Community mourns death of 13-year-old girl
A South Kohala community is mourning the death of a 13-year-old pedestrian killed in a crash involving a suspected drunken driver Thursday evening in Waikoloa Village.
Wildfires torched up to a fifth of all giant sequoia trees
LOS ANGELES — Lightning-sparked wildfires killed thousands of giant sequoias this year, leading to a staggering two-year death toll that accounts for up to nearly a fifth of Earth’s largest trees, officials said Friday.
House OKs $2T social, climate bill in Biden win; Senate next
WASHINGTON — A fractious House handed President Joe Biden a marquee victory Friday by approving a roughly $2 trillion social and environment bill, as Democrats cast aside disputes that for months had stalled the measure and hampered efforts to sell their priorities to voters.
US opens COVID boosters to all adults, urges them for 50+
WASHINGTON — The U.S. on Friday opened COVID-19 booster shots to all adults and took the extra step of urging people 50 and older to seek one, aiming to ward off a winter surge as coronavirus cases rise even before millions of Americans travel for the holidays.
Puna woman charged with numernous drug offenses
A 36-year-old Puna woman was charged with drug and forgery offenses in connection with five separate incidents between October 2020 and February 2021, county Prosecutor Kelden Waltjen said Friday.
Kona man faces numerous drug, firearm charges
Police arrested 28-year-old Keauhou man on Thursday and charged him with numerous drug offenses.
Kona man sentenced to 5 years for sexual assault of minor
A Kailua-Kona man has been sentenced to five years in prison in connection to a Jan. 5, 2020, incident involving a minor.
Facing surge, Austria will mandate COVID-19 shots, lock down
VIENNA — Austria announced a national lockdown and a plan to mandate vaccinations as coronavirus infections hit a record high Friday, forcing the government to walk back promises that strict shutdowns were a thing of the past.
Jury finds Rittenhouse not guilty in Kenosha shootings
KENOSHA, Wis. — Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges Friday after testifying he acted in self-defense in the deadly Kenosha shootings that became a flashpoint in the debate over guns, vigilantism and racial injustice in the U.S.
Attorney accuses Arbery advocates of ‘lynching’ defendants
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The defense attorney who caused an outcry by saying Black pastors should be barred from the murder trial over Ahmaud Arbery’s death declared in court Friday that a courthouse rally and other actions supporting the slain Black man’s family were comparable to a “public lynching” of the three white defendants.
Sources: Brazil withheld deforestation data ‘til COP26’s end
BRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro and Environment Minister Joaquim Leite both knew the Amazon region’s annual deforestation rate had surged before the U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, but kept results quiet to avoid hampering negotiations, according to three Cabinet ministers who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Biden says pardoned turkeys will get ‘boosted,’ not ‘basted’
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday pardoned two Thanksgiving turkeys, saying that the white male birds were selected based on their “temperament, appearance and, I suspect, vaccination status.”
Staples Center’s new name is perfect for our crypto era
So let’s get this straight. The new name of Staples Center is going to be Crypto.com Arena? Well, that’s just perfect. The word “crypto” means hidden or secret, but it also has overtones of “fake” or at least “questionable.” This is a crypto world, and an era of crypto-pretty-much-everything, so why not just throw in the towel and acknowledge it?
Here’s the lowdown on the latest in COVID-19 medication
With COVID-19 cases surging in Europe and the possibility of a new late-year wave in the U.S., it is becoming clear that vaccination alone will not result in the desired effect of zero or near-zero COVID-19. In retrospect, it was probably overly optimistic a year ago to believe that at reasonably high vaccination rates, COVID-19 infections would largely be controlled.
Tropical Gardening: Have a safe Thanksgiving
COVID-19 cases are on the increase again in many parts of America and the world as we go in to the holiday season so it is important to be vigilant. Just last week we had a big outbreak on Kauai due to a church gathering. Dozens of folks were exposed. When we gather for Thanksgiving make sure everyone is vaccinated to protect the keiki and kupuna. Avoiding large gatherings will be necessary to keep our friends and families healthy and alive.
NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:
Volleyball: Chaminade sweeps Vulcans to clinch PacWest
It started out as the competitive volleyball match most expected.
Basketball: UHH women use second-half surge to beat Multnomah in opener
For starters, UH-Hilo’s women’s basketball team finished strong.
Waikoloa teen dies after being struck by car
UPDATE 11-19-21, 5:30 p.m.: Police have identified the 13-year-old victim killed in the crash as Augustina James.
BIIF glance, Nov.20
FOOTBALL
BIIF glance, Nov. 19
VOLLEYBALL
Wildcats earn another sweep: Konawaena defeats Kealakehe 25-12, 25-16, 25-10
KEALAKEKUA – Another night, another sweep for the Konawaena Wildcats.
Women’s soccer: Sonoma St. ends UHH’s season with 5-1 win at NCAA D-II tournament
Overcast and rainy, the weather was Hilo-like in one sense, minus about 30 degrees.
NY’s dysfunctional ethics watchdog retroactively revokes approval of Cuomo’s deal
We don’t know why the saps serving on the ridiculous state Joint Commission on Public Ethics even try anymore. After OK’ing then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan last year to write his self-congratulating COVID memoir, now they’ve voted (after failing a couple of times) that the permission was granted in error and that Cuomo needs to apply again for the right to write, presumably after hopping in a time machine.
Burning books a ‘right’ of passage
Two school board members in Virginia last week called for the burning — yes, burning — of books in the school’s library that they deem sexually offensive. This is, of course, the logical direction of the conservative movement to crack down on any school curriculum that doesn’t reflect a right-wing view of the world. And it’s another reason why liberals and progressives should reclaim the mantle of free speech that was once an integral part of liberal thinking but that has now, alarmingly, fallen out of fashion on college campuses and other liberal strongholds.
