KEEP IT GREEN

Maybe the tree will be luckier than the Hungry Lion

So what happens to the tree?

For longtime patrons of the Hungry Lion coffee shop in Nuuanu, the eatery's abrupt closure Tuesday night after 27 years was stunning, and sad. Slow business due to the economy caused owner Kazu Goto to fall behind on rent. That led to an eviction case won by landowner Walgreen Co., which will buy out Goto's lease for $475,000, now that the restaurant has closed.

The sign-waving lion at the corner will be no more. But what of the huge tree, which grew smack-dab through the middle of the restaurant, having been planted in the 1870s by Chun Afong and believed to be Hawaii's oldest banyan?

Walgreen has said it wants to raze the site's structures and rebuild for a possible store and retail units — but that it won't harm the tree.

YOU FIRST

Lifestyle change can cut cancer risk

Want to beat cancer? Exercise regularly, shun smoking, don't consume too much food or alcohol, stay out of the sun, be careful about sex and get vaccinated. Researchers insist that 40 percent of all cancer cases could be prevented if people changed their lifestyles. The International Union Against Cancer emphasizes that message today, World Cancer Day. It makes sense that the best way to beat cancer is to avoid getting it in the first place, but that super-healthy lifestyle is easier said than done.

SHIP AHOY!

'Mighty Mo' mo bettah after loving upgrade

After months in Pearl Harbor drydock for extensive refurbishing, the USS Missouri has reopened to visitors, restored to its former glory.

The overhaul of the living history museum took three months and cost $18 million. Officials say that was on time, and on budget.

Surfaces are freshly painted, the hull refurbished, the famous teak decks on which Japan signed WWII surrender papers restored to a proud luster. All of which leaves the historic vessel — a veteran of three wars — in tip-top, ship shape.