Newswatch

Obama, family explore his background

President Barack Obama spent New Year’s Day remembering his family’s history.

In the late morning, Obama took his wife and daughters to visit the grave of his grandfather, Stanley Dunham, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.

The Obamas then headed to the East-West Center, which is featuring a display on the anthropological work of the president’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham. The exhibition includes photographs taken during Dunham’s years of field research in Indonesia, as well as her personal art and artifact collection.

Joining them was Obama’s sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, and her family. Soetoro-Ng is an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Teacher Education.

Later the Obamas went to the beach at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe.

They are scheduled to leave Honolulu today.

Space station to grace isle skies this week

Weather permitting, the International Space Station will put in an appearance in Hawaii skies on Wednesday.

The space station will rise in the northwest about 7:08 p.m. and travel to the right, passing just under the waxing gibbous moon about 7:12 p.m.

It will blink out of sight as it enters the Earth’s shadow about a minute later.

Another bright attraction, the planet Jupiter, will be nearly straight up at that time. Venus will be low in the southwest.

The space station, about 220 miles up, travels at a speed of about 17,200 mph, completing an orbit every 92 minutes. It is visible just before dawn or after sunset when it is illuminated by the sun against the darker sky.

Aboard are two Americans, retired Coast Guard Capt. Dan Burbank and chemical engineer Don Pettit; Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov, Anatoly Ivanishin and Oleg Kononenko; and Dutch astronaut Dr. Andre Kuipers.

Special month celebrates isle volcanoes

January is Volcano Awareness Month on Hawaii island.

Throughout the month, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and the University of Hawaii’s Hilo campus will offer talks across the island, weekly guided hikes in the park and other programs to promote awareness of Hawaii’s active volcanoes.

In celebration of the observatory’s 100th anniversary, an open house on Jan. 21, will offer tours of the observatory, normally closed to the public.

Signs point way to Maui’s town of Makawao

Newly installed "Historic Town" signs now inform motorists that the quaint town of Makawao is just a few miles away.

The large, brown signs along Haleakala Highway were installed recently by the state Department of Transportation in coordination with Council­member Mike White, who represents the district, and Mayor Alan Arakawa and staff.

The initial request was made by the Makawao Community Association.

"This is a great boost for Makawao at a time when our small-town businesses need all the help they can get," White said in a statement Dec. 15.

"Our hope is that the signs will bring a direct financial benefit by making it easier for residents and visitors to enjoy the shopping, dining, and overall experience of historic Makawao town."

Makawao, surrounded by rolling pastureland on the slopes of Mount Haleakala, is the heart of Maui’s ranching or paniolo (cowboy) country.