U.S. strike group heads to RIMPAC

The John C. Stennis Strike Group entered the Central Pacific on Saturday, heading to Hawaii for the Rim of the Pacific naval exercises.

The strike group, with 7,000 personnel, is coming from earlier operations in the South China Sea.

The armada includes the aircraft carrier Stennis with Carrier Air Wing 9 and Destroyer Squadron 21 embarked, the guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay, the Pearl Harbor-based guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon, and the guided-missile destroyers USS Stockdale and USS William P. Lawrence.

In March, the strike group and other U.S. military forces worked alongside South Korea’s armed forces during exercise Foal Eagle.

During the deployment, the ships have been operating as the centerpiece of the so-called Great Green Fleet, using energy efficiency measures to increase operational capability, according to a news release.

UH telescope to stay for now

HILO >> Officials are holding off on decommissioning Hoku Kea, the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s broken teaching telescope on Mauna Kea.

Perpetuating Unique Educational Opportunities, a group of Native Hawaiians who support the controversial Thirty Meter Telescope, were joined by others in expressing concern about the potential impact of losing teaching tools, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported.

Office of Mauna Kea Management board members want input from the public and governor’s office before they decide whether to move forward with approving the official notice of intent to decommission the telescope.

Gov. David Ige decided three telescopes would be removed from the mountain considered sacred by some Native Hawaiians after protests stalled TMT construction there.

Faculty members have said lawmakers will not remove funding allocated for Hoku Kea’s replacement if the new telescope is installed elsewhere.

Hoku Kea Director Pierre Martin says new equipment arriving in July will likely stay on the university’s Hilo campus as the search continues for an alternative site.

“Unless a site becomes accessible quickly, we will likely install some of this equipment on campus this fall,” he said in an email. “We are working with PUEO to be able to have members of the communities involved in these activities.”

He said the goal is to make Hoku Kea accessible to children from the start.

“As for a more suitable site, we will see how events develop in the coming months,” Martin said.