War games to raise noise level

Increased aircraft noise will be generated at Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station as visiting F/A-18 Hornet fighter-attack jets participate in an exercise called Lava Viper.

The Marines announced Wednesday that the war games will take place from late December until early February.

Airfield hours may be extended on the weekend, but operations are not expected take place past midnight, the Marines said. Maintenance will be done at night.

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323 from Miramar, Calif., will support some 1,000 Marines training as a part of the exercise at Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii island. Lava Viper allows the Marines to incorporate air-to-ground capabilities as they prepare to deploy to the western Pacific.

Static lava lets merchants get ‘some relief’

PAHOA, Hawaii » The front of the lava heading toward the Pahoa Marketplace remained stalled Wednesday and hasn’t advanced since Monday afternoon.

An overflight of the lava Wednesday showed some surface breakouts and activity upslope along the margins of the flow, Hawaii County Civil Defense officials said.

Officials had been worried that the lava from Kilauea Volcano would hit Pahoa Marketplace on or around Christmas Day, but Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira said Tuesday that the lava’s leading edge had stopped about 700 yards from the shopping center.

"I think the merchants are seeing some relief with this," Oliveira said. "Hopefully this is an indication of a change in the flow."

The lava front appears to have hardened, but it’s unclear whether the molten rock has stopped or is just stalled, Oliveira said. Several shops closed down recently in advance of what seemed like impending disaster, but a few restaurants and stores remained open.

"Somebody told me it’s a Christmas miracle," said Becky Petersen, owner of Jungle Love, as she helped customers in her clothing boutique at the shopping center. "I don’t know what it is. I know it’s a real blessing."

But a new branch of lava about 300 yards upslope is still active and could eventually surpass the stalled rock near the marketplace and become the new front, Oliveira said. That upslope breakout is moving south of the current flow front so it might take a different path, he added.

The fact that the lava is still branching out upslope means the volcano is still very active, and that only the tip of the lava has stalled, said Steven Brantley, a scientist from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Petersen is hoping the recent stall means Pahoa will be spared. "We’re hoping everybody’s coming back here and can have a life again," she said.