Weather again causes launch delay
Weather conditions again scrubbed the launch Wednesday of a saucer-shaped test vehicle from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, NASA announced.
The next potential launch day is Saturday.
It was the fifth time the launch of the Low Density Supersonic Decelerator has been postponed.
The LDSD will gather data about landing heavy payloads on Mars and other planetary surfaces. NASA says the vehicle could eventually be used on spacecraft that carry multiple-ton payloads to Mars.
Isle admiral to lead Naval War College
The two-star admiral in charge of Pacific Command’s special warfare operations has been selected to head the Naval War College in Rhode Island, the Pentagon announced Monday.
Rear Adm. Philip G. Howe has run the Special Operations Command for the Pacific Command from Camp Smith since June 2013. He will be replaced by Rear Adm. Colin J. Kilrain. who is currently serving as assistant commander of the Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Howe was commissioned in 1984 after his graduation from the Naval Academy. He graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1995 with a Master of Arts in national security affairs (special operations/low intensity conflict) and from the National War College in 2002 with a master’s in national security.
Howe commanded Naval Special Warfare Unit 3 in Bahrain, and Naval Special Warfare Group 3 in San Diego.
Man pleads guilty to stealing, selling data
A 49-year-old Waipahu man pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing 36 boxes of customers’ personal information from his employer and selling the information to an undercover federal agent.
Russell Odegaard pleaded guilty before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang to one count of aggravated identity theft.
"I knew that I did not have any legal authority to sell that information," Odegaard told Chang.
The theft happened in March 2013.
Odegaard was an employee of an unnamed car rental company in Honolulu at the time, said U.S. Assistant Attorney Lawrence Tong.
Tong said Odegaard sold 36 bankers boxes filled with credit card numbers, names, dates of birth and drivers license numbers to an undercover federal agent for $2,000. Tong said there haven’t been any known thefts as a result of Odegaard’s crime.
How many people the information in the boxes represented wasn’t disclosed.
Odegaard faces a sentence of up to two years in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 6.
Man’s body found beneath off-road vehicle
Maui homicide detectives are investigating the death of a 54-year-old Kanaio man whose body was found under a four-wheel all-terrain vehicle Tuesday.
Police said that Leroy Quinabo was found unresponsive under the vehicle at 12:25 p.m. His body was discovered by a friend who called police.
The cause of death is unknown pending autopsy results.
Search ends for fisherman off Big Island
Both Coast Guard and Hawaii County officials have ended the search for the 56-year-old fisherman missing since Friday near MacKenzie State Recreation Area.
The Hawaii Tribune-Herald on Wednesday identified the missing fisherman as Arnold "Arnie" Asato, operations assistant at Hilo Municipal Golf Course, and who had worked in the starter’s office for more than a quarter-century.
The victim was fishing from a 10-foot cliff near MacKenzie State Recreation Area on Friday evening when he was reportedly swept out to sea after either slipping or being washed off by a wave.
The Coast Guard said more than 959 square miles was searched when it called off its efforts on Monday.
Eight Hawaii County firefighters, using the department’s rescue boat and helicopter, combed the shoreline and half-mile of ocean fronting Malama Flats before calling off the search Tuesday night. A ground search also was conducted by firefighters from Pohoiki to Kaimu Beach.
