Monk seal pup is found dead

A monk seal pup that captured the hearts of dozens of volunteer baby sitters was found dead on a Waimanalo beach over the weekend.

The seal, nicknamed Hoku and also Huggy Bear, was born on the North Shore in May and was monitored along with its mother by volunteers during its nursing period.

“;Over 40 volunteers watched over the pup from sunup to sundown for six weeks while it was being reared on the beach by its mother,”; said David Schofield, marine mammal response coordinator with the National Marine Fisheries Service. “;Understandably, a lot of dedicated volunteers are very saddened by the loss. With so few monk seals remaining in the Hawaiian Islands, we can't afford to lose even one.”;

Officials relocated the seal to Manana (Rabbit) Island after it weaned to give it a chance to mature away from human influence and be near adult seals in the area, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

A necropsy performed Sunday found no specific cause of death, officials said.

DLNR Director Laura Thielen issued a statement reminding the public that monk seals are a protected species and that Rabbit Island is off limits.

“;The loss of Hoku or any of our native endangered seals is a tragic loss to our entire state,”; she said.

Anyone with information about the death of the seal or any threat to a marine mammal is asked to contact NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement at (800) 853-1964 or the state conservation division at 587-0077.

Race sues timing-chip maker

The Honolulu Marathon Association is suing the company that supplied the timing chips that were supposed to record the start, split and finish times for each of the 2007 Honolulu Marathon participants.

In a lawsuit filed in state court yesterday, the marathon association alleges the timing chips failed to record the finish times of thousands of runners, forcing it to manually review hours of video to determine the finish times for all 23,299 finishers.

The association, chip provider SA-Innovations and its manager, David O. Simms, entered into a settlement agreement in which the company and Simms agreed, among other things, to pay the marathon association $20,000 by Sept. 8 and $10,000 by Dec. 1, according to the lawsuit. The association says the two failed to make the first payment.

In a letter sent to finishers in February, marathon President Jim Barahal said the association sent finishers certificates to most of the people who completed the race but that the times could be inaccurate to varying degrees because of a glitch in the new computer chip timing system. He said the system missed the finishing times of about 2,400 runners who were given “;clock time”; finishes.

For this year's race, Barahal said, the marathon will go back to the company that provided the timing chips for the 2000 through 2006 races.

ACLU offers award for youths

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii is accepting nominations for its Guardian of Liberty and Justice Youth Award.

The $1,000 award honors a Hawaii youth up to high school age who has confronted a constitutional or civil liberties issue. Past winners have include students who overcame opposition to the formation of Gay-Straight Alliance school clubs, supported student privacy rights or initiated peaceful protests against school officials.

Nominees may also be considered for a $12,500 national ACLU Student Activist Scholarship presented to 16 high school students nationwide.

Nomination forms are available online at http://www.acluhawaii.org, by e-mailing .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), faxing 522-5909 or calling the ACLU at 522-5904. The deadline to apply is Nov. 28.

The award, which is funded by civil libertarian Dr. Leslie Wilbur, will be presented in a ceremony in April.