Hospital interest, UH chancellor, Facebook

MAY 13-19, 2012

LOCAL

» A partnership led by former St. Francis Healthcare President Eugene Tiwanak delivered a letter of intent Tuesday to buy and reopen the Hawaii Medical Center hospitals in Liliha and Ewa.

» Allegiant Air said Monday it will add a total of seven weekly flights from Honolulu to Stockton and Fresno, Calif.; Eugene, Ore.; and Bellingham, Wash.

» The University of Hawaii Board of Regents voted 13-0 Thursday to approve University of Delaware provost Tom Apple as UH-Manoa chancellor, at a salary of $439,008.

» Police and family members mounted a search for Waipahu resident Loida Wideman, a 39-year-old mother of three reported missing after she left for work on Mother’s Day evening.

» An alert 8-year-old McCully girl, Tiki Willis, was praised Monday for spotting at Ala Moana Center an 83-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s disease who had been reported missing, and for persuading her mother to call 911.

» The state announced Monday that deep-sea water bottler Koyo USA Corp. agreed to pay $2 million in a settlement to a regulatory complaint that the company used an improper filtering process.

» The lawyer for State Department Special Agent Christopher Deedy filed a motion Monday to dismiss the murder charge against his client, asserting that Deedy was performing his duties as a federal law enforcement officer and thus immune from state prosecution when he shot Kollin Elderts on Nov. 5 in Waikiki.

» A state program that provided $4,500 rebates to people who bought plug-in electric cars has run out of money earlier than expected because of high demand.

MAINLAND

» For the first time, racial and ethnic minorities make up more than half the children born in the U.S., capping decades of heady immigration growth that is now slowing, according to 2011 Census Bureau estimates released last week.

» It was barely a "like" and definitely not a "love" from Facebook investors as the online social network’s stock failed to live up to the hype in its trading debut Friday. One of the most highly anticipated IPOs in Wall Street history ended on a bland note, with Facebook’s stock closing at $38.23, up 23 cents from Thursday night’s pricing.

» A trove of evidence collected for neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman’s highly anticipated second-degree murder trial was made public Thursday, including an autopsy report documenting Trayvon Martin’s single gunshot wound to the chest.

» Coffee, caffeinated or decaffeinated, might help extend the lives of people who drink it daily, a U.S. study released last week found.

WORLD

» Greece swore in 300 legislators for just one day before it dissolved parliament and called new elections, raising doubts about its continued membership in the eurozone.

» Okinawa on Tuesday marked the 40th anniversary of its reversion to Japa­nese sovereignty amid ongoing unease about the heavy presence of the U.S. military on the island.

» Yemeni troops escalated their offensive against al-Qaida fighters entrenched in the country’s south throughout the week.

THIS WEEK

LOCAL

» Monday: State Board of Education member Wesley Lo will discuss Race to the Top reforms, teacher evaluations and other items, 5-7 p.m., Pomaikai Elementary School, Kahului.

» Tuesday: The state Land Use Commission will discuss and decide a request by Schuler Homes to reclassify 1,525 acres in Ewa from agricultural to urban use for the Hoopili residential project, 9 a.m., 235 S. Beretania St., room 204.

» Tuesday: The City Council Parks Committee will discuss commercial and "expressive" activities at parks, and a pilot program to allow tents at Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, 10:30 a.m., council committee room.

» Thursday: The City Council Transportation Committee will discuss bus fares and regulating roadside memorials, 1 p.m., council committee room.

» Friday: The state Board of Land and Natural Resources will discuss termination of a development deal with West Wind Works for the former Ewa feedlot site and other items, 9 a.m., 1151 Punchbowl St., room 132.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which was intended to encourage settlements west of the Mississippi River by making federal land available for farming.In 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh completed the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 331⁄2 hours.

In 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, completing the trip in about 15 hours.In 1960, an earthquake of magnitude 9.5, the strongest on record, struck southern Chile, claiming about 1,655 lives.In 1430, Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians, who sold her to the English.

In 1934, bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were killed in a police ambush in Louisiana.In 1844, Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message "What hath God wrought" from Washington to Baltimore as he formally opened America’s first telegraph line.In 1787, the Constitutional Convention began in Philadelphia after enough delegates showed up for a quorum. (The convention ended four months later with the delegates adopting the Constitution of the U.S.) In 1868, the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson ended with his acquittal on the remaining charges.