Leaking boat gets pump

The Coast Guard helped a man yesterday whose 53-foot sailing vessel was taking on water about 45 miles southeast of Oahu.

The owner of the Loon, a man in his mid-60s, was heading from Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor to Kaunakakai when his boat began to founder. He called the Coast Guard for help at 4:07 a.m. yesterday.

The Coast Guard sent a rescue helicopter, which arrived just before sunrise. A rescue swimmer from the helicopter helped the man use a pump lowered from the helicopter.

There were 6- to 8-foot seas and winds of 15 to 20 knots at the scene, the Coast Guard said.

A 378-foot cutter was also sent, and personnel patched and plugged the boat's leak, the Coast Guard said.

A 110-foot patrol boat towed the sailboat to port last night.

Missing fisherman owns San Francisco restaurant

A spear fisherman missing off the Kona Makai condominiums since Saturday has been identified as San Francisco restaurateur Paolo Dominici.

Big Island police are asking for the public's help in finding Dominici, 49, owner of Bacco Ristorante, a popular Italian restaurant in Noe Valley.

Police said he went spearfishing at 6:45 a.m. Saturday with a friend off the Kona Makai condominiums. His friend returned to shore at 9:30 a.m. and reported him missing at 10:47 a.m. Fire personnel found personal items belonging to Dominici and turned them over to police.

New agent named to head FBI's Honolulu Division

Charlene Thornton has been named special agent in charge of the FBI's Honolulu Division. FBI Director Robert Mueller selected Thornton to succeed Janet L. Kamerman as head of the office that covers Hawaii, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and much of the Pacific Rim.

Thornton is from the San Francisco Division, where she was also special agent in charge. She joined the FBI in 1979.

The FBI announced in December that Kamerman would be assigned to Washington to become associate executive assistant director of the agency's Human Resources Branch. She had arrived in Hawaii in 2007 after serving as a special assistant to Mueller.

Deputy director chosen for special operations post

Maj. Gen. Salvatore F. Cambria, commander of the Hawaii-based Special Operations Command Pacific, was chosen to be the next deputy director of the Center for Special Operations at the U.S. Special Operations Command, at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.

He has commanded the 1st Special Warfare Training Group's (Airborne) Support Battalion at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), also at Fort Bragg, and Special Operations Command South at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla.

[ NEIGHBOR ISLAND WATCH ]

BIG ISLAND
New scholarship for Big Island students

Hilo » A scholarship fund named after Hiromu Yamanaka and his wife, Helen, will support students at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, the UH Foundation said. Vern and Cathi Yamanaka, who run the real estate brokerage firm Yamanaka Enterprises Inc., and several other family members established the endowed fund to help undergraduate students at UH-Hilo. Preference will be given to students with financial need who graduate from Big Island schools.

MAUI
Library open during repairs

Wailuku » The Wailuku Public Library will remain open while workers repair damage from the Oct. 15, 2006, earthquake and its aftershocks. Repair work will continue through April. Library users are advised that portions of the library at 251 High St. might be inaccessible for brief periods.

KAUAI
2 hurt in crash

Puhi » Two Kauai residents were injured Sunday when the motorcycle they were riding was hit by a pickup truck making a turn on Kaumualii Highway in Puhi. The motorcycle's driver, Frank Medeiros Jr., 58, was airlifted to Oahu in stable condition. His passenger, a 34-year-old Princeville woman, was in good condition. The truck driver was not hurt.