Togiola Tulafono, the governor of American Samoa, was in Honolulu yesterday when the tsunami hit. Tulafono last night was preparing to board a Coast Guard C-130 cargo plane out of Kalaeloa filled with generators, food and water and return home,

An estimated 15,080 Hawaii residents were pushed into poverty last year, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report. Hawai'i was one of only eight states with significant increases in the ranks of the poor during a year of recessionary pressure.

Parent organizations with several public schools say they plan to push forward with operating child care programs at rented school facilities despite education officials advising them of potential ethical or legal issues.