A Village Park man accused of 24 counts of sexual assault has been charged and his bail set at $1 million.

With an estimated 9.2 million Hispanic voters poised to play a critical role in November, John McCain and Barack Obama each pledged yesterday to make overhauling immigration laws a priority as they courted influential Hispanic leaders who could be pivotal in key swing states like Florida.

How Hawai'i Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Mazie K. Hirono and Sens. Daniel Akaka and Daniel K. Inouye voted in key legislation last week:

Although he has yet to attract a serious challenger for the fall mayoral election, Mayor Mufi Hannemann greeted supporters and declared himself "ready to rumble" yesterday at the opening of his campaign headquarters.

The interesting thing about sky-watching is that although the seasonal constellations are predictable, what you may see at any particular time is not. Planetary movement and other recurring events take place on different cycles from the background of stars, so we can't always count on seeing the same combination of sights in the sky at the same times. That's what keeps me in business.

An al-Qaida in Iraq front organization yesterday claimed responsibility for an attack Thursday by a suicide bomber that killed 20 people in Anbar province, including three Kane'ohe Bay Marines, as the U.S. military stepped up pressure on extremists in northern Iraq.

A Hawaiian monk seal thought to have swallowed a fish hook and brought to O'ahu for surgery didn't need the operation after all.

The commanding officer of a Hawai'i-based battalion of more than 1,000 Marines and sailors died Thursday in Iraq in an attack that also killed two other Kane'ohe Marines, the military said yesterday.

flASHback — Baggage checks and snoozy wrecks lead off as we plant tongue in cheek and "flASHback" on the weekly news that amused and confused: