Neighbor Island briefs

Advertiser Staff and News Services

BIG ISLAND

$50,000 rescue of dog begins

A salvage tug going to the rescue of a dog left aboard an abandoned oil tanker was expected to reach its destination early today, according to the Hawaiian Humane Society, which organized the $50,000 recovery operation.

Society spokeswoman Eve Holt said yesterday that the American Quest was about 160 miles from the disabled tanker Insiko.

The dog was left aboard the Indonesian tanker on Tuesday, when its crew was rescued by the cruise ship Norwegian Star about 250 miles south of the Big Island.

Nearly three weeks earlier, a fire killed a crew member and left the ship without power or communications. The body is still aboard.

UH astronomy gets $2 million

The University of Hawai'i Institute for Astronomy has received commitments of $2 million in grants for three programs at observatories atop Haleakala.

NASA is paying for a $1.4 million program to explore the corona, or outer atmosphere, of the sun.

The Air Force is allocating $450,000 to improve astronomers' ability to predict the impacts of solar activities on the environment around the Earth.

Finally, the National Science Foundation has authorized $220,000 to study the environment around stars that may have planets.