Let investigators do their job
There is much that we know about Thursday’s helicopter crash that claimed seven lives on Kauai.
Letters for Tuesday, December 31, 2019
• Mahalo to Dennis for soccer pix • Tulsi would make a good president
Bring on 2020: Some Democrats end year with campaign events
Many of the Democratic candidates looking to unseat President Donald Trump in 2020 are spending the last day of 2019 ringing in the new year with would-be supporters. Elizabeth Warren is marking her anniversary of forming a presidential exploratory committee with a speech at Boston’s Old South Meeting House on Tuesday highlighting how she’d stamp out government corruption. The Congregational church is famous for being the organizing point for the Boston Tea Party in 1773.
China sentences Protestant pastor to 9 years for subversion
China has sentenced a prominent pastor who operated outside the Communist Party-recognized Protestant organization to nine years in prison for subversion.
Trump signs law to reduce robocalls, though they won’t end
An anti-robocalls measure signed into law Monday by President Donald Trump should help reduce the torrent of unwanted calls promising lower interest rates or pretending to be the IRS, though it won’t make all such calls disappear.
Raging wildfires trap 4,000 at Australian town’s waterfront
Wildfires burning across Australia’s two most-populous states trapped residents of a seaside town in apocalyptic conditions Tuesday and were feared to have destroyed many properties and caused fatalities.
Ocean Safety officials advising no swimming
Ocean Safety officials are advising no swimming or snorkeling at all north- and west-facing shores due to high surf and dangerous ocean conditions.
China convicts 3 researchers involved in gene-edited babies
A Chinese scientist who set off an ethical debate with claims that he had made the world’s first genetically edited babies was sentenced Monday to three years in prison because of his research, state media said.
Mexico’s Zapatistas host “Women Who Fight” gathering
More than 3,000 women came together in an autonomous Zapatista enclave in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas over the weekend to unite against the patriarchy, violence and capitalism.
Report: Cadets gave Nazi salute as ‘sign of respect’
Correction officer trainees in West Virginia regularly gave the Nazi salute “as a sign of respect” for their instructor in the weeks prior to the release of a photo of the cadets with arms raised that triggered widespread outrage, state investigators said in a report Monday.
Kentucky: 2 horses rescued from area where 20 others killed
A pregnant mare and her yearling colt have been rescued from a strip mine site in Kentucky where 20 horses were found fatally shot recently.
McDonald’s denies employee wrote expletive on officer’s cup
McDonald’s is disputing allegations that one of the restaurant’s workers wrote an expletive and the word “pig” on a coffee cup that was given to a Kansas police officer who stopped there on his way to work.
Firearms instructor took out gunman at Texas church service
A man who trained others in his Texas church to use guns to protect the congregation fatally shot a gunman seconds after he opened fire during a service, the Texas attorney general said Monday.
Hate crimes charges against man accused in Hanukkah stabbing
Handwritten journals containing anti-Semitic references were found in the home of the man charged with federal hate crimes Monday in the stabbing and slashing of five people celebrating Hanukkah at a rabbi’s house north of New York City, authorities said.
Police chief apologizes for officer’s ‘homeless quilt’ post
A police chief in the south Alabama city of Mobile is apologizing for an officer’s social media post appearing to ridicule homeless people that was shared widely over the holidays.
Buttigieg: I would not have wanted my son on Ukraine board
Pete Buttigieg said Monday that he “would not have wanted to see” his son serving on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company while he was leading anti-corruption efforts in the country, an implicit criticism of the controversy that has ensnared his 2020 Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden.
With births down, U.S. had slowest growth rate in a century
The past year’s population growth rate in the United States was the slowest in a century due to declining births, increasing deaths and the slowdown of international migration, according to figures released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Cliffs, jungle a big hurdle for feds in Hawaii copter crash
he remote and rugged terrain on the Hawaiian island of Kauai where a sightseeing helicopter crashed, killing all seven people aboard, could make it difficult or even impossible to piece together what led to the wreck.
Hawaii officials request $90M for Inouye Highway extension
zHawaii transportation officials requested $90 million in special funds and revenue bonds to help pay the cost of extending Daniel K. Inouye Highway.
KIF conference to be a force in next decade
When conducting a Talk Story for this Sunday’s TGI at Thursday afternoon’s Kauai High basketball practice with Ipo Yoshioka, he reminded me of a trait of the Kauai Interscholastic Federation.
KIF conference ready to enter the New Year
The Kauai Interscholastic Federation boys and girls basketball seasons are now in full swing and in the thick of conference play headed into the new year.
Raiders split home stand
Kauai High varsity boys basketball improved to 2-0 on the young Kauai Interscholastic Federation boys basketball season with a solid 56-45 win over Kapaa High before a strong audience that included Principal Marlene Leary garbed in Red Raider crimson at the Kauai High School gym Saturday night.
Rise of EVs
Two sleek cars — one red and the other blue — sit in adjoining parking spaces at Kukui Grove Center in Lihue. They are testimony to the speed with which Kauai is embracing electric vehicles.
Saving koi
Twenty koi are adjusting to their new home at The Point at Poipu resort, refugees from a pond off of the Wailua Reservoir that’s scheduled to run dry at the end of the year.
Letters for Monday, December 30, 2019
• ‘Dimples’ has long been a treasure • Yes, Virginia, where is Santa Claus? • Together, we can create a brighter world