Minimum-wage increase coming Oct. 1

LIHU‘E — Hawai‘i’s minimum wage will rise to $12 per hour on Oct. 1, and then will go up by $2 every other year until it reaches $18 per hour on Jan. 1, 2028.

3 displaced by Banyan Harbor fire Monday

NAWILIWILI — Kaua‘i Fire Department firefighters extinguished a structure fire that broke out in a Banyan Harbor unit on Monday that left three people from two units displaced.

R. Kelly convicted of child porn, enticing girls for sex

CHICAGO — A federal jury in Chicago convicted R. Kelly on Wednesday of producing child pornography and enticing girls for sex after a monthlong trial in his hometown, delivering another legal blow to the Grammy Award winning singer who was once one of the world’s biggest R&B stars.

Ukrainian flag raised in retaken city after Russian retreat

IZIUM, Ukraine — Hand on heart, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy watched his country’s flag rise Wednesday above the recaptured city of Izium, making a rare foray outside the capital that highlights Moscow’s embarrassing retreat from a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

A new space race? China adds urgency to US return to moon

WASHINGTON — It’s not just rocket fuel propelling America’s first moonshot after a half-century lull. Rivalry with China’s flourishing space program is helping drive NASA’s effort to get back into space in a bigger way, as both nations push to put people back on the moon and establish the first lunar bases.

China, Russia, Central Asia leaders hold security summit

BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and leaders from India and Central Asian nations headed to Uzbekistan on Thursday for a summit of a security group formed by Beijing and Moscow as a counterweight to U.S. influence.

UN chief and Russia’s Putin discuss war in Ukraine

UNITED NATIONS — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday about exporting Russian fertilizer through Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to address a growing global food crisis that threatens multiple famines.

Fatal Hawaii ambulance fire linked to oxygen device

HONOLULU — Preliminary findings from an investigation into an ambulance fire that killed a patient and injured a paramedic last month show the blaze originated in an oxygen device that is routinely used, officials in Hawaii said Wednesday.

Sailor killed at Pearl Harbor is laid to rest, at last

CHICAGO — A 21-year-old sailor was laid to rest Tuesday following a decades-long effort to identify remains pulled from Pearl Harbor, more than 80 years after he was killed in the attack that propelled the United States into World War II.

Candidates come out for Lihu‘e coffee hour

LIHU‘E — There were more candidates in the general election than kupuna who showed up for the Tuesday coffee hour coordinated by Pam Jardin of the Lihu‘e Neighborhood Center seniors.

Operation Christmas Child packs first shoe boxes

LIHU‘E — More than 3,840 shoe boxes for the 2022 Operation Christmas Child were distributed Saturday during a church and community group leadership gathering at the Kaua‘i Veterans Center, the new home for Operation Christmas Child.

Kaua‘i runners strong at cross country invitational

PUHI — Kaua‘i High senior Brennen Corregedore, coming off a strong finish in the Kaua‘i Half Marathon last week, set the pace for the boys with a 17-minute, 17.94 second finish Saturday when the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation hosted an invitational cross country race at Island School, where the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association state meet will be held Oct. 29.