Queen's hospital to mark 150 years

The Queen's Medical Center's 150th anniversary will be observed with a “;Heritage Day Celebration”; starting at 11 a.m. tomorrow on the front lawn, 1301 Punchbowl St.

Speaking at the opening ceremony will be Art Ushijima, president and chief executive officer of The Queen's Health Systems, Gov. Linda Lingle and Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

An offering will be made in honor of Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV, founders of the medical center. A 150th anniversary time capsule also will be unveiled.

Festivities at noon will include entertainment by the Royal Hawaiian Band and Kaukahi, a Hawaiian crafts fair and cultural demonstrations.

Reward offered for canoe gear

The Hawaiian Sailing Canoe Association is looking for about $15,000 worth of equipment stolen from its canoes at Hale O Lono Harbor on Molokai between May 31 and June 14.

Association president Terry Galpin said nothing like this theft has happened in the group's 25-year history and she suspects the theft was committed by persons on a visiting vessel.

Galpin said yesterday that information from association members indicated the missing equipment included life jackets, sheet lines with tackle and tow lines.

She said new equipment purchased at a marine supply store had to be delivered before the 10 canoes can begin the race from the harbor to Haleiwa tomorrow.

The association is offering a reward leading to the return of the equipment.

Galpin asked anyone with information about the theft to call her, 808-372-8131.

USS Hawaii to arrive here next week

The Navy has invited the public to Ford Island next Thursday to view the arrival of the first of three Virginia-class submarines that will be assigned to Pearl Harbor. However, access to the site where the 377-foot USS Hawaii will tie up at Pearl Harbor's Submarine Base will be restricted because of security reasons.

Gov. Linda Lingle, the ship's sponsor, will take a small Navy boat to board the $2.5 billion submarine in the Pearl Harbor channel and meet briefly with Cmdr. Ed Herrington, the skipper of the Hawaii. Then the official greeting party will be taken to the submarine piers for the official ceremony slated to begin at 9:30 a.m.

From Ford Island's seaplane ramp, the public will be able to watch the vessel sail into Pearl Harbor. Public parking will be available from 8 a.m.

The ceremony at the submarine piers will feature a Hawaii Air National Guard F-15 flyover, music by the Pacific Fleet Band, the Kamehameha Alumni Glee Club, Halau Hula Olana Ai, Kahuna Pule Ganotise and a ha'a by Pa Kui a Lua.

On May 13, the 7,800-ton submarine left Groton, Conn., where it was built, stopping briefly in Georgia while undergoing sea trials. The Hawaii spent nine hours on Friday maneuvering the three sets of locks that make up the Panama Canal before entering the Pacific Ocean.

Tropical storm passing south of isles

Tropical Storm Carlos will pass several hundred miles south of the islands with minimal impact on local weather, according to the National Weather Service.

Carlos was about 1,700 miles east-southeast of Hilo yesterday afternoon, moving west at about 9 mph.

Its current path shows the storm passing several hundred miles south of Hawaii, said National Weather Service forecaster Derek Wroe.

“;Impacts will be minimal, if it does follow that path,”; he said. “;Conditions aren't right for it to increase in intensity again.”;

Wroe said the storm should weaken over the next five days.

Tomorrow the storm will enter the jurisdiction of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center, about 1,200 miles east of Hilo.

Big Isle charter school hails ruling

A Big Island charter school whose funds had been withheld by state education officials is planning to open in August, following a ruling by Big Island Circuit Judge Glenn Hara.

Officials with Waters of Life Public Charter School said they were pleased with Hara's ruling yesterday that they were denied due process by state charter school officials.

“;I'm elated,”; said Katheryn Crayton-Shay, principal/administrator of Waters of Life.

She said the state Board of Education may decide today on the date the school reopens in August.,

Crayton-Shay said the school, which teaches farming, hopes to open with about 170 students.

State charter school officials dissatisfied with the school's management withheld funds in January, she said.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Suit alleges Council broke sunshine law

HILO » A lawsuit accusing the Hawaii County Council of violating the state's open-government law has led to the cancellation of committee hearings next week.

But the Council will hold its regular meeting Wednesday, and hear from the county's top attorney about the suit filed Friday by West Hawaii Today.

Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida asked for time to brief Council members on the suit.

The newspaper's lawsuit accuses Council members of violating the so-called “;sunshine law”; by holding private discussions among themselves about a Council reorganization plan that was approved June 16.

The suit asks the court to declare the reorganization vote and any subsequent votes invalid.

Council Chairman J Yoshimoto says canceling the committee hearings was a “;precautionary”; move.