A variety of topics interested the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s online readers this year, from tragedy to potentially devastating storms to bizarre tales of a professional golfer who allegedly visited a strip club before being beaten and robbed. Here are the top 10 most-read online stories of 2015.
1. Kauai veterinarian/reality TV star dies
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Scott Sims, the barefoot veterinarian from Kauai who turned his love of animals into a reality show, died after just one season of filming “Aloha Vet” on Nat Geo WILD. Sims died in July at age 59 after a two-month fight with bladder cancer.
2. Popular Bubbies ice cream shop closes
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Bubbies closed its University Avenue store in October after 30 years when its lease at the Varsity Center ended. The popular ice cream parlor opened on Coyne Street on March 25, 1985, and manufactured its own products, one flavor at a time, in the rear of the store.
3. Marine dies in Bellows crash
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One Marine died after an MV-22 Osprey aircraft crashed at Bellows Air Force Station in Waimanalo during a routine training exercise in May. Twenty-one other military personnel were sent to three Oahu hospitals with varying degrees of injury. The Marines were attached to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California.
4. Tsunami advisory canceled for state
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State officials canceled a tsunami advisory in September after Hawaii saw minor sea-level changes and wave height increases resulting from a magnitude 8.3 earthquake off Chile. After the strong earthquake hit, officials immediately issued a tsunami watch followed by a statewide advisory, closing Hanauma Bay and coastal areas around the state.
5. Kilo may become tropical storm
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Forecasters in the Central Pacific Hurricane Center warned in August that tropical depression Kilo might once again become a tropical storm. At the time, Kilo was about 570 miles southwest of Honolulu with maximum sustained winds of 35 miles per hour.
6. Pedestrian struck by Kauai police car dies
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A pedestrian died in January after a Kauai police officer responding to a crash struck the victim a second time. The victim, who died at Wilcox Memorial Hospital, was not identified. The police officer was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
7. Men seriously injured in shark attacks
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Two separate shark attacks in waters off Oahu seriously injured two men within eight hours in October. A 32-year-old male was in serious condition after being attacked by a shark off Waikiki, and a 44-year-old man was injured in an attack off Lanikai. The incidents were the sixth and seventh shark attacks in Hawaii waters in 2015.
8. U.S. Soccer match at Aloha Stadium canceled
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The USA women’s soccer friendly with Trinidad and Tobago at Aloha Stadium was canceled in December because of poor field conditions — particularly in the bench area where the two football teams stand during the game. The team called off the match because they didn’t want to play on the stadium’s synthetic surface.
9. Tropical storm shifts closer to islands
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The Central Pacific Hurricane Center warned in August that the islands could experience tropical storm-force winds of 39 mph or higher as Tropical Storm Guillermo moved closer to Hawaii. All islands were under a flash-flood watch and east shores of Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai were under a high-surf warning with expected waves of 10 to 15 feet.
10. Golfer reportedly runs up tab at strip club
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GolfChannel.com reported in January that Australian pro golfer Robert Allenby ran up a $3,400 bar tab at Club Femme Nu the night he was allegedly kidnapped. Allenby, who missed the cut at the Sony Open on Jan. 16, previously said he was drugged, kidnapped, thrown into a car trunk and dumped 6 1/2 miles away in a park. Allenby maintained he didn’t remember the ordeal.
