Island Images, Jan. 2016

KRYSTLE MARCELLUS / KMARCELLUS@STARADVERTISER.COM Beachgoers watched as Nihoa, a Hawaiian monk seal who frequents beaches along the North Shore, basked in the sun before returning to the water at Turtle Bay earlier this week.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM Above, more surfers headed toward the water.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM A lifeguard checked on a surfer Friday at Waimea Bay, where dozens challenged the waves despite the murky conditions.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / crussell@staradvertiser.com The YMCA Youth in government legislature held its opening session in the senate chambers of the state Capitol on saturday morning. The three-day session is part of an annual program organized by the YMCa to help students gain leadership experience and an understanding of the political process. This year, 77 students will act as elected officials and press corps members. During the session, they will draft and introduce bills and debate whether those bills merit passage. The exercise will culminate with Youth Gov. Risa Higa either signing bills into law or vetoing them. Left, Higa swears in the youth legislators.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / crussell@staradvertiser.com The YMCA Youth in government legislature held its opening session in the senate chambers of the state Capitol on saturday morning. The three-day session is part of an annual program organized by the YMCa to help students gain leadership experience and an understanding of the political process. This year, 77 students will act as elected officials and press corps members. During the session, they will draft and introduce bills and debate whether those bills merit passage. The exercise will culminate with Youth Gov. Risa Higa either signing bills into law or vetoing them. Above, the delegation stands during the introduction to the session.

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM The Cadence Quartet performed classical and popular music Sunday at the Kaimuki Public Library. The string quartet features violinist Moriah Tom, left, a Kalani High School junior; principal violinist Sasha Himeno, a Punahou senior; Himeno's sister Sofia, a Punahou eighth-grader, cellist; and Elton Masaki, orchestra director at Mid-Pacific Institute, violist. The program was sponsored by the Friends of the Kaimuki Public Library.

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM A honu painted on a mural along Kuhio avenue seemed to stare down a passing pedestrian Monday in Waikiki.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM A Hare Krishna celebrant danced in front of a float Monday as part of the Martin Luther King Day Parade along Kalakaua Avenue.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM Mei Ching King of Oasis of Honolulu flashed a shaka and a smile.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM Many marchers held signs in celebration of King, the minister, activist and civil rights leader who would have turned 86 last week.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM A surfer retrieved a lost board from the sand.

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM Construction continued Friday on Oahu's 20-mile, 21-stop rail transit project on Kualakai Parkway near the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Kapolei.

KRYSTLE MARCELLUS / KMARCELLUS@STARADVERTISER.COM A group of children played on a hill near Pearl City High School on Saturday.

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM A cool morning is an ideal time for a tai chi class in the park. A group of people met at Magic Island Saturday for a little exercise.

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Above, Tonng Hinh Huong cooked some chicken on a stick at the Mo Ut food booth.

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Children reached out to touch the lion of the Gee Yung International Martial Arts Dragon and Lion Dance Association during the Vietnamese New Year celebration Sunday at the Kapiolani Park Bandstand.

KRYSTLE MARCELLUS / KMARCELLUS@STARADVERTISER.COM

Beachgoers enjoyed a hot and sunny day dwarfed by a majestic Diamond Head in the background at Waikiki Beach on Monday.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Drivers and a pedestrian crossed Karsten Thot Bridge, a landmark in Wahiawa, on Tuesday. Renovations on the bridge are expected to be completed in May, ac- cording to the Department of Transportation.

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Thirty-two cadets from the Hawaii Wing Civil Air Patrol spent Saturday afternoon in a field near Noelani Elementary School in Manoa getting instruction in controlling and flying quad copter drones from members of the Hawaii Drone Academy. Cadets were taken through preflight checks, learned basic movement and then got some hands-on flight experience. Ryan Salcido, above right, of the Hawaii Drone Academy describes drone characteristics to cadet Andrew Higa of Civil Air Patrol's Maui County Composite Squadron 076.

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Nolan Souza, 10, right, was with Punahou School classmate Ryder Suzuki, 11, and Ryder’s dad, Beau Suzuki, spending a slow afternoon in the park with the RC truck, as well as playing catch with a football.

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Nolan Souza put the RC truck through its paces in the parking lot of Manoa Valley District Park on Thursday.

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Fireworks lit up the sky at Aloha Tower’s Party of the Year event on New Year’s Eve. This was the 11 p.m. display.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM New Year’s revelers rode a trolley that featured a giant selfie stick during the annual Lanikai Woes Day Parade on Friday. The parade has been an annual event in the neighborhood for decades.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM Matthew Sato, 14, leaped into the air at the Hilton Hawaiian Village lagoon on Thursday afternoon. Sato was taking pictures with friends who are in the performing arts program at the American Renaissance Academy in Kapolei.

KRYSTLE MARCELLUS / KMARCELLUS@STARADVERTISER.COM Crews loaded Christmas decorations onto large trucks at Honolulu Hale in Honolulu on Monday, signaling the end of the holidays.

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Trying to get a bit of rest before having to start classes next week, Tim Metra, top, Nicholas Carroll, bottom left, and Brian Linares fashioned a double-decker hammock setup Tuesday at Queen's Surf Beach in Waikiki.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM James Yim played “Silent Night” on his alto saxophone at Kapiolani Park on Fri- day afternoon. Yim practices at the park twice a week in preparation to perform at his church on the weekend.

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Fireworks blanket the night sky during the Aloha Tower Marketplace's "Party of the Year" event in downtown Honolulu on Thurs., Dec. 31, 2015.

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Salcido watches a drone's flight.

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM

George Avelino of McCully took advantage of a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon to get in quality time with his 2-year-old son, Kaisho, at Ala Wai Community Park.

KRYSTLE MARCELLUS / KMARCELLUS@STARADVERTISER.COM A group of performers in traditional Japanese kimono, above, waited to entertain at the annual New Year's Ohana Festival at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii in Moiliili on Sunday.

KRYSTLE MARCELLUS / KMARCELLUS@STARADVERTISER.COM Sensei Les Nishikawa guided 1-year-old Ryder Uyeda before the performance by the Shotokan Karate-do International Federation.

KRYSTLE MARCELLUS / KMARCELLUS@STARADVERTISER.COM Take Ozawa of Hiroshima, right, who now lives in Los Angeles, cooked up okonomiyaki with the Honolulu Hiroshima Kenjin Kai group. The group has been participating in the event for 14 years. Hiroshima okonomiyaki contains cabbage, eggs, pork, noo- dles and more, topped with a special sauce.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM While the boys of the AYSO Troopers U10 soccer team practiced, Karmann Nicklaw, 4, found an alternate use for a soccer ball, relaxing against it while using her tablet computer at Makiki District Park on Monday. Her 8-year-old brother, Ryland, is a player with the Troopers, who were practicing for their season opener on Saturday at Kapiolani Park.

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM Two-year-old Naru Eliott went galavanting with his terrier buddy, Hurley, on Monday at Kakaako Waterfront Park in Honolulu.

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM Construction workers toiled away Wednesday on a building that is rising up on Keawe Street between Pohukaina and Auahi streets in Kakaako on a site that had been a parking lot until recently.