getthefactsoahu.eventbrite.com. Similar sessions will be held Wednesday in Hilo, Thursday in Kahului and Friday in Kapaa. Registration required. Call 877-926-8300. 

» Wednesday: The Reapportionment Advisory Council for Kauai will discuss recommendations on Senate staggered terms, 5 p.m., Historic County Annex Building, Lihue.

» Thursday: Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation meeting, actions regarding Waiahole Valley Agricultural Park, Hale Mohalu II and other projects, 9 a.m., 677 Queen St., Suite 300.

» Thursday: 10th annual Kauai Job Fair, sponsored by Kauai County and WorkWise Kauai, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Lihue Civic Center. 

MAINLAND

» Next Sunday: Dedication of Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in D.C.