HONOLULU, Hawaii, July 28 -- The University of Hawaii issued the following news release: An asteroid discovered on July 20 by the University of Hawaii's Pan-STARRS1 telescope atop Haleakala will make a close pass of Earth on Monday, July 27. At its closest point, the asteroid will be only about 1.7 times the distance of the Moon. A short time after the July 20 discovery, the Center for Near-Earth Object (NEO) Studies at NASA issued a notification that it would likely come close to Earth. Severa more PR

HONOLULU, Hawaii, July 31 -- Hawaiian Electric issued the following news release: The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has issued a final decision that results in no increase in electric rates for Hawaiian Electric customers on Hawaii Island. The final determination follows an interim decision issued by regulators in November 2019. In that interim decision, regulators declined to approve the increase in revenues sought by the company and rates were held at their existing levels. A new elemen more PR

HONOLULU, Hawaii, July 31 -- Gov. David Ige, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release on July 30: Gov. David Ige notified the House and Senate that he will be making some modifications to SB126 with eight line-item vetoes. The primary concern is the federal government is requiring that all CARES funds must be expended by the end of the year. The state is waiting for the U.S. Congress to act on appropriate additional COVID-19 funding. Only then will the state have more clarity on what can or more PR

HONOLULU, Hawaii, July 28 -- Gov. David Ige, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: Governor David Ige and House Speaker Scott Saiki expressed their gratitude to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi for Hawaii being mentioned along with an exclusive list of 12 countries and regions that are being considered to resume safe international travel with Japan. Prime Minister Abe and Foreign Minister Motegi announced that international travel between Japan and the 12 more PR

HONOLULU, Hawaii, July 28 -- The University of Hawaii issued the following news release: Chronic diseases typically associated with middle age and older adulthood are common in young people needing hospital care in Hawaii, according to public health researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. More than a quarter of hospitalized youth and 12 percent of youth who visited an emergency department had at least one chronic condition such as diabetes, chronic kidney disease or high blood press more PR

HONOLULU, Hawaii, July 31 -- Hawaiian Electric issued the following news release: Hawaiian Electric crews will be working Monday through Thursday, Aug. 3-6, on Seaside Avenue from Kuhio Avenue to Aloha Drive. The work is being done to supply power to Centennial Park. On all four days, lane closures will be in place from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; parking restrictions, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. In addition to Seaside Avenue, the entrance to Manukai Street from Seaside will be closed, and motorists must  more PR

HONOLULU, Hawaii, July 29 -- Hawaiian Electric issued the following news release: Hawaiian Electric customers who are having difficulty paying their electric bill may qualify for assistance from a number of government programs and nonprofit agencies offering help to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Those programs include: * City & County of Honolulu - $25 Million CARES funding * COVID-19 Hardship Fund - up to $2,000 per month for 6 months for rent, mortgage or utilities * Administer more PR

HONOLULU, Hawaii, July 28 -- The University of Hawaii issued the following news release: The University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Social Sciences (CSS) and Interdisciplinary Studies are launching a new fully online bachelor's degree program called the Social Sciences of Oceans. Students will learn to understand and address the complex problems related to oceans and island societies. Major courses span the social sciences, including anthropology, economics, ethnic studies, geography and envi more PR

HONOLULU, Hawaii, July 31 -- The University of Hawaii issued the following news release: Perseverance, the most sophisticated rover NASA has ever sent to Mars, will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on July 30. Since being selected for the NASA instrument teams in 2014, three University of Hawai'i at Manoa scientists have been hard at work to develop, test and refine scientific instruments to search for clues about past life on Mars. Built at NASA's Jet Propulsion more PR

HONOLULU, Hawaii, July 29 -- The University of Hawaii issued the following news release: Once a preferred swimming pool of Hawaiian alii, the Kalauao Spring on the island of Oahu continues to supply millions of gallons of clean, fresh water to the Pearl Harbor region. Changes to the environment, climate and continued development of the surrounding areas have called into question its sustainability. The findings are part of research by University of Hawaii at Manoa researchers and Sumida Farm f more PR

HONOLULU, Hawaii, Aug. 1 -- The University of Hawaii issued the following news release: Small, bottom-dwelling reef fishes on the world's hottest coral reefs in the southern Arabian Gulf are much less diverse and abundant than on nearby reefs with less extreme temperatures. That is according to a study published in Nature Communications by an international team of researchers, including Jacob Johansen, an assistant research professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Hawaii Institute of Ma more PR

HONOLULU, Hawaii, July 29 -- The University of Hawaii issued the following news release: A University of Hawaii at Manoa researcher, in collaboration with a pharmaceutical company, has developed a vaccine candidate that shows promise in rapidly inducing immunity to the novel coronavirus in pre-clinical trials. Axel Lehrer, an assistant professor at the John A. Burns School of Medicine, is leading a team of scientists in the Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology more PR