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HONOLULU – President Barack Obama and his family just spent their Christmas and New Year’s holidays in Kailua. Now it’s time for taxpayers to pick up the tab. While the Obamas and friends who accompany them pay for their own private vacation home rentals on or near Kailua Beach, taxpayers foot a multimillion dollar tab for everything from a stand-by ambulance to the fuel for Air Force One.Local taxpayers pick up the bill for Honolulu Police Department escorts who guard Obama, first lady Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha around the clock. Figures just released by HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu...

HONOLULU (AP) — Since returning to his childhood home this month on vacation, President Barack Obama has spent a good part of most days cloistered with three people whose company puts him at ease. They're not his wife and daughters, who came with him, but a trio of pals whose friendship dates back to Obama's high school days in Hawaii. The three men — Mike Ramos, Bobby Titcomb and Greg Orme — are among the few people still in Obama's life who knew him long before he was famous. Although their paths have long since diverged, they've made it a...

Weather.com reported: Yes, there are blizzard warnings on Christmas Eve in Hawaii, where the two highest mountain peaks on the Big Island will see a White Christmas. Lower elevations will see thunderstorms and heavy rain and are under flash flood watches through this evening. There is also the risk of mudslides in steep terrain. Up to 7 inches of snow possible on Hawaii summits http://t.co/oJffrB28Ax

Vice President Joe Biden will attend the funeral of a slain NYPD officer, the White House announced. “The President has asked Vice President Biden to attend the service for Officer Rafael Ramos and is grateful that the Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden will be traveling to New York City to attend the service on Saturday. Additional details will be forthcoming from the Vice President’s office,” said spokesman Eric Schultz. The president was on the golf course, in Hawaii, when the announcement was made. He's scheduled to return to Washington on January 4.

Presidential Vacation In Hawaii Begins With An Obama Staple: Golf Obama In Hawaii President Obama's motorcade leaves his vacation residence in Kailua as he goes to play golf at nearby Marine Corps Base Hawaii. By MICHAEL A. MEMOLI A familiar start to President Obama's Hawaii vacation: golf Obama will spend more than two weeks in Hawaii for holiday getaway Far removed -- at least physically -- from the concerns of Washington, President Obama commenced the familiar rituals of his annual holiday getaway to his home state of Hawaii on Saturday, starting with a round of golf. Roughly 12 hours after...

The first family is returning to Hawaii for their seventh straight Christmas vacation, a 17-day break President Obama is “eagerly looking forward to.” The White House has announced that the president and his family with depart Washington on Friday and is expected to return Jan. 4. “On Friday, the first family will depart the White House en route to Honolulu, Hawaii — a flight that I know the president himself is eagerly looking forward to,” said spokesman Josh Earnest.

At the Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin this weekend highlighted a video of Rand Paul speaking in 2012 about sanctions on Iran. In it, Paul disparages the notion of use of force, and for some reason claims the United States was partly to blame for World War II! “There are times when sanctions have made it worse. I mean, there are times .. leading up to World War II we cut off trade with Japan. That probably caused Japan to react angrily. We also had a blockade on Germany after World War I, which may have encouraged them … some of...

Hawaii hopes it has an offer Honolulu-born President Barack Obama won’t be able to turn down. It hopes to build him a presidential library on the ocean, with a dramatic view of his hometown’s famed Diamond Head volcanic crater. The state’s abundant sunshine would generate solar power and support vegetable gardens on site. Hawaii officials predicted Thursday that the prime, 8-acre spot on a rocky shoreline between Waikiki and downtown Honolulu, combined with the state’s many tourists, would make the facility one of the nation's most heavily visited presidential centers. …

December 7, 1941 began as a perfect Sunday morning for the troops serving the US fleet at Pearl Harbor. Under a early morning South Pacific sun, softball teams were lining up on the beach. Pitchers warmed up their arms, while batting rosters were finalized and the wives and kids came over from seaside church services.

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii – The USS Arizona is one of the nation's most hallowed sites, an underwater grave for more than 900 sailors and Marines killed when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and sank their ship in 1941. Now, it's the scene of alleged rampant mismanagement. An internal report from the National Park Service, which operates a visitors' center for a memorial at the battleship, said tour companies sold tickets with the knowledge of park officials even though tickets are supposed to be free. Another pointed to substandard maintenance, including scuffed museum walls that languished unrepaired and bird feces that wasn't...

On Monday, a group of students and activists took down the American flag flying at main entrance of the University of Hawaii at Hilo, instead raising the Hawaiian flag that was beneath it. The action was related to what they say is the continued illegal occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom by the United States. The American flag that was taken down was folded and handed over to university administrators. The group then went over to do the same thing at the flag pole of Hawaii Community College in Hilo. While there, they encountered security.

When it came time for the US Senate to vote on the Keystone XL Pipeline, Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-LA) “clout” did not have much of an impact on fellow Democrat senators. In fact, 35 of the senators who voted against the project were given campaign cash by Landrieu since the 2008 election cycle. Take a look here at the list of senators who don’t seem to acknowledge Landrieu’s “clout.” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) $10,000 Sen. Richard Blumenthal (R-CT) $5,000 Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) $10,000 Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) $7,000 Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) $10,000 Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) $3,500 Sen....

The Arctic chill is gripping the Rockies and Upper Midwest — and it’s crawling east. Sharp drops in temperature are expected in other parts of the U.S. in the coming days, thanks to a powerful weather system that hit Alaska with hurricane-force winds over the weekend before blanketing several state ins snow. CBS News reports that all 50 states will see freezing temperatures. A look at the system and its effects: ___ THE LINGERING COLD Dangerously cold weather was expected to linger until Thursday in eastern Montana, where temperatures could reach as low as negative 30 degrees. Denver’s high was...

Democrat Brian Schatz easily won Hawaii's U.S. Senate race Tuesday, holding on to the seat he was appointed to after the 2012 death of longtime Sen. Daniel Inouye. Schatz was widely favored to win in heavily Democratic Hawaii against Republican Cam Cavasso in a special election to finish the two remaining years of Inouye's term. Polls ahead of Election Day showed Schatz ahead by a wide margin. Schatz was not immediately available for comment, and Cavasso declined to immediately comment, saying he was still optimistic.

US President Barack Obama has declared a slow-moving lava flow from the Pu'u O'o vent of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii to be a major disaster, the White House said. The declaration frees up federal money to help protect local communities from the lava flow, which began moving toward homes on the big island of Hawaii on June 27 and is threatening Pahoa village.

Lawsuit Challenges Legality of Senate Special Election From Text of Lawsuit filed October 31, 2014 ...Plaintiffs bring this action challenging the election being conducted by Defendant Nago and the State of Hawaii Office of Elections in relation to filling the vacancy caused by Senator Daniel K. Inouye's death as unconstitutional under the Seventeenth Amendment because the election is not pursuant to a writ of election issued by the Governor and because Defendant Nago's proclamation states that the candidate elected at the special general election to fill the vacancy shall not take office until January 3, 2015. Despite the passage of...

A powerful earthquake in Alaska sent towering waves up to 30 feet (9 meters) tall crashing down on Hawaii about 500 years ago, leaving behind fragments of coral, mollusk shells and coarse beach sand in a sinkhole located on the island of Kauai, new research finds. The quake, likely a magnitude 9.0, sent the mighty waves toward Hawaii sometime between 1425 and 1665, the study found. It's possible that another large Alaskan earthquake could trigger a comparable tsunami on Hawaii's shores in the future, experts said. The tsunami was at least three times the size of the damaging 1946 tsunami,...

Half of all the Democratic women in the U.S. Senate are featured in a new video voicing their support for Kentucky Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes. The video, released Thursday after first being shown at Grimes’ event with Hillary Clinton Wednesday evening, shows six women in the U.S. Senate saying “Shatter the glass. Break the ceiling. It’s time for Alison!” Of the twelve women in the Senate Democratic caucus, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Patty Murray (D-WA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) are shown...

Here is something you don’t see every day, a satellite image showing a sizable amount of snow cover on the big island of Hawaii. While snowfall on the big island is nothing new, commonly seen on the mountains on Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, (top and bottom arrows respectively in the photo) seeing snow this early in the season on the mounatins is somewhat rare.

Honolulu, Hawaii, city officials have ended a plan to rename a beach after President Obama, who was born and grew up there. Two Honolulu City Council members proposed renaming Sandy Beach Park after President Obama; however, residents strongly came out against the proposal. From the AP: The beach is a popular [sic] for bodysurfing on Oahu’s east side. It was a favorite for the president as he grew up. He bodysurfed there while on vacation during his 2008 campaign. Martin says in a statement that he heard historic and cultural sensitivity concerns from the community about the name change. He...