Mayor Mufi Hannemann's likely bid to become governor picked up some early neighbor island support with yesterday's endorsement by the ILWU, but his Democratic opponent, former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, is urging Hannemann to stay put.

Mona Rodarte watched state authorities take away her third baby a few months ago, and the trauma was enough to motivate her to consider Project Prevention's offer to pay her $300 to get sterilized or start using long-term birth control.

The Honolulu Police Department suspended yesterday a pilot program that put the names and mug shots of drunken-driving suspects on a Web page once a week.

A memorial service for Cec Heftel, former Hawaii congressman and broadcast industry leader, will be held March 28 at Hawaii Theatre. The public is invited to attend.

The Portuguese and Puerto Ricans did backbreaking work as contract laborers on the sugar plantations in Hawaii more than a century ago, and their descendants rose as entrepreneurs and politicians and were key in the expansion of the Catholic Church in Hawaii.

City ocean safety officials have issued a box jellyfish advisory for Oahu beaches through noon today.

Counties would have the authority to impose fireworks bans under a proposal adopted by the state House yesterday.

The Federal Trade Commission announced yesterday that LifeLock, an identity theft protection company, agreed to pay $11 million to settle claims with its customers and $1 million to 35 states, including Hawaii.

Stop the presses! That fruit overhanging into your property does belong to you, at least in Hawaii.

One of the world's foremost experts on comparing national school systems told members of Congress yesterday that many other countries were surpassing the United States in educational attainment.

ROME » Defending itself against a growing child sexual abuse scandal in Europe, one that has even come close to the brother of Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican said Tuesday that local European churches had addressed the issue with "timely and decisive action."

In just a couple of months, Master Sgt. William Chang and other Hawaii Air National Guard members have collected and distributed more than 450 soccer balls to Iraqi children on the streets.

Tax exemptions worth an estimated $56 million would be chopped if the Legislature adopts a plan already approved by the state House.

House lawmakers completed their first attempt at closing a $1.2 billion budget deficit, passing a supplemental operating budget that trims $41 million from the governor's proposed spending plan.

Project Prevention, a national organization that pays drug addicts and alcoholics $300 cash to get sterilized or use long-term birth control, will be in Honolulu for the first time today, tomorrow and Thursday in an ongoing effort to eradicate substance-exposed births.

Detective Paul Nagata Jr.'s father played a cop on the original "Hawaii Five-0." Now Paul Jr. is anxiously awaiting word whether he'll be able to carry on from Paul Sr., a retired Honolulu police sergeant, by landing a part in a pilot of the upcoming CBS-TV remake of the iconic series.