Top Hawaii Headlines: Monday morning edition

May Day in Hawaii is, of course, Lei Day. The tradition started back in 1928, and it was a way to encourage people to wear and celebrate lei.

State lawmakers have killed an attempt to balance the state budget by taking the counties' share of hotel room tax money, a move that would have brought the state $100 million annually.

The attack submarine USS Jacksonville sailed 6,000 miles from the East Coast to Hawai'i in just less than a month's time, stopping in its namesake city in Florida and passing through the Panama Canal along the way.

Occupancy at Hawai'i hotels sank to a more than two-decade low in March, with about one-third of all hotel rooms empty, according to the latest monthly survey of visitor accommodations.

An updated University of Hawaii study estimates repair and maintenance costs at the system's 10 campuses will likely top $1 billion through the next 10 years, raising questions about how the university and taxpayers will pay for it.

Honolulu Community College has identified four finalists for the position of chancellor and has invited them to participate in a final round of interviews and open forums from Monday, May 4, through Thursday, May 7.

Hilo land once slated for a large residential and commercial development has been purchased by a Hilo group that wants to build medical facilities and senior housing.

The Hawaii County Council won't make a final decision Wednesday on the mayor's proposal to suspend payments to the 2 percent land fund.

More than 400 Hawaii residents are making plans to attend the canonization of Father Damien in Rome this fall, including about 10 patients from Kalaupapa.

Top Hawaii Headlines: Monday morning edition

Lawmakers in the House want to abolish the Hawaii Health Systems Corp. and temporarily move the 13 public hospitals back to the state Health Department -- a move Health Director Chiyome Fukino says would be "catastrophic."

The Legislature is on the verge of carving Maui Memorial Medical Center out of the state Hawaii Health Systems Corp.

No cases of the swine flu have been reported here in Hawaii, but health officials are asking doctors to send virus specimens from patients showing flu symptoms to the state lab for testing.

There's a shake-up at the state Sheriff Division. On Friday, word quickly spread that Hawaii's sheriff has been bounced from his post.

In what one survivor described as a "miracle," 11 sailors aboard a traditional Chinese sailing vessel that left Oahu in February were plucked from the Pacific hours after a freighter struck their vessel, slicing it in half.

Faced with increasingly dismal revenue projections, Hawaii County councilmembers have started using the "F" word again.

In the wake of a Makiki Heights house fire that left two people dead and four homeless, advocates are raising concerns about the number of people crowding into homes — in what they say is a trend that appears to be worsening because of the recession.

Reef-protection groups are awaiting approval of federal permits to install 52 day-use mooring buoys in a continuing effort to reduce the damage caused when boat anchors crush fragile coral colonies and destroy large swaths of underwater habitat.

A spike in the number of people giving up their pets is putting a strain on the Hawaii Island Humane Society

Top Hawaii Headlines: Monday morning edition

• An approaching cold front will shift winds from southwest and west ahead of it, to north and northeast after the passage, the National Weather Service said. Clouds and showers will be possible throughout the week the week, forecasters said.
• HONOLULU -- State House and Senate negotiators have agreed to raise income taxes on the wealthy as well as hotel-room levies as part of a state budget package for the next two fiscal years that begin July 1.
• A sprint to fill the City Council vacancy in Windward Oahu comes to an end this week. Voters will learn Thursday which one of 11 candidates will serve out the term of Barbara Marshall, who died Feb. 22 of colon cancer just months after overwhelmingly winning re-election to the seat representing parts of Kaneohe, Kailua and Waimanalo.
• Honolulu is ready to begin a new round of curbside recycling by adding 40,000 customers to the program using the gray, green and blue carts.
• Construction crews have unearthed 68 undated sets of remains at Kawaiahao Church and could run into more before a multipurpose center is finished in 2010, officials said yesterday.
• Services have been set for a Hawai-based soldier killed in Iraq earlier this week. Specialist Michael Anaya died Sunday when a bomb exploded near his vehicle. A memorial will be held next Wednesday at 10am at the Main Post Chapel at Schofield Barracks.
• Merrie Monarch winners: 2009 Overall Winner: Ke Kai O Kahiki, 1,151 points. Overall Kane: Ke Kai O Kahiki, 1,151. Overall Wahine: Halau Na Mamo O Pu'uanahulu, 1,142. Best Wahine Kahiko: Halau Na Mamo O Pu'uanahulu, 564. Best Kane Kahiko: Ke Kai O Kahiki, 567. Best Wahine 'Auana: Hula Halau 'O Kamuela, 583. Best Kane 'Auana: Halau Na Mamo O Pu'uanahulu, 590.
• Molokai Ranch: A year after closure, times are hard but spirit is alive.
• HANALEI — A visitor’s rent-a-Hummer burst into flames late Saturday afternoon at Lumaha‘i Beach after he reportedly got stuck driving in the sand.