Kailua Kona News

"I lay down on the floor. But a rat came and bothered me, and shortly afterward a procession of cockroaches arrived and camped in my hair." Mark Twain's graphic description of life aboard a schooner off the Kona coast in 1866 did nothing to raise my expectations for an early morning cruise along the same coastline.

A 19-year-old Kona man who allegedly broke into several homes and stole items including vehicles and a retired police officer's retirement badge during a monthlong crime spree has been charged with 17 counts on the Big Island.

Big Island police arrested a 19-year-old Kona man in connection with a series of crimes committed in the Kailua-Kona area during October and November.

The body of an unidentified scuba diver reported missing Monday was recovered later that evening by Hawaii County fire personnel in waters off South Point.

Emergency teams on Tuesday morning battle a Kailua-Kona house fire and help treat an occupant of smoke inhalation.

Fire destroyed a single-family home in Kailua-Kona early today, according to the Hawaii County Fire Department.

The search for a missing fisherman off the Big Island has stretched into a second day and there's still no sign of the man.

KONA >> Wolf Farms has won the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival's Classic Cupping Competition.

The Hawai'i Police Department is investigating reports that teenagers were riding on the roofs of cars on Kaloko Drive in Kailua-Kona. Police have contacted the owner of one vehicle and are following leads in a second incident.

A 19-year-old Lahaina man died in a one-car crash early yesterday morning, Maui police said.

Alaska Airlines has launched service between California and Hawaii. Alaska today began service between Oakland and Kahului with four flights a week.

The Coast Guard cutter Galveston Island is escorting a 41-foot sailboat back to Kailua-Kona Harbor after five people spent the night aboard, tossed in rough seas about 50 miles west of the Big Island.

Admission is free and all proceeds go toward preserving the Queen Emma Summer Palace and Hulihea e Palace in Kailua-Kona. Queen Emma Summer Palace, 2913 Pali Hwy., Fri 11/6, 3pm-4pm, free, [ www.daughtersofhawaii.org ].

Ali'i Health Center in Kailua Kona, Hawaii, is completing implementation of integrated practice management and electronic health records software funded in part through a program of the state's Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan.

The 2009 Kona Coffee Cultural Festival will open this Friday, November 6, 2009 and run through Sunday, November 15, 2009.

Big Island police are seeking witnesses to a sexual assault early Sunday morning in Kailua-Kona. Police say a woman was waiting for a ride on Kuakini Highway around 1 a.m. when four men in their early 20s attacked her, injuring her face and neck.

Kailua, Kona-based Kona Blue Water Farms announced today that it has secured funding and is proceeding with development of a second mariculture farm in Mexico's Sea of Cortez.

'Huge cuts' will be required to balance the Hawaii County Police Department's budget next fiscal year, though police and county officials were shy of details Friday.

A 27-year-old Kona man driving a moped died early today in a crash involving three vehicles and the drivers of two of the vehicles were arrested on charges of neglgent homicide, Big Island police said.

A landmark church in Kailua-Kona that was severely shaken by the 2006 earthquake will be demolished next month to make way for a new $6 million church complex.