KAPA‘A — Kapa‘a Public Library changed its public service schedule effective Monday, reducing the time it is open by three hours daily due to a staffing shortage, a release from Hawai‘i Public Library System Information Specialist Paul Mark states.

LIHU‘E — Large waves on Kaua‘i’s North Shore may be a boon for surfers seeking world-class breaks, but the high surf warning currently in effect can have other impacts as well.

LIHU‘E — It was back to the Kaua‘i Police Department cellblock Monday morning for Lii Kaimana Cook after his scheduled arraignment and plea in two cases didn’t take place due to a temporary lack of legal representation.

Handwriting is a graphic portrait of the writer’s life and spirit in its form of communication. It lives through generations, serving as a historical record of the writer. Handwriting appears as a witness to the writer’s cultural development and refinement. Civilizations have been identified by their alphabets and styles of writing.

Kaua‘i resident and photographer Rene Halligan submitted this photo of the sunrise on the morning of Jan. 4.

Editor’s note: This is the sixth article in an ongoing series that examines water quality on Kaua‘i.

LIHU‘E — A 25-year-old Kapa‘a man who was on the Kaua‘i Police Department’s recent Most Wanted list was apprehended Saturday night, a county news release states.

HONOLULU — The state Senate could pass a civil-unions bill soon after the session starts later this month, which would put political pressure on the state House and set up a possible confrontation with Gov. Linda Lingle, who said last week that the bill was a distraction from the budget crisis.

LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i state lawmakers were split last year over House Bill 444, which would have extended the same rights, benefits, protections and responsibilities of spouses in a marriage to partners in a civil union.

A wave crashes on a Kalihiwai point Sunday. Photos by Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

The sun sets over the Kapa‘a New Town Park stadium last week during the KIF soccer games. Look to upcoming editions of TGI for coverage of local soccer action. Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island

The Sunrise Club plays at 9 a.m. every Thursday (open game) at the Community Building in Princeville. The club welcomes North Shore visitors and part-time vacationers.

LIHU‘E — Weaning Kaua‘i from its addiction to imported oil could require dramatic measures, but some residents seem wary of one such plan to do just that.

LIHU‘E — Large-scale renewable energy technologies are critical for Kaua‘i to achieve sustainability, but proposals to convert the abundant resources of wind and solid waste to electricity still have unresolved questions.

NAWILIWILI — Teen Court, administered by Hale ‘Opio, has life despite a cut from the Hawai‘i State Judiciary budget.

LIHU‘E — Lessees of cabins on state land in Koke‘e State Park did not have to pay county real property taxes on their mountain getaways in 2008 and 2009, a county official said Friday.

After a two-week bush safari in Zambia, a friend and I, craving the exotic and beaches, flew from Lusaka to Zanzibar. Zanzibar is a small coral island, 80 miles long by 24 miles wide, off the coast of Tanzania in the Indian Ocean. From Stonetown, Zanzibar’s principal town, to Dar-Es-Salam, capital of Tanzania, is a bumpy two-hour ferry ride.

As lawmakers begin to huddle before the start of the next legislative session, the search for an answer to the budget short fall begins. With a cumulative deficit of nearly $1.4 billion over the two fiscal years of this biennium, lawmakers will have a Herculean task before them.

KEKAHA — Department of Land and Natural Resources enforcement officers will be conducting live-fire range exercises between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Hawai‘i Army National Guard Firing Range at Kekaha, a press release states.

• Kaumuali‘i Highway • Kuhio Highway Kaumuali‘i Highway 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., daily • Single-lane closure between Huakai Road and Elapaio Road in the Kekaha-bound direction for 12-inch water pipe installations.