August 29, 2018

On Sunday, August 26, an all-star baseball team from Honolulu, Hawaii, won the Little League World Series by defeating a team from Seoul, South Korea, 3-0. The Little League World Series is a competition played each year in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, among kids aged 11 to 13. The tournament, first played in 1947, includes 16 Little League teams from the United States and the rest of the world. Little League Baseball is the world’s largest organized youth-sports program, with nearly 180,000 teams.

The Honolulu Little League all-stars flash the traditional Hawaiian shaka “hang loose” hand greeting after winning the 2018 Little League World Series on Aug. 26, 2018. Credit: Courtesy of Little League Baseball and Softball

The ballplayers from Honolulu Little League dominated the final at South Williamsport’s Howard J. Lamade Stadium. Starting pitcher Ka’olu Holt went the distance, limiting the South Koreans to just two hits and no runs over the game’s six innings. Holt fanned eight batters and surrendered just one walk. On the offensive side, Honolulu first baseman Mana Lau Kong homered on the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning, igniting a boisterous Hawaii dugout. Seoul starter Yeong Hyeon Kim settled in after that, but he was the victim of his own lack of control in the bottom of the third. With the bases loaded on a hit and two walks, a wild pitch allowed Honolulu’s Zachary Won to score from third base, and an errant throw on the play brought Taylin Oana home from second to make the score 3-0. Hawaii played flawless defense, and Holt recorded the final out in the sixth on a swinging strikeout.

2018 Little League Baseball World Series.
Credit: © Little League Baseball

After a joyful celebration in front of the pitcher’s mound, members of the Honolulu team thanked their South Korean opponents. They then raced to the center field wall to rub the bronze bust of the stadium’s namesake, Howard J. Lamade—a longstanding tradition for the winning team. (Lamade was a Pennsylvania newspaper publisher and a key figure in the early years of Little League Baseball.)

The Honolulu all-stars rolled through the United States bracket of the tournament, winning all five of their games by a combined score of 26-3, including a 3-0 win over Peachtree City (Georgia) American Little League to reach the World Series final. The championship was the third for the state of Hawaii: the Ewa Beach team took the title in 2005, and the little leaguers from Waipio won it all in 2008. The Seoul, South Korea, squad fought through the tough international tournament, edging the all-stars from Kawaguchi, Japan, 2-1 to reach the final. South Korean teams previously won the Little League World Series in 1984, 1985, and 2014. The 2018 tournament’s 32 games drew a total of nearly 500,000 fans.

December 7, 2016

Today, December 7, marks the 75^th anniversary of the Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack officially drew the United States into World War II (1939-1945). Thousands of people have attended events that began last week at Pearl Harbor, capped by today’s headline ceremony at Kilo Pier attended by survivors of the attack and a number of dignitaries. The U.S. Navy co-hosted events with the National Park Service, with support from the city and county of Honolulu, the state of Hawaii, the governor’s office, Hawaiian members of Congress, and other branches of the U.S. military.

Events today at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, recall the Japanese attack 75 years ago on Dec. 7, 1941. The World War II battleship USS Missouri sits in the right foreground. The white Arizona memorial is at left. Credit: National Park Service

Events this morning at Pearl Harbor begin precisely at 7:50 a.m. local time (12:50 p.m. Eastern Time), the moment the first Japanese planes hit nearby Hickam Field on Dec. 7, 1941. Following events today include the laying of a wreath at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii, the ringing of the Freedom Bell at the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, a band performance at the Battleship Missouri Memorial, a four-team college basketball tournament, ceremonies at the USS Oklahoma Memorial on Ford Island, and ceremonies at Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Army Airfield honoring the U.S. Army and its 25th Infantry Division. A private interment ceremony will take place at the USS Arizona Memorial, where the ashes of two Arizona survivors who recently passed away will be buried with their comrades who died in the ship 75 years ago. A memorial parade down Honolulu’s Kalakaua Avenue and a closing ceremony will finish the day’s formal events.

The poignant USS Arizona Memorial sits above the sunken remains of the battleship itself. Of the ship’s 1,511 crew members, 1,177 died in the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Credit: National Park Service

On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. Two waves of Japanese warplanes sank several U.S. ships, including four battleships. They also destroyed more than 180 U.S. aircraft. The Japanese killed 2,400 Americans but lost only about 100 of their own troops. The attack was a success for Japan at the time. But bringing the United States into the war proved disastrous for Japan and its citizens. The attack on Pearl Harbor has since become one of the iconic moments in U.S. history.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was a key event in U.S. history. Following the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on the U.S. naval base, the United States declared war on Japan and formally entered World War II (1939-1945). Credit: © AP Photo

September 13, 2013

A pipeline running from storage tanks to ships in Honolulu Harbor in Hawaii ruptured on September 9, spilling up to 233,000 gallons (882 million cubic meters) of molasses into the bay. Divers report that the spill has turned Honolulu Harbor into an environmental disaster area, with thousands upon thousands of fish and other marine creatures dead from suffocation. Because the molasses is heavier than water, it is settling to the ocean floor, displacing oxygen-rich water that marine life need to breath, said Keith Korsmeyer, professor of biology at Hawaii Pacific University.

The shipping company that owns the pipeline, Matson Navigation, has issued a statement regretting the spill but contending that there is nothing it can do to clean up the mess. Molasses is a sugar product that, unlike oil, will dissolve over time. However, scientists expect that the dissolved sugar will encourage the growth of bacteria, resulting in blooms (dense populations) that will also sap oxygen from the water. “This is the worst environmental damage to sea life that I have come across, and it’s fair to say this is a biggie, if not the biggest that we’ve had to confront in the state of Hawaii,” Gary Gill, deputy director for the Environmental Health Division of the U.S. Health Department, stated in an interview with Honolulu’s NBC affiliate, KHNL.

Honolulu is Hawaii’s capital, largest city, and chief port. Its main urban area, shown here, is on the southeastern coast of the island of Oahu. Diamond Head, a famous extinct volcano, rises in the background. (© Corbis/SuperStock)

Marine biologists worry that the fish die-off will lure such predators as sharks, barracuda, and eels into the harbor and into neighboring Keehi Lagoon, a major recreational area. Health officials in Hawaii warned swimmers, snokelers, and surfers to stay out of the waters near the harbor. Molasses is manufactured at Hawaii’s last sugar cane plantation and is transported by ship to the mainland.

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• Eutrophication
• Water pollution