Member FDIC
F H B . C O M
Dreams
don’t expire,
but rates do.
•Most closing costs waived
1
• Up to $500 credit for your termination fee when switching banks
2
• Interest may be tax deductible
3
Call 643-LOAN (5626).
HOME EQUITY LINE OF CREDIT
0.75%
APR
1
Fixed for 1 Year
4.82%
APR
1
Current fully indexed
rate as of 6/10/15
1. The promotional fixed 0.75% Annual Percentage Rate (APR) for the promotional period is fixed for 12 months from account opening. After the applicable promotional fixed APR period,
the APR for the variable rate portion of credit line may vary and will be adjusted monthly to 1.50 percentage points over an index, which is The Wall Street Journal Prime Rate, except
that the APR will never be lower than 4.50% and will never be higher than 19.00% for Hawaii and 18.00% for Guam. The current fully indexed variable APR is 4.82% as of 6/10/15. No
discounts apply to the promotional fixed rates. After the promotional period, the variable APR will be 0.25 or 0.35 point lower if you have a personal Priority Banking Checking Account
Level 2 or Level 3, respectively. Both the promotional APRs and the variable APR after the promotional APR period will be 0.50 percentage point higher for investors and for lines secured
by a second home, and 1.00 percentage point higher for leasehold (owner occupant only) properties. Promotional APRs, and Priority Banking, Private Banking, and other discounts do
not apply to Equity FirstLine
®
Plus fixed rate locks. You must carry insurance on the property that secures the credit line. For Hawaii, most closing costs waived for owner-occupants,
investors, and lines secured by a second home, unless an ALTA policy, appraisal, trust review, or preparation of other legal documents is required. These closing costs are estimated at
$982 (ALTA policy fee), $550-$750 (appraisal fee), $156-$312 (trust review fee), and $104-$208 (legal document preparation fee). For Guam, receive $100 off closing costs. Fees may
vary from the estimates quoted, depending on your specific credit line. There is an annual fee of $100, which is non-refundable and will be charged to your credit line on each anniversary
date of your credit line account. The annual fee is waived if you have a personal Priority Banking Checking Account Level 3 at the time the fee is assessed. Offer subject to credit approval
and good for new approved Equity FirstLine Plus applications received between 6/1/15 and 7/31/15. Credit line account must be opened within 60 days of application date. Refinancing
of existing First Hawaiian Bank loans, lines of credit or credit cards, and Equity FirstLine Plus locks, personal lines of credit, and lines to purchase and install a new photovoltaic system,
do not qualify for the rate offer. Only credit lines secured by Hawaii and Guam properties are eligible. Cannot be combined with other special rates or promotions.
2. Up to $500 Credit: If refinancing a non-First Hawaiian Bank (FHB) loan or credit line, you may receive a credit at account opening of up to $500 to reimburse you for any early closing or
termination fees assessed by your current lender upon verification that a fee has been assessed.
3. Consult your tax advisor.
5A
WEST HAWAII TODAY | THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015
IN BRIEF |
BIG ISLAND & STATE
Dirt bike rider dead
after colliding with
van in Puna
A 23-year-old Volcano
man is dead following a
Tuesday night dirt bike
crash on Highway 11 in
Volcano.
The victim has been
identified as Ronson Bento,
according to the Hawaii
Police Department.
Police say Bento was
operating a 2003 Honda
XR100R dirt bike and head-
ing north on Highway 11
with no lights on when he
struck a southbound 2005
Dodge Caravan that was
making a left turn onto
Nahelenani Street. The
driver of the van, a 48-year-
old Volcano woman, was
not injured in the crash.
Bento, who was not
wearing a helmet, was
thrown from his bike in the
crash. He was taken to Hilo
Medical Center, where he
was pronounced dead at
9:30 p.m.
The dirt bike had no
license plate. It was also
not equipped with features
to be lawfully operated on
a public highway.
Police noted Wednesday
morning that officers
had not yet determined if
speed or alcohol were fac-
tors in the collision.
Police have initiated a
standard negligent homi-
cide case and are con-
tinuing the investigation.
Anyone who may have wit-
nessed the crash or opera-
tion of the dirt bike prior to
the collision to call Officer
William Brown at 965-2716.
This is the 12th traffic
fatality this year compared
with seven at this time in
2014.
Foul play ruled out
in Hilo body
A decomposed body
found Monday off the road
leading to the Hilo air-
port has been identified
through fingerprints as a
72-year-old Hilo man with
no permanent address,
according to the Hawaii
Police Department.
His identity is being
withheld pending notifica-
tion of his family.
An autopsy conduct-
ed Tuesday ruled out foul
play and determined that
he died of natural caus-
es, police said. The exact
cause of death is pending
results of further analysis.
Monitoring
equipment records
inflation at Kilauea
Volcano summit
Kilauea
Volcano’s
summit
continued
to
inflate Wednesday morn-
ing, the U.S. Geological
Survey Hawaiian Volcano
Observatory reported.
Kilauea Volcano’s sum-
mit lava lake was about
115 to 130 feet below the
floor of Halemaumau
Crater, the scientists said
Wednesday morning, add-
ing that seismic episodic
bursts associated with
vigorous spattering within
the Overlook vent contin-
ued. On Tuesday, lava was
within 177 feet of the crater
floor, and on June 15, the
lake was about 240 feet
below the floor.
Lava last overflowed
the crater rim periodical-
ly between April 21 and
May 10 amid a period of
increased activity at the
summit of Kilauea Volcano
that drew thousands to
Hawaii Volcanoes National
Park to view.
The summit tiltmeter,
which began recording an
inflation tilt on Tuesday,
continues to record signs
of inflation, officials said.
During inflation, magma
rises into the summit res-
ervoir, according to the
observatory. The summit
reservoir enters the defla-
tion portion of the cycle
when the magma moves
laterally into a rift zone and
either erupts or is stored
there.
Seismicity rates beneath
the summit, upper East
Rift Zone and Southwest
Rift Zone have been at nor-
mal, background levels for
the past day.
The tiltmeter on the
north flank of Puu Oo con-
tinued to show no signif-
icant change in tilt as of
Wednesday morning.
Breakouts along the
June 27 lava flow remained
active within about 5 miles
of Puu Oo, scientists said.
The U.S. Geological
Survey Hawaiian Volcano
Observatory on March 25
downgraded its alert level
for Kilauea Volcano from a
“warning” to a “watch.”
PTA opening
Keamuku Maneuver
Area for hunting this
weekend
Army
officials
at
Pohakuloa Training Area
are the opening the
Keamuku Maneuver Area
for hunting from 5 a.m. to 7
p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The area will be open for
bow hunting of feral goats
and pigs
only.
All hunters must check
in and check at one of the
following hunter’s check-in
stations: Kilohana, located
on Saddle Road between
mile markers 43 and 44;
Puu Huluhulu, located at
the intersection of Mauna
Kea Access and Saddle
roads near mile marker
28; or Puu Anahulu, locat-
ed on Mamalahoa Highway
across from mile marker
14. Checkout time is no
later than 7 p.m. each day.
Hunting passes will be pro-
vided at check-in stations
beginning Friday after 5
p.m.
Hunter
access
is
through any of the follow-
ing: gate 7 on Old Saddle
Road; gates 11, 14, 17 and
the old corral (near mile
marker 9) on Mamalahoa
Highway; and the 49.5
mile marker gate on New
Saddle Road.
The bag limit is one pig
and one goat per hunter,
per day.
For more information,
call the PTA Hunter’s
Hotline at 969-3474; visit
.
mil/pta, and click on the
“Hunting” tab; or refer to
instructions on the hunting
pass.
Hunters with disabili-
ties can call Officer Brian
Mabry at 969-2429.
Honolulu set to end
veteran homelessness
this year
HONOLULU — The num-
ber of homeless veterans
on Oahu has dropped sig-
nificantly since the start of
the year.
KHNL-TV
reported
executive director of the
Mayor’s Office of Housing,
Jun Yang, said there are
about 105 homeless vet-
erans currently waiting for
housing.
The decline can be
credited to a partner-
ship
between
Mayor
Kirk Caldwell and the
Department of Housing
and Urban Development
formed
in
February.
Caldwell joined in on the
national challenge to end
veteran
homelessness.
Federal officials have pro-
vided the city close to $1
million in housing vouch-
ers.
Yang said the city still
struggles with finding
housing units. A program
called “Heroes Housing
Heroes” has been launched
to meet the goal of about
150 housing units needed
for homeless veterans by
the end of the year.
Tax refunds delayed
up to 4 months
HONOLULU — The state
has ramped up its efforts
against tax fraud, which
has delayed the time it
takes to issue legitimate
refund checks.
The Honolulu Star-
Advertiser reported state
tax director Maria Zielinski
said a tax fraud unit has
caught nearly 8,600 sus-
picious tax returns and
prevented close to $22
million in phony refunds
from being issued this
year. All the scrutiny has
resulted in up to four-
month delays for refund
payments.
In May, the state had
returned only $275 million
in refunds, which is about
$160 million less than what
they returned at the same
time last year.
But, another round of
refunds totaling close to
$100 million is expected to
be paid out after the end of
this month.
Zielinski said next year
will be a much smoother
process.
By West Hawaii Today staff
and wire sources
New found objects may have forged
essential elements to life
Carlos weakens, Central Pacific remains quiet
With the help of telescopes on
Mauna Kea, researchers say they
discovered a distant galaxy that
could have hosted the universe’s
first stars.
These massive objects would
have been the factories that forged
elements essential to life, includ-
ing oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and
iron, according to a press release
from the W.M. Keck Observatory.
The two 10-meter Keck tele-
scopes were joined in the study by
the Subaru Telescope, Very Large
Telescope and the Hubble Space
Telescope.
Together, they conducted an
expansive study of the early uni-
verse that discovered several “sur-
prisingly bright very young galax-
ies,” researchers said.
That included a newly found
galaxy 13 billion light years away
that is three times brighter than
any distant galaxy previously
discovered.
Researchers said there is strong
evidence that the universe’s first
generation of stars lurked within.
“These massive, brilliant, and
previously purely theoretical
objects were the creators of the
first heavy elements in history
— the elements necessary to forge
the stars around us today, the
planets that orbit them, and life as
we know it,” Keck said.
Scientists have theorized that
these stars would have been sev-
eral hundred or a thousand times
larger than the sun and blazing
hot. They would have exploded in
supernovae after about 2 million
years.
“The discovery challenged our
expectations from the start as we
didn’t expect to find such a bright
galaxy,” David Sobral, one of the
study’s lead researchers, said in a
written statement. “… Those stars
were the ones that formed the
first heavy atoms that ultimately
allowed us to be here. It doesn’t
really get any more exciting than
this.”
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-
herald.com.
Carlos weakened to a remnant
low Wednesday as the storm
moved along the western coast of
Mexico.
Carlos, as of Wednesday after-
noon, had maximum sustained
winds around 30 mph, forecast-
ers with the National Hurricane
Center said. It was located 15
miles south of Cabo Corrientes,
Mexico, and moving toward the
north-northwest at 7 mph.
The storm is forecast to steadily
weaken during the next day or
so as it encounters unfavorable
conditions.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Pacific
basin, no tropical cyclones are
expected to form during the com-
ing five days, according to the
forecasters.
Meanwhile, the Central North
Pacific basin, which is where
Hawaii is located, remained
quiet. Central Pacific Hurricane
Center forecasters say no tropi-
cal cyclones are expected to form
within the area, which covers an
area north of the equator from
140 degrees west longitude to the
international date line, through
Friday afternoon.
The Central North Pacific and
Eastern Pacific hurricane seasons
continue through Nov. 30.
Get more hurricane-related con-
tent, including preparation tips,
evacuation info and daily tropical
weather updates, on our hurricane
season page, sponsored by Clark
Realty, at
.
com/hurricane-season-2015.
BY TOM CALLIS
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
BY CHELSEA JENSEN
WEST HAWAII TODAY
Researchers using telescopes on Mauna Kea discovered a
galaxy that might have been home to the universe’s first stars.
COURTESY OF W.M. KECK OBSERVATORY.
