(AP). State health officials report a fourth death in Hawaii associated with swine flu. The state health department said the man in his early 50s died July 19 at a Big Island hospital. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the islands’ swine flu county has risen to 1,424.
(AP). A state judge says the Hawaii County Council vilated the state’s open-government law by privately discussing a reogranization plan. The judge issued a temporary restraining order, forbidding the council from doing business. But he delayed the start of the order until August 5 to give the council time to rectify the situation. Council members will meet August 4 in Hilo to correct the violation of the sunshine law.
(AP). The state says budget cuts are forcing it to close the Kulani Correctional Center on the Big Island. The 123 inmates will be transferred to other facilities in the state. The prison will be turned into a campus for the Hawaii Yuth Challenge Academy.
(Honolulu Advertiser). A Japanese father and son team has won the 50th Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament off Kailua-Kona. Captain Kihachiro Suzuki and Tetsuzo Suzuki of Kona Game Fishing Club–Bellhope scored 1,643 points with five Pacific Blue Marlin and one ahi. Old South Marlin Club #4 of North Carolina was second with 1,550 points. Sam Spinello from Australia had the biggest catch, a 567 pound Pacific Blue Marlin on Wednesday. Forty-one teams competed in the five-day tournament.