Local News

DES MOINES, Iowa » Thanks to work by state employees and a nonprofit group, more than 450,000 state documents dating back to Iowa's early history are now online and available to anyone with computer access.

BEIJING » The last known face-to-face contact between Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, and senior Chinese officials did not end well.

ORLANDO, Fla. » In the pews of the First Baptist Church of Orlando, where thousands of evangelical Christians gather on Sundays to worship and sing, a change of heart is happening on the once toxic issue of immigration.

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board unanimously approved a $35,000 performance bonus Thursday for the agency's executive director and CEO.

The recent theft of $50,000 from the Chinese Buddhist Association of Hawaii in Nuu­anu appears to be the work of a serial thief who has stolen several times from another temple in Hono­­lulu, temple members say.

The state Department of Health is temporarily allowing students, teachers, health care workers and others to attend school and go to work without the required tuberculosis clearance but said it believes the public will not be at an increased risk of contracting the disease.

Sending a message about priorities, state House and Senate budget negotiators Thursday agreed to make a substantial down payment on the state's $16 billion unfunded liability in the public-worker health care fund.

Students in Hawaii Pacific University's graduate nursing program say they're scrambling to apply for student loans and find second jobs after learning that their tuition will increase by more than 50 percent this summer.

An American Airlines employee is in federal custody in Hono­lulu, accused of using his airline credentials to bypass airport security checks in Los Angeles to transport meth­am­pheta­mine to Hawaii.

The president's 2014 defense budget request includes at least $410 million for military construction projects in Hawaii — $44 million more than in fiscal 2013, U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono's office said.

The trees along the Beretania Street sidewalk of Thomas Square are trimmed, and city workers Thursday planted dozens of ficus shrubs that city officials hope will eventually form hedges like the ones that border the three other sides of the park.

A tiny dog on the H-1 freeway, caught on the city's live traffic camera, captured the attention of Thursday morning TV news viewers as police officers and motorists tried to catch him.

Q: Two people are running businesses out of their houses in a residential neighborhood in Kaimuki. Aren't there laws restricting businesses being run in residential neighborhoods? • Mahalo: Highway cleanup from Hauula to Laie • Mahalo: Lost credit card recovered

Whale reported in distress eludes team • Boy, 15, saved from steam vent • Dead swimmer is identified

Vagrant held in tip-jar theft • Woman allegedly hits officer • Divers rescued off Makapuu

The population of Kalaeloa is envisioned to surge over the next two decades under a private developer's plan to add roughly 4,000 homes and 7,000 jobs to the West Oahu area that was once Barbers Point Naval Air Station.

Hawaii could edge closer to establishing a space industry because the University of Hawaii is poised to become one of the few colleges with rocket launch capability later this year, according to Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory Director Luke Flynn.

Paul Aloy Apo • Douglas Joseph Arruda Jr. • Matsuyo Fujimoto; and more

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Ed Lynch, managing editor/news, at 529-4758.

A plan by California and Canadian universities to build the world’s largest telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea received approval Friday from the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.