Island Chevrolet general sales manager James Severtson arranged for a Chevrolet Suburban SUV outfitted with massive tires costing $5,000 apiece to drive over a Honda Accord.

On the first attempt Friday, the monster truck blew a hydraulic hose and leaked vital fluid while the Honda remained intact and ready for more.

President-elect Barack Obama and his family arrived Saturday in his native Hawaii for a holiday vacation set to be interrupted with the release of an internal investigation about his aides' roles in allegations of public corruption.

A 15.9 percent decline in visitor arrivals in November plunged the year-to-date performance for the state's visitor industry to its worst recorded 11-month level and may have put it on track to experience its worst year, in terms of percentage decline, since the Great Depression.

Just beyond the defunct Koloa Sugar Mill on the Hawaiian island of Kauai's south shore are acres of cornfields that have sprouted over the past decade in a state made famous by its pineapples, bananas and sugarcane crops.

Recent developments indicate a rapidly approaching day of reckoning for the long-standing offense of the illegal occupation of Hawaii by the United States. The consequences will not only affect the U.S. and Hawaii but will have significant international impact as well.

The four banks are weathering the financial storm by avoiding subprime lending, maintaining their conservative practices and keeping in mind the region's long-lasting economic downturn in the 1990s. That's when the Japanese financial bubble burst and so did all the frenzied, speculative buying by international investors that inflated real estate prices in Hawaii.

A California company, recognizing that Hawaii's geographic advantages - and limitations - make it a practical fit for one of its initial systems, has announced plans to put in as many as 100,000 stations where drivers can replenish power for electric vehicles.

However, reducing consumption of oil and decreasing greenhouse gases cannot be achieved unless electricity in the islands is generated by renewable sources, which might be years and billions of dollars away.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning the public about a scam targeting families facing foreclosure. Local banks and homeowners have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to investigators. The FBI began tracking the schemes aimed mainly at Native Hawaiians, on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island a few months ago.

"They have been approached in person. They've been approached by storefront signs. They've been approached on the internet and they've been approached through friends of friends," said FBI spokesman Brandon Simpson.

With less than two weeks left, Hawaii is experiencing one of the quietest hurricane seasons ever, with only one storm on record so far.

While a late-season cyclone is always possible, as with Hurricane Iwa in November 1982, forecasters say they do not expect any major storms to arrive before the season ends Nov. 30.

Voters passed a ballot measure that would direct police to take a hands-off approach to the adult personal use of marijuana.

With all precincts reporting, the measure passed 53.1 percent (35,329 votes) to 38.6 percent (25,658 votes).

Voters were asked whether the Police Department should regard marijuana as the lowest law enforcement priority.

Hawaii approaches Nov. 4 with great anticipation. After all, the Honolulu-born Barack Obama may just become the next President of the United States. But there is something else on the ballot that makes a lot of locals uneasy: the chance to rewrite the state's charter by starting up a constitutional convention. Hawaii is one of three states (the others being Illinois and Connecticut) with the issue of rewriting its constitution on the ballot. And it is also the object lesson for all who'd like to do so.

The Army plans to closely examine but not yet remove hundreds of World War II-era chemical bombs deep in the ocean off Oahu. Officials also plan to test underwater robots to clear conventional weapons from shallower waters near shore.

Some residents say they'd warned the caretaker, Daniel Cunningham, a former candidate for Mayor, about the dangerous living conditions.

"We kept telling Daniel he doesn't comply with the people, what the tenants say how unsafe it is. With the building inspectors, they told him take it down, take it down he didn't want to listen to them," said Holly Nojima, a former tennant.

"He's all about taking people's money he don't care. I seen him collect people's rent then kick them out the next day," said Clay.

Six families facing eviction in Kahana Valley will not be forced out of their homes Monday. Police were expected to clear out the park by 6 a.m. Many of the families have lived there for generations.

Before the sun rose Monday morning, a large protest began on Kamehameha Highway. More than 200 people showed up to fight for 30 people living in the valley.

Time is running out for six Oahu families who will be evicted Monday from state park land after living there for generations. The homes are located at Kahana State Park just off Kamehameha Highway. The state says the residents don't have permits or leases to be there.

With the eviction just hours away, residents who must go rallied in the slim hope on Sunday that they might be able to stay. The state says the families are living illegally on state park land.

"I'm not really ready to go out. I'll probably be losing a lot of my things," said Kahana resident Thoren Evans.

Hawaii is dropping the only state universal child health care program in the country just seven months after it launched.

The Republican governor signed Keiki Care into law in 2007, but it and many other government services are facing cuts as the state deals with a projected $900 million general fund shortfall by 2011.

Gov. Linda Lingle's administration cited budget shortfalls and other available health care options for eliminating funding for the program. A state official said families were dropping private coverage so their children would be eligible for the subsidized plan.

The salient point is, the Republic of Hawaii did not have lawful title (or rights) to these lands when they were handed over (“ceded”) to the U.S. Thus, no lands lawfully transferred. Although this act of “cession” was clearly unlawful, any objections were summarily ignored, overruled or dispatched by the bully power of the U.S. In 1959, the U.S. magnanimously passed on the stolen property (the “Ceded Lands”) as the land base for the newly created puppet government called the State of Hawaii.

Sugarcane will still be raised in G&R's red volcanic soil on the lush island of Kauai. Rather than catering to America's sweet tooth, the crop will be converted into ethanol to feed vehicles and the nation's growing appetite for renewable energy.

Hilo, HI: Hawaii County voters will decide this November on a local initiative that seeks to make marijuana law enforcement the county's "lowest priority."

"We're going to be here for a while. Four days, five days, a week. A while. As long as it takes," one of the men posting the signs told the Advertiser. He declined to give his name.