[THE YEAR IN REVIEW]

STAR-BULLETIN / MARCH 14, 2001 Honolulu police officers tended to one of the two officers who were shot and wounded April 17 on the H-2 freeway, just north of the Ka Uka Boulevard offramp. The shooting suspect was killed.

2001

STAR-BULLETIN / APRIL 17, 2001 Gordon Y.K. Pang held up a sign as Star-Bulletin staff members started their march on March 14 of last year from the old News Building to the newspaper's new office at Restaurant Row.

March 15: The Honolulu Star-Bulletin publishes its first edition under the ownership of newspaper publisher David Black.

April 1: For the first time since 1962, the Sunday Star-Bulletin hits the newsstands.

April 5: In an unprecedented shutdown of a state's public education system, Hawaii's public school teachers and the University of Hawaii faculty go on simultaneous strikes.

April 17: The UH faculty strike ends. Two Honolulu police officers are shot and injured and a suspect is killed in a shootout on H-2.

April 24: Public school teachers ratify a new contract after a nearly three-week-long strike.

April 27: Hawaii says aloha to Aloha and Oahu bowls. After nearly 20 years of being a part of the island chain, the Aloha Bowl is shipped off to San Francisco and the Oahu Bowl to Seattle. The Seattle Bowl survives in the Pacific Northwest, but the old Aloha Bowl never gets off the ground. Currently, there are two contingents trying to bring the Aloha Bowl back to Hawaii. It will be reviewed at next month's NCAA bowl certification meetings in Florida.

April 28: Aloha Tower hosts a celebration of its 75th anniversary. The following year will also be a year of anniversaries as the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Maryknoll and Washington Intermediate schools also celebrate 75th anniversaries, while the Moana Hotel turns 100.

May 7: French Bank BNP Paribas announces it is buying the 55 percent of First Hawaiian Bank that it does not already own for $2.45 billion.

May 7: The Asian Development Bank meeting kicks off at the Hawai'i Convention Center under intense security.

May 13: The Henry R. Luce Wing opens at the Honolulu Academy of Arts as the centerpiece of the Luce Pavilion Complex, a $17 million expansion that also includes a new, expanded cafe, an enlarged gift shop, the gardens, a 60-foot waterfall and two galleries.

STAR-BULLETIN / MAY 2001 The USS John C. Stennis was silhouetted by fireworks May 21 at the finale of the premiere of the Hollywood blockbuster "Pearl Harbor," which took place on the aircraft carrier moored at Pearl Harbor.

May 20: The University of Hawaii honors head baseball coach Les Murakami. Recovering from a near-fatal stroke, Murakami wishes all his fans well. Rainbow Stadium is eventually named after him, and Murakami is later inducted into the Hawaii Circle of Honor. A member of the college baseball hall of fame, Murakami finished with a record 1,079-570-4 in his 29 years with the program. He won six WAC championships and was within one win of capturing the College World Series.

May 21: The Hollywood blockbuster "Pearl Harbor" premieres in Honolulu on the deck of the USS Stennis, bringing stars like Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, James King, Kate Beckinsale and Courtney Love to town.

June 2: Al Masini takes a bride, in style, at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. The man who created "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," "Entertainment Tonight" and "Star Search" evidently knows how to throw a party.

June 5: Mike Trapasso is named head coach of the University of Hawaii baseball team. He is only the second coach the team has ever had in its 32 years as a program.

June 18: The Maui Film Festival makes great strides during the year. After a successful spring and summer, it brings home Oscar contenders in the fall, in screenings targeted toward vacationing stars and studio execs.

June 19: Federated Department Stores Inc. announces it will buy the Liberty House Department Store chain and rename the stores Macy's.

June 24: The Star-Bulletin reports that Mayor Jeremy Harris' campaign has collected $748,837 from individuals connected to dozens of local firms that were awarded substantial city contracts.

July 3: Honolulu City Councilman Andy Mirikitani is found guilty of bribery, theft, extortion, wire fraud and two counts of witness tampering.

July 7: St. Louis School head coach Cal Lee announces that 2001 will be his last as the football coach. The most successful prep coach in history, it will be another eight months before his successor, Delbert Tengan, is named. Lee won the last 16 ILH titles and 15 Prep Bowl or state championships. Kahuku beat St. Louis in the state final the past two seasons. Lee's record in 21 seasons at St. Louis was 241-32-5.

July 9: The long-awaited "Final Fantasy" fared poorly at the box office but brought some of the excitement of Hollywood to town at its premiere, attended by Ming-Na, the voice of one of the film's animated stars.

STAR-BULLETIN / JULY 2001 Honolulu City Councilman Andy Mirikitani, left, and attorney John Edmunds walked out of federal court July 3 after Mirikitani was found guilty of bribery, theft, extortion, wire fraud and witness tampering.

July 31: University of Hawaii volleyball star Lily Kahumoku announces she will not play the 2001 season for personal reasons. Her departure puts a big hole in the Rainbow Wahine's hopes of going back to the Final Four. Without her, Kim Willoughby takes over as the most explosive player on the team. Kahumoku decided to return at midterm and should help Hawaii regain its national prominence next season. With Willoughby and Kahumoku on the floor at the same time, UH will be tough to beat.

Aug. 2: ILH school Damien reverses its position to forfeit its two conference games with St. Louis. The earlier decision not to play the Crusaders does lead to the ILH being split into two divisions. The result is that Damien only has to play St. Louis once. Parents and members of the football team were upset with the decision not to face the Crusaders. They get their wish and lose the game 69-0.

Aug. 3: A bus carrying 18 Japanese tourists crashes south of Hilo, injuring all the passengers and the driver.

Aug. 13: Honolulu discount travel agent Cheap Tickets is purchased by New York-based industry giant Cendant Corp. for $425 million.

Aug. 13: NASA's solar-powered plane Helios soars to a record 96,500 feet on a test flight from Kauai.

Aug. 28: Ala Wai Golf Course starter Janice Kakugawa pleads guilty to accepting bribes from golfers for preferred tee times. This practice had been going on for years, despite complaints from people trying to find a tee time for one of the busiest golf courses in the world. Gov. Ben Cayetano says he wants to tear up the course for Waikiki renovation, but somehow, the popular 18-hole course avoids that fate.

Sept. 9: The Star-Bulletin publishes a 128-page special section, "Keiki to Kupuna: The People of Paradise," focusing on Hawaii families in the 21st century.

Sept. 11: Terrorists hijack passenger jets and attack America. Airports are closed, and the military goes on high alert.

STAR-BULLETIN / SEPTEMBER 2001 An interfaith religious service was held Sept. 13 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Among the crowd were Schoen Safotu and his wife, Nenny Safotu.

Sept. 19: With the tourism industry reeling after the attacks, Hawaii hotels and other businesses begin to lay off workers.

Oct. 4: The Army announces resumption of live-fire training in Makua Valley. Japan Airlines cuts its Hawaii flights by 23 percent.

Oct. 12: Oahu has its first confirmed case of dengue fever, which brings the statewide total to 48 since June.

Oct. 16: Honolulu fire and police officials are kept busy responding to dozens of calls of suspicious packages after anthrax mailings on the mainland.

Oct. 18: Schools Superintendent Paul LeMahieu resigns under a cloud as a legislative committee investigates his personal relationship with a woman who does work for the state Department of Education.

ASSOCIATED PRESS / NOVEMBER 2001 Hawaii's Kim Willoughby powered the Wahine this season. Here, she spikes past Fresno State's Shauna McQuaid, right, in the Nov. 17 semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference volleyball tournament in San Jose, Calif.

Oct. 19: American Classic Voyages, operator of the SS Independence and ms Patriot cruise ships, files for bankruptcy. Its isle cruises are halted, and work is called off on two ships under construction for the Hawaii market.

Oct. 19: Former isle banker and businessman Sukamto Sia pleads guilty to federal wire fraud and bankruptcy fraud charges.

Oct. 20: The UH Board of Regents votes to approve the renaming of Rainbow Stadium to Les Murakami Stadium. Normally, a building on campus cannot be named after someone until five years after the person's death.

Oct. 23: Hawaii-based home-builder Schuler Homes is bought by D.R. Horton Inc. in a deal valued at $1.6 billion, creating the nation's second-largest home-building company.

Oct. 25: Kamaaina clothing retailer Crazy Shirts is bought at a bankruptcy auction by local company Waikiki Trader Corp.

Oct. 30: A group of five business people sue to force Big Island biotech company Aquasearch into involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Aquasearch later voluntarily submits to the bankruptcy reorganization.

Nov. 15: Retailing giant Nordstrom announces it will build a 150,000-square-foot department store on Victoria Ward Ltd. land in Kakaako.

Dec. 1: Kahuku beats St. Louis 21-14 to win its second consecutive state title in football. This winds up being the last game of Crusader head coach Cal Lee's career. It took several months to find a new coach willing to fill Lee's shoes.

Dec. 6: City Councilman Andy Mirikitani is sentenced to four years in prison.

Dec. 7: Ceremonies throughout Oahu mark the 60th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Dec. 8: Renewing the rivalry with Brigham Young University was something University of Hawaii head coach June Jones wanted since taking over the job three years ago. He got his wish after Iowa State dropped out of the season opener. The game was moved to Dec. 8 and was broadcast nationally on ESPN. Hawaii trounces BYU 72-45 at Aloha Stadium. UH finished the season 9-3, the best record of any team not invited to a bowl game. BYU went on to play in the Liberty Bowl but lost to Louisville.

Dec. 9: Six hundred surviving family members of Sept. 11 heroes wrap up a free, weeklong Hawaii vacation.

Dec. 19: Hawaiian and Aloha Airlines announce they will merge, ending a decades-long rivalry.

2002

Jan. 2: The state rolls out its highly controversial traffic camera citation program.

Jan. 15: The owner of Aloha Tower Marketplace, Aloha Tower LP, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Jan. 16: The state settles its $2 billion antitrust lawsuit against Chevron Corp., Tosco Corp., Texaco Inc., Shell Oil Co. and Unocal Corp. for $20 million, or 1 percent of what it had been seeking.

STAR-BULLETIN / FEBRUARY 2002 Mike Trapasso left South Florida to take over the University of Hawaii baseball program.

Jan. 25: Times Super Market Ltd. is purchased by California grocery store chain PAQ Inc., ending local ownership of one of the state's largest and oldest supermarket chains.

Feb. 16: Janet Jackson stars in HBO's "Aloha Janet" special at Aloha Stadium.

Feb. 19: Former Honolulu police officer Clyde Arakawa is found guilty of manslaughter in the death of 19-year-old Dana Ambrose in a car crash on Oct. 7, 2000.

STAR-BULLETIN / FEBRUARY 2002 Former Honolulu police officer Clyde Arakawa was led into a van for his trip to prison on Feb. 19 after he was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of 19-year-old Dana Ambrose in a car crash on Oct. 7, 2000.

Feb. 22: UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida announces his retirement on the one-year anniversary of head football coach June Jones' near-fatal accident. Yoshida is in the final year of his contract, which expires in December.

Feb. 27: Former Big 5 company Amfac files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

March 3: The Star-Bulletin reports that political donors linked to one of Hawaii's largest engineering firms have poured nearly $200,000 into the campaigns of several prominent isle Democrats.

March 9: The UH men's basketball team earns a berth in to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Western Athletic Conference basketball tournament by beating Tulsa 73-59.

March 15: Making its second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the UH basketball team loses a first-round game to Xavier 70-58.

March 15: The Star-Bulletin marks one year of publishing under David Black's ownership with an exclusive report on a state lawsuit against two of Hawaii's most powerful unions.

March 16: Hawaiian Airlines announces it will not extend a merger offer with Aloha Airlines beyond an April deadline, effectively killing the deal.

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Compiled by Star-Bulletin staff