Obama endorses Gabbard for House
Congressional candidate Tulsi Gabbard won the endorsement Sunday of President Barack Obama.
"America’s middle class needs Tulsi Gabbard in Congress to stand up and fight for them," Obama said in a statement. "Tulsi will create jobs here at home by building from the middle out, not the top down. She will protect Medicare for our seniors and education for our next generation. Middle class families can count on Tulsi Gabbard and she needs their support on Election Day."
Gabbard welcomed the president’s support and said she looks forward to working with him "to improve our economy, get our troops out of Afghanistan as quickly and safely as possible, and work for the well-being of all of our people."
Gabbard faces Republican Kawika Crowley in Tuesday’s election.
Akaka set to speak at Veterans Day rite
U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, former chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, will be the keynote speaker Sunday at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific’s Veterans Day ceremony.
Akaka, who served in the Army from 1945 to 1947, will speak at 10 a.m.
Max Cleland, secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission, will dedicate the cemetery’s new Vietnam War Pavilion.
Cleland, a disabled Army veteran of the Vietnam War, is a recipient of the Silver Star and the Bronze Star for valorous action in combat. He is also a former U.S. senator from Georgia.
Rescues of teen and tourist keep lifeguards busy
Lifeguards rescued two people in separate incidents along Kauai’s North Shore on Sunday.
Around 1:15 p.m. a 16-year-old boy jumped into the ocean near Queen’s Bath in Princeville and was swept out to sea. The boy waited outside the breakwater until lifeguards arrived and brought him to the Hanalei tower.
He had minor injuries and declined medical treatment.
About a half-hour later, a 32-year-old visitor from Wyoming was also swept out to sea while wading between Haena Beach Park and Kee Beach. A lifeguard reached the woman by Jet Ski and took her to Tunnels Beach, where she was treated for minor injuries.
The Kauai Fire Department assisted in both rescues.
Hikers flown from Iao Valley
Two men attempting to hike from Olowalu to Iao Valley were rescued by helicopter Sunday morning after a friend reported they were overdue, Maui fire officials said.
The hikers, 25 and 23, did not require medical attention. They were flown to a landing zone in Iao Valley State Park around 10:44 a.m.
Officials said the men spent the night on the ridge, and a friend called 911 at about 9 a.m. because they had not returned.
School to get new water line
Chiefess Kapiolani Elementary School in Hilo will soon be getting its water line replaced with nearly $69,000 in funding from the state Department of Education.
Contract for the work was awarded to Central Construction Inc.
The school was built in 1920.
