Sen. Josh Green not taking top doc post, Oahu property values stable, Maui County clerk at top of payroll, Hawaii Kai school fights closure, Abercrombie names more Cabinet heads, more news from the Hawaiian Islands

According to AAA the average for a gallon of gas at the pump in Hawaii is $3.46. That's up about 6 cents from just a week ago and about 23 cents from this time last year. Hawaii News Now.

Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann returned to City Hall this morning. KHON2.

For his official portrait, former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann posed in front of his office desk of five years. Star-Advertiser.

Oahu properties have largely maintained their value through the past year, allowing city officials to breathe a sigh of relief that the revenue will keep flowing even as the city faces an anticipated $100 million shortfall in next year's $1.8 billion operating budget. Star-Advertiser.

New figures released by the City Wednesday show that overall, residential property values across Oahu increased point-4-percent based on the city's real property assessments for 2011. KHON2.

Federal authorities intend to impose less onerous temporary flight restrictions while President Obama and his family are vacationing in Kailua. Associated Press.

United Continental announced Wednesday the company will resume direct flights from the West Coast to Hilo International Airport beginning next June. Hawaii News Now.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie named two more department heads and said he is "on the cusp" of completing his Cabinet with the final two nominees: attorney general and health director. Star-Advertiser.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie promised swift action to bring back all Hawaii inmates serving sentences in mainland prisons in light of a new lawsuit alleging their mistreatment by guards at an Arizona facility. Star-Advertiser.

Neil Abercrombie's New Day plan calls for stopping the practice of sending prisoners out of state. Civil Beat.

Sen. Josh Green looks forward to staying in Senate. Hawaii Reporter.

The state Ethics Commission says it's selected Leslie Kondo to be its new executive director. Associated Press.

Carrying signs that read "Save our School," more than 400 angry parents and community members came out last night to oppose proposals that would close one of two high-performing Hawaii Kai elementary schools, saying both campuses give students a high-quality learning environment and that closing either of them would go against efforts to improve Hawaii's public education. Star-Advertiser.

Leona Rocha-Wilson, the newly elected Maui District representative on the state Board of Education, will serve as vice chairwoman of the board's Committee on Curriculum Instruction and Student Support. Maui News.

State dam inspectors said a dam above Haleiwa did not fail during heavy rains two years ago, although it was heavily damaged. KITV4.

Mayor-elect Alan Arakawa has chosen Maui County Council Member Jo Anne Johnson as his administration's transportation director. Maui News.

A pay raise that County Clerk Peter Nakamura received a year ago based on a Salary Commission recommendation and the Kaua‘i County Council’s approval put him at the top of the county’s pay roll, surpassing the salary of Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. Garden Island.

Since Dec. 1 when a majority of the Kaua‘i County Council appointed Peter Nakamura to continue serving as county clerk, some officials have remained embroiled in a controversy that stems in large part over their interpretation of the County Charter. Garden Island.

"Without a doubt, the number one issue and priority is to deal with the upcoming budget," noted Dominic Yagong, "This is my sixth term, and without a doubt, I know that this is going to be the toughest budget that the county has ever had to deal with." Big Island Weekly.

Hawaii will receive $425,000 from a $21 million settlement with Dannon Co. Inc. over the company's health claims for its Activia yogurt and DanActive dairy drink. Associated Press.

The Gas Company is trying more environmentally friendly ways to produce natural gas. KITV4.

A judge has ruled in favor of a lender in a foreclosure suit on a former Pacific Northwest logger who attempted to turn the former Haina sugar mill in Honokaa into a sawmill. Tribune-Herald.

A request for a special permit to build a condo at Lyman's surf spot goes back before the Leeward Planning Commission today. West Hawaii Today.

The Hawaii Crop Improvement Association (HCIA), a nonprofit trade association, recently announced the impressive growth of the seed industry in our state –estimated at more than $220 million and growing at a rate of 26 percent every year. Honolulu Weekly.

The relationship between humans and honeybees is ancient, as demonstrated by cave paintings in Spain, South Africa, and Nepal, depicting honey hunters collecting honey from wild hives. Molokai Dispatch.

A young couple draped in a blue beach tarp huddle together under a tent on the beach—their infant child held close. For many, it’s not the usual Nativity scene. Hawaii Independent.

Gas prices higher, UH faculty ratifies contract, tourism rebound slow, surf's up, more Hawaii news

Hawai'i drivers are probably paying more at the pump than they would have been if the state's controversial gasoline price cap had not been suspended in 2006.

A recovery in Hawaii's visitor industry, the state's top economic engine, is at least two years out despite improved performance in December and a respectable year-end finish.

A high-surf warning is in effect for most north- and west-facing shores of the state.

After months of contentious negotiations, UH professors overwhelmingly ratified a six-year contract yesterday that cuts costs for the university in the short term to tackle mounting fiscal woes, but also restores a 6.7 percent pay reduction after 18 months, promises lump-sum payments to reimburse money lost in the pay cuts and includes something in the last two years of the agreement that workers don't hear a lot these days — a pay increase.

Unionized faculty at the 10 University of Hawaii campuses have ratified a new contract that cuts their pay by about 6.7 percent over the next 18 months but returns the money lost over the course of the six-year agreement.

The votes are in, and the University of Hawaii's Professional Assembly has overwhelming voted to ratify a new contract with UH.

W.H. Shipman Ltd. has gone to court to stop an adult video and lingerie store from operating in a shopping center across from Keaau Middle School on the Big Island.

Hawaii will soon see a lot of red, in its blue territory. On Wednesday, the Republican National Committee (RNC) kicks off its winter meeting in Waikiki.

A state House committee on Tuesday gave first-round approval to two proposals to try to reduce a tax hike many businesses said will either force them to close or to lay off more employees.

The Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce has weighed in on a bill that seeks to address a drastic increase in unemployment insurance tax rates, as well as drafted its own legislation that it hopes will gain support.

Ten percent of Hawaii County's workforce was unemployed in November, the most recent month for which the numbers are available, according to the county's Research and Development Department.

It took some getting used to recycling, but now the Big Island is the No. 1 county user of the Hawaii Deposit Beverage Container Program, said officials from Hawaii County's Department of Environmental Management.

For a while, Maui's weather has been going through warm-and-cool, hazy-and-clear cycles characteristic of El Nino conditions, according to Glenn James, senior weather analyst with the Pacific Disaster Center in Kihei.

The Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative Board of Directors on Tuesday approved three resolutions necessary for the co-op’s application for a $168 million loan to fund numerous projects in coming years.

Shark tours, plastic bag bans moving forward, Hawaii residents buckle up, pay less for gas

A proposal moving through the City Council makes it illegal to operate shark tours on O'ahu.

Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. signaled his support for a stalled bill that would outlaw plastic checkout bags at retail stores across Kaua‘i, sending a letter to the Kaua‘i County Council that counters business community opposition that caused a deferral last week.

Hawai'i's seat belt usage tops the nation again and more people are buckling up here then ever before, the state Department of Transportation said yesterday.

Drivers in Hawaii aren't paying the highest gas prices in the nation anymore. That unwanted honor now goes to Alaska.

Alternative energy projects such as wind farms and solar power plants would be exempt from property taxes under a proposal passed by the Honolulu City Council.

Hawaii Mayor Billy Kenoi's administration and the County Council were looking at ways to increase revenue and cut costs even before Kenoi's announcement that next year's budget could be short $44.8 million.

Mayor Billy Kenoi met with his top officials Monday, telling them to prepare for "deep and painful" budget cuts.

A Hawaii County Council committee on Tuesday recommended the council not pass a bill designed to add another layer of transparency when the county sells real property.

Maui Planning Commission members recommended Tuesday returning a major development at Olowalu to the Maui Island Plan and restoring the Pulelehua housing project in West Maui to its full size.

Top Hawaii Headlines: Wednesday morning edition

Hawaii drivers soon will be paying the highest taxes on gas in the country, about 62 cents a gallon.

Two weeks before the price of fuel is expected to jump by about a dime in extra taxes, the statewide average for a gallon of gasoline hit the $3 mark.

Gov. Linda Lingle told state workers yesterday to expect massive layoffs as early as July 1 if they don't accept furloughs. But the public worker unions went to Circuit Court to fight the threatened furloughs.

Three public-sector labor unions filed legal challenges yesterday against Gov. Linda Lingle's plans to furlough state workers, while the governor said she has instructed state department directors to draft layoff options as an alternative if furloughs are blocked in court.

Hawai'i's elementary and middle school students not only lag behind their national counterparts but are also outperformed by their peers in many Asian countries and parts of Europe, according to a new international grading index.

Taxes and a little confusion led the debate as the Maui County Council's Budget and Finance Committee on Tuesday began the heated and tricky process of potentially raising property taxes for bed-and-breakfast and transient vacation rental owners.

A Kona woman who killed one woman and injured two men in a drunken driving collision in 2006 will be released from prison after serving only 18 months of a 10-year sentence in prison

The state Legislature chose not to enact the Department of Land and Natural Resources' proposed Recreational Renaissance plan, but department chairwoman Laura Thielen is working on a backup approach that may accomplish some of the same maintenance and improvement goals.

The public is invited to weigh in this week and next on the environmental impacts of the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope.

Hawaii County's main office building is going high-tech.