STRONG LURE

Hawaii Ironman draws a celeb

Famous cycler Lance Armstrong says he plans to enter the Hawaii Ironman on the Big Island in 2011 or 2012, depending on whether this year or next will be his final Tour de France. A swimmer as a child, Armstrong said he literally followed the head-to-head duel between Americans Mark Allen and Dave Scott in the 1989 Hawaii Ironman. “;I was in the follow car; I watched the whole thing,”; he said. “;It was unbelievable.”;

BE A STAR

Student poetry contest goes another round

Star Poets lives! The 10th annual contest, which rewards Hawaii students with cash prizes and encourages literacy in the process, is accepting entries until Jan. 29. It's open to poets in grades 3 through 12, who must limit their prose to 20 lines.

The popular event's future was uncertain after Starbucks ended its financial support last year, but Windward Community College, the Hawai'i Council for the Humanities, the Atherton Family Foundation and the Windward Arts Council combined forces to keep it going. For details, see windward.hawaii.edu/poets.

FAMILY TIES

Asian-Americans' mantra: We are family

American kids of Asian ancestry are more likely than children of other ethnicities to be living with both parents and about half have a stay-at-home mom, according to U.S. Census data.

Among all ethnic groups, the percentage of married couples with children with both parents employed dropped from 63 percent in 2007 to 59 percent in 2009, an effect of the recession, the Census Bureau said. Whites had the highest percentage of both spouses working last year (63 percent), while Hispanics had the lowest (43 percent). Fifty-five percent of Asian married couples had both spouses working.

Eighty-five percent of Asian children were living with two parents, compared to 78 percent of whites, 69 percent of Hispanics and 38 percent of black children.