Mandarin Oriental to open Honolulu hotel in 2020 ADVERTISING Mandarin Oriental to open Honolulu hotel in 2020 HONOLULU (AP) — The global luxury hotel chain Mandarin Oriental is returning to Hawaii with an agreement to operate a hotel and residential
Mandarin Oriental to open Honolulu hotel in 2020
HONOLULU (AP) — The global luxury hotel chain Mandarin Oriental is returning to Hawaii with an agreement to operate a hotel and residential apartments in a new Honolulu tower.
A Los Angeles-based investment bank, Salem Partners, said Monday the 36-story tower is scheduled to open in 2020.
It’s slated to be built next to Ala Moana Center.
The building will have 125 hotel rooms and more than 100 residences. The owners of the residential apartments will be able to use hotel services.
Mandarin Oriental previously operated a hotel in Kahala from 1994-2006.
Air Force eyes testing weapons in Kauai waters
LIHUE, Kauai (AP) — The U.S. Air Force wants to resume its weapons testing program at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, but some are concerned about the potential impacts on marine animals.
The Air Force in December filed a request seeking authorization for the testing from the National Marine Fisheries Service. A public comment period on the request ended Monday.
The five-year testing of mainly bombers and fighter aircraft would start in September. It would involve the detonation of a variety of missiles and other weapons about 50 miles offshore of Kauai.
The testing could cause sound or pressure-related problems for whales, dolphins and other marine mammals in the area.
Gordon LaBedz of Kauai’s whale education group Kohola Leo said the fight to prevent the Air Force from getting a federal permit likely will end up in court.
Cat missing for 15 years returns to Maui family
WAILUKU, Maui (AP) — A Maui woman was reunited with her cat that went missing about 15 years ago.
Tori Takayesu received a call last month saying her cat was found and was at the Maui Humane Society. The female cat, named James, was traced back to the Makawao resident through a number tattooed on her ear when she was spayed at the shelter years ago.
Takayesu said her family had James only for a short period of time before the animal disappeared in 2001.
When Takayesu received the Humane Society’s call Jan. 26, she said she wasn’t convinced the cat could be the pet she lost more than a decade ago. It wasn’t until she went to pick up James at the shelter last week she knew for sure.
“I did not believe this was my long-lost cat, that they would find her, that she would be in good shape, that she could come back to me,” Takayesu said. “It’s crazy.”
Takayesu was told James was found on a street not too far from her family’s home.
Now that James was reunited with the family, Takayesu said it’s “just like she never left.”
