Museum to house Nimitz figure
A sculpture of Adm. Chester Nimitz will be installed next to the Battleship Missouri Memorial in Pearl Harbor.
Oregon sculptor Rip Caswell said Tuesday the Naval Order of the United States has commissioned him to create the statue of the admiral who commanded U.S. Pacific naval forces during World War II.
The order is a private organization of servicemen who once served in the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.
Caswell says the sculpture, 8 feet high, will be unveiled this summer.
The Battleship Missouri Memorial is a museum on the decommissioned battleship formerly known as the USS Missouri.
The Missouri is best known for hosting Japan’s surrender. Japanese and Allied leaders gathered on the ship’s decks in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, to sign documents formally ending the war.
High surf expected on all isles
The National Weather Service issued a high-surf warning Thursday afternoon until 6 a.m. Sunday for north and west shores of Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Kahoolawe and Maui.
The warning was also issued for west shores of Lanai and Hawaii island.
Surf was expected to build Thursday night to 20 to 30 feet on north shores and 15 to 20 feet on west shores.
The weather service said waves may sweep across beaches, and warned of strong breaking waves and rip currents that may affect harbors and channels.
NOAA to gather storm data
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is sending an airplane to Hawaii and Alaska to collect winter storm data for North America.
Scientists aboard the Gulfstream jet will measure wind speed and direction, pressure, temperature and humidity in areas of the Pacific where North American storms form. They will also survey sites where data is sparse.
Forecasters will use the information to improve its prediction of potentially extreme winter weather events across the entire country, the NOAA said.
The plane will be based at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam through February. NOAA plans to move the plane to Anchorage in March before returning it to its home base in Tampa, Fla.
The federal agency has conducted Pacific winter storm reconnaissance missions every year since the late 1990s.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Man held in disappearance
Hawaii County police arrested a 30-year-old Kurtistown man Thursday on suspicion of murder in the disappearance of a Hawaiian Acres man.
Dante Peter Gilman, 44, was reported missing Jan. 10, police said.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Detective John Rodrigues Jr. at 961-2384 or jrodrigues@co.hawaii.us or Detective Norbert Serrao at 961-2383 or nserrao@co.hawaii.hi.us.
Customers charged for bags
HILO » Hawaii County is taking an important step toward a complete ban on plastic shopping bags next year.
West Hawaii Today reports that most retail outlets will begin charging for plastic bags, and many retailers are offering an incentive. They will be offering a few cents off for each reusable bag that customers provide.
Hawaii island supermarket KTA wants to go beyond the county ban set for January 2014. By this time next year it wants to ban all single-use grocery bags, including brown paper bags. The company says that on Hawaii island alone more than 723 tons of paper grocery bags are used each year. The company says production of those paper bags requires the cutting down of 12,000 trees.
Dec. 16 robbery yields arrest
Hawaii County prosecutors charged a 31-year-old Kona man Wednesday with 11 offenses stemming from a Kailua-Kona robbery.
Police said Jacob DeMasters allegedly confronted a 36-year-old Ocean View man on Dec. 16 as he came out of a garage access area at Kona Plaza. He allegedly repeatedly hit the victim with a metal chain, then grabbed cash from the victim’s hand and ran, police said.
Detectives determined DeMasters’ identity and arrested him Wednesday.
DeMasters was charged with one count each of robbery, assault and theft. He was also charged with three counts of promoting a dangerous drug, two counts of promoting a harmful drug, one count of promoting a detrimental drug and two counts of possessing drug paraphernalia over items that were allegedly in the car he was in at the time of his arrest.
Bail was set at $18,750.
