New nuke sub will be based at Pearl Harbor

The Navy is basing the USS North Carolina at Pearl Harbor.

The Pacific Fleet Submarine Force said yesterday that the 377-foot-long, $2.3 billion fast-attack submarine is scheduled to arrive in Hawaii in the summer.

Pearl Harbor is already home to two other Virginia-class submarines, the nation's most advanced. They are the USS Hawaii and the USS Texas.

The Navy is gradually replacing its older Los Angeles-class subs with Virginia-class vessels.

The new vessels are outfitted with “;photonic masts”; controlled by a joystick instead of periscopes.

The submarines are designed to attack land and sea targets with cruise missiles and torpedoes.

They're also equipped to sail into shallow waters to monitor enemy transmissions and to drop off SEAL teams.

UH officials, union to resume talks

The University of Hawaii faculty union and UH administration say they will resume contract negotiations with the help of a federal mediator.

UH President M.R.C. Greenwood said she will participate in the mediation. No date was announced for the talks.

Greenwood said she and University of Hawaii Professional Assembly Executive Director J.N. Musto met for a “;cordial”; one-hour discussion yesterday afternoon.

The faculty union hand-delivered a letter to Greenwood yesterday asking her to personally participate in negotiations.

Musto also asked that the university's chief financial officer and the chairman and vice chairman of the Board of Regents be invited to the talks.

On Jan. 1, Greenwood imposed a 6.7 percent pay cut on most union faculty members after she said negotiations had hit an impasse.

The union filed a grievance against the UH president on Monday, which Greenwood rejected Tuesday.

Arizona Memorial boat-tour days cut

Boat tours to the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor won't be running for 10 days this month and next due to construction of the new visitor's center.

The National Park Service said yesterday that boat tours will be suspended Jan. 11-15 and Feb. 1-5.

The boats normally leave from docks at the memorial visitor's center. During the 10 days, construction crews will be moving the docks for the new visitor's center.

The current center was designed for half as many people as it accommodates today. It was also built on reclaimed land and is sinking.

The new $58 million center will be three times larger. It's expected to be finished by Dec. 7.

Isle drummer to brighten bowl band

Christopher Bright, a percussionist with the Kamehameha Schools Kapalama, was selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band at halftime during the U.S. Army American Bowl Saturday in San Antonio, Texas.

The senior was selected from more than 1,000 applicants and received an all-expenses-paid trip.

Bright is the grandson of local theatrical producer Ron Bright, and son of two music teachers at Kamehameha, Clark and Lynelle Bright, the news release said.

USS Russell heading to Persian Gulf

The Pearl Harbor-based guided-missile destroyer USS Russell left Hawaii on Tuesday for the western Pacific and Persian Gulf.

Navy Region Hawaii said the ship is due to support operations of the U.S. 5th and U.S. 7th fleets.

The 5th Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain, while the 7th Fleet is run out of Yokosuka, Japan.

The ship will work with coalition partners in the Middle East and with the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Copter went down during engine drill

A helicopter that crashed on Maui last month lost power just as the crew began a simulated engine-failure exercise, federal investigators say in a preliminary accident report.

The Aerospatiale AS350BA, operated by Sunshine Helicopters, made a forced landing on rough, sloping terrain just over a mile from Hana and was destroyed.

Both the Sunshine pilot and a Federal Aviation Administration inspector were seriously injured in the Dec. 16 accident, said the report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

The NTSB said the Sunshine pilot was undergoing a routine annual proficiency test, part of which is a response to a simulated engine failure.

The helicopter's power loss seems to have coincided with the instructor's interruption of the fuel flow for the simulation, the report said, but it did not say what else might have caused the engine failure.

The pilot made an “;autorotative descent”; near the shoreline at Wainapanapa.