Ideas welcome for new Gulf War Memorial

The Hawaii Gulf War Memorial Task Force is soliciting the public’s input as to what a new memorial should look like.

The task force has scheduled a public hearing for 1 p.m. Friday at the state Capitol, room 309.

Hawaii’s Office of Veterans Services was tasked to develop a plan that provides tangible and visible recognition of the sacrifices and contributions of veterans from Hawaii who served in the Persian Gulf War, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation New Dawn, the global war on terrorism, Homeland Defense and Operation Noble Eagle.

The Departments of Accounting and General Services, Defense, and the state Historic Preservation Division are also helping establish the new memorial.

Astronomers fear harm to research from shutdown

KAILUA-KONA » Astronomers at Mauna Kea and other sites in the nationwide system of 10 radio telescopes are trying to determine how much damage has been done to their research during the government shutdown.

Dale Frail, director of the Very Long Baseline Array, told West Hawaii Today that the impact to measurements will be difficult to assess.

With Earth in motion, the telescopes must work within precise windows of time to make measurements. Frail said he has lost a year’s worth of research on the motions of spiral arms of galaxies and nearby neutron stars.

Budget accord allows reopening of Kauai refuge

The Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge on Kauai reopened Friday after the resolution of the budget battles in Congress.

The wildlife refuge, maintained by the U.S. Department of Interior, closed Oct. 1.

"We are very pleased to be able to open our gates once again and let the public enjoy the natural treasures of the National Wildlife Refuges here on Kauai," said Shannon Smith, project leader for the Kauai National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

Man gets 5 years in assault after changing plea

A Lihue man was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday after he was accused of assaulting a woman with his fists and a pipe in February 2010.

Alfred Paul Lopez Jr., 49, last week changed his plea to no contest on one count of first-degree terroristic threatening, a class C felony, the Garden Island reported.

Lopez, whose family said crystal methamphetamine made him violent, has been in custody for years due to various motions relating to his fitness for trial and his unwillingness to meet with lawyers or doctors.