Local

» The parent company of the Queen’s Medical Center said Friday it was exploring whether to buy and reopen Hawaii Medical Center-West, which was closed late last year because of bankruptcy.

» A 78-foot wave caught by Haleiwa pro surfer Garrett McNamara off Nazare, Portugal, in November is the largest recorded wave to be ridden, Guinness World Records confirmed Wednesday.

» Hawaii will host a record 7.8 million tourists this year, leading to 2.2 percent growth in the state’s economy, according to a government forecast released Wednesday.

» KHON-TV parent company New Vision Television said Monday it will sell its 13 network-affiliated television stations to publicly traded LIN Television Corp. for $330.4 million and the assumption of about $12 million in debt.

» Douglas Curtis, a hit-and-run driver who killed bicyclist Zachary Manago in Wahiawa in 2010, was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.

» The median price on sales of previously owned homes on Oahu was $600,000 in April, the sixth consecutive month of increases compared with a year earlier, the Honolulu Board of Realtors said Monday.

» The U.S. Chamber of Commerce began airing a second round of TV ads Thursday for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda Lingle. Along with an ad buy in February, the organization has committed about $525,000 to Lingle ads.

» Hawaiian Airlines said Wednesday it will begin flights to Sapporo, Japan, in November.

» Mayor Peter Carlisle signed into law Thursday a bill to ban most plastic retail checkout bags in 2015. Biodegradable plastic bags and paper bags with recycled content will be allowed.

Mainland

» Barack Obama became the first U.S. president Wednesday to speak out in favor of same-sex marriage, setting up a clear contrast to his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, on a highly charged social issue over which Americans remain deeply divided.

» JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, said Thursday that it lost $2 billion in the past six weeks in a trading portfolio designed to hedge against risks the company takes with its own money. The trading loss was an embarrassment for a bank that came through the 2008 financial crisis in much better condition than several of its peers.

»A fugitive accused of killing a Tennessee mother and her daughter before disappearing with her two other children killed himself Thursday night in Mississippi, allowing authorities to safely recover the kidnapped girls.

World

» The suicide bomber sent by the Yemeni branch of al-Qaida last month to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner was actually an intelligence agent for Saudi Arabia who had infiltrated the terrorist group and volunteered for the mission, officials said Tuesday. The double agent obtained both the bomb designed for his attack and inside information on the terrorist group.

» Greek and French voters swept in anti-austerity forces last week, bringing calls to roll back the spending cuts and tax increases that have defined Europe’s response to its 3-year-old debt crisis and foreshadowing further turbulence for the battered eurozone.

THIS WEEK

Local

>> Monday and Tuesday: The Hawaiian Homes Commission will discuss Kamehameha Schools’ Ka Pua Initiatives and other items, 8:30 a.m., State Office Building, Lihue.

>> Tuesday: The state Board of Education will discuss school bus service and other items, 1:30 p.m., 1390 Miller St., room 404.

>> Thursday: The University of Hawaii Board of Regents will vote on the appointment of Thomas Apple as UH-Manoa chancellor, extending management pay cuts and other items, 9 a.m., 651 Ilalo St., MEB 314.

>> Thursday: The Hawaii Civil Rights Commission will discuss a report on public education and mediation and continue three cases, 3 p.m., 830 Punchbowl St., room 410.

Mainland

>> Tuesday: President Barack Obama welcomes MLS champions LA Galaxy to the White House.

>> Friday: President Barack Obama hosts leaders of the Group of Eight nations at Camp David for an economic summit through Saturday.