The city Department of Parks and Recreation announced Friday afternoon that Hanauma Bay will reopen Saturday.

The bay, situated along Oahu’s southeast shoreline and known for its popular snorkeling area, had been closed since Thursday morning due to the possibility of hazardous currents in the wake of Wednesday’s 8.3-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Chile.

Latest storm projected to pass north of isles

A tropical depression formed Friday far southwest of the main Hawaiian Islands, and its projected path has it moving north and farther away from the state.

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu said Tropical Depression Five-C was more than 1,000 miles southwest of Kauai, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph and moving northeast at 15 mph.

Although the storm is not expected to affect the main islands, portions of the Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are under a tropical storm watch.

The weather system is expected to strengthen to a tropical storm, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, over the weekend and then weaken next week as it heads north, forecasters said.

Man accused of severing spear pleads not guilty

HILO >> A homeless man accused of vandalizing the King Kamehameha statue in Hilo has pleaded not guilty.

The Hawaii Tribune Herald reported Thursday that 31-year-old Roy Carroll appeared Wednesday in Hilo Circuit Court on charges of second- and third-degree theft and criminal property damage.

Carroll allegedly stole a chain from the Bayfront Motors used-car lot and used it to sever the top 6 feet of the spear from the bronze statue of the monarch.

Carroll’s attorney asked for supervised release or a bail reduction while the man awaits his Jan. 25 trial, saying Carroll has no previous felony convictions. The man had already spent a night away from jail due to a paperwork mix-up.

The judge maintained bail at $11,000.

Moped driver dies in accident on highway

A 58-year-old Lahaina man was killed Thursday night when he fell from the moped he was driving on Honoapiilani Highway.

Maui police said the accident occurred at 10:21 p.m. on Honoapiilani Highway, 1,280 feet south of Shaw Street in Lahaina.

Richard Lujan of Lahaina was driving a 2014 moped traveling south on Honoapiilani Highway when he struck the raised curb on the west-side shoulder of the roadway and fell.

Lujan was not wearing a helmet.

This was Maui County’s 17th traffic fatality for 2015, compared with 17 at the same time last year.