West Hawaii Today

Police arrested the driver of a white Chevy pickup truck that allegedly was the getaway vehicle for a passenger police say shot and wounded an officer Friday morning in the parking lot of the First Hawaiian Bank Waiakea Branch near Prince Kuhio Plaza.

In a hearing Friday, senators pressed Dr. Mehmet Oz, the TV celebrity nominated to head Medicare and Medicaid, on Republican-led proposals that would significantly affect the health care coverage for nearly half of all Americans.

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Friday narrowly averted a government shutdown at midnight, passing a GOP-written stopgap spending measure after Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and a small group of Democrats joined Republicans in allowing it to advance.

Sen. Chuck Schumer’s sudden decision Thursday to support a Republican-written bill to avert a government shutdown so enraged his fellow Democrats that some were already talking about primary challenges to the 74-year-old Democratic leader from New York.

(Reuters) — Greenland’s political parties must set aside disagreements and swiftly form a broad coalition government to show unity in the face of a U.S. campaign to annex the island, the Democrats said on Friday after winning this week’s election.

Ex-central banker Mark Carney was sworn in as prime minister of Canada on Friday and immediately said he could work with U.S. President Donald Trump, who is promising tariffs that could devastate the Canadian economy.

The Trump administration is considering issuing sweeping travel restrictions for the citizens of dozens of countries as part of a new ban, according to sources familiar with the matter and an internal memo seen by Reuters.

President Donald Trump on Friday vowed to seek accountability for prosecutors and officials who pursued legal cases against him during his years out of power, speaking at the U.S. Justice Department whose prosecutors had brought some of those cases.

Major air carriers on Friday challenged a U.S. appeals court ruling handed down in January that the Transportation Department has the authority to write airline fee disclosure rules.

JERUSALEM — Hamas said it’s willing to release all U.S.-Israeli hostages, including one still alive, in a surprise move dismissed by both Israel and the U.S. as unhelpful to negotiation efforts to end the war.

KEALAKEKUA — Kealakehe girls flag football couldn’t have asked for a better start to its inaugural season.

KEALAKEHE — For newly-hired Kealakehe football coach Brian Hill, it’s never too early to get started.

NASA and SpaceX on Friday launched a long-awaited crew to the International Space Station that will let them bring home U.S. astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck on the orbital lab for nine months.

Marian Mae Johnson

Home projects don’t need to be time-consuming or complicated to be impactful. You can give your kitchen a whole new look by taking on some easy upgrades.

After 45 years of living in the cool mountain mists of Kaloko Mauka’s Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary, we have decided to move.

Consider a can of soda. When the can is closed (pressurized), the soda contains dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2). When you open the can, the pressure drops, bubbles form and rise. Molten rock (magma) beneath the Earth’s surface behaves similarly and we can learn from the gas trapped in tiny bubbles preserved in crystals from the rock after it’s erupted on the surface.

Response to recent Obenski column

Roadwork on Route 180 near Holualoa will continue as the next two phases of repaving, restriping and upgrading signage begin May 2.

A gloomy new forecast is depressing the amount of state tax revenue Hawaii’s Legislature has available to finalize its budget for the next two fiscal years.

A proposal to legalize sports betting in Hawaii remains alive, despite mixed opinions among lawmakers and citizens.

Federal judges in California and Maryland on Thursday ordered U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to reinstate tens of thousands of probationary federal workers who lost their jobs as part of mass firings carried out across multiple agencies.

Acting U.S. Attorney Kenneth M. Sorenson announced Wednesday that a federal grand jury returned an indictment against 59-year-old Enrique Gonzalez Jacobo, 59, of Mexico, charging him with attempting to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and being an illegal alien present in the U.S. after having been previously convicted of a felony and deported.

Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who is serving a 15-year prison sentence for leaking classified U.S. national security documents online, was sentenced by a military judge to a dishonorable discharge on Thursday after pleading guilty to obstructing justice.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 24 points and added 12 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 126-106 win over the visiting Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.

KAILUA-KONA — The 30th and final Kona Brewers Festival kicked off in style Saturday morning with the highly-anticipated PATH (People for Active Transportation Hawaii) Run for Hops, drawing 371 participants to the starting line at the BMW of Hawaii dealership on Loloku Street.

Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) golf resumed play with its second all-schools match of the season Wednesday morning at Hilo Municipal Golf Course.

The Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) boys volleyball season continued Wednesday with matches across the isle. Matches will resume today in Hilo and Kapa‘au. See the BIIF schedule on Page 3B to see the remainder of this week’s matchups.

The Department of Water Supply, Hawaii County, is celebrating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s annual “Fix a Leak Week,” March 17-21, by helping customers learn how to identify and fix common household water leaks.

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Washington has ordered Elon Musk and operatives involved with his Department of Government Efficiency to hand over documents and answer questions about its role in directing mass firings and dismantling government programs.

A major supplier of toys to Walmart and Target is accelerating its shift out of China as it reshapes production amid President Donald Trump’s intensifying trade war with the country.

The Israel-Hamas negotiations to extend the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip were in limbo Thursday as the Trump administration turned its attention to talks with Russian officials in Moscow over the Ukraine war.

Angela Leialoha Kalani