State briefs for October 24

Subscribe Now Choose a package that suits your preferences.
Start Free Account Get access to 7 premium stories every month for FREE!
Already a Subscriber? Current print subscriber? Activate your complimentary Digital account.

German state to returns bones stolen from caves

BERLIN (AP) — The eastern German state of Saxony says it is returning human bones that were stolen from burial caves in Hawaii during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Dresden State Art Collections said in a statement Monday that the bones of Native Hawaiians were stolen between 1896 and 1902 and sold to the Museum of Ethnology in Dresden.

Working with Hawaiian representatives, experts established the provenance of the bones so they could be repatriated.

Saxony’s science minister, Eva-Maria Stange, says that through their return “the human bones, hitherto regarded as ‘objects,’ are rehumanized and their inherent individuality and human value is restored.”

Scientists defend fisheries management

(AP) More than 200 scientists say Congress should protect federal sustainable fishing laws in advance of a key hearing about the future of the way the government manages fisheries.

The Senate commerce committee will have a hearing today about reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The act is the main law governing U.S. fisheries.

The scientists sent a letter to Congress on Monday. They say they are opposed to “legislative efforts that would weaken science-based management of U.S. marine fish populations.”

The scientists say they support preventing overfishing through the use of catch limits based on sound science. They’re concerned about proposals they say would weaken or eliminate such requirements.

Marine identified as man killed in Waikiki stabbing

HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Marines identified the man who was fatally stabbed in Waikiki as 23-year-old Sgt. William Brown.

Police say Brown, a Tennessee native, was stabbed in the chest Saturday morning after an altercation at the corner of Kalakaua Avenue and Royal Hawaiian Avenue.

Brown was taken to a hospital in critical condition, where he later died.

Honolulu police Capt. Walter Ozeki said multiple people were at the scene and three suspects were arrested a few blocks away on suspicion of second-degree murder. The suspects are a 21-year-old man and two teens, a boy and a girl, between the ages of 14 and 16.

Brown was stationed on Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe, according to a statement by the 3rd Marine Division. He joined the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines in November 2012.