HONOLULU — Hawaii turns 50 years old as the 50th state Friday, but there will be no grand parades, no dazzling fireworks, no lavish displays of native culture. Organizers of the observation are not even willing to call it a party. It is simply a “commemoration,” one that is sensitive to a painful history of the Hawaiian monarchy’s overthrow and unresolved claims of native Hawaiians. The main event is a low-key, daylong conference reflecting on Hawaii’s place in the world. Behind the tourist-friendly tropical images of beaches and sunshine, many remain uncomfortable with the U.S. takeover of the islands and …

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UPDATED: PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. — Brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Storm Claudette — likely the first to strike the U.S. mainland this year — was bringing heavy rain to the Florida panhandle Sunday. Claudette had winds of at least 50 mph but was not expected to cause significant flooding or wind damage. Lurking more ominously in the Atlantic was Tropical Storm Bill, which quickly was turning into a powerful storm over the warm waters in the open Atlantic Ocean with sustained winds of 65 mph. Ana, a tropical storm that also was churning in the Atlantic, weakened to …

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The Obama administration’s health secretary said Sunday that the president is willing to accept nonprofit insurance cooperatives rather than a government-run option as part of health-overhaul legislation, a major concession that could attract the support of some conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans who now oppose the effort. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that while President Obama “continues to be very supportive of some options for consumers” in the health insurance market, a government-run public-option plan is “not the essential element.” “I think the president is just continuing to say, let’s not …

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A visit to PropertyRoom.com proves thieves aren’t just stealing cash and jewelry these days. They have an appetite for air mattresses, paper shredders and gold dental work, too. All of these items are available on the auction Web site where buyers can bid on lost or stolen items that police recovered but could not return to the rightful owners after a minimum of 60 days. More than 1,500 law enforcement agencies nationwide contribute items to the site. The site features everything from bicycles to clothing to a glass ornament filled with ash from the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. …

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Taking a high-level government job often means making a financial sacrifice in the name of the common good. It was something Dr. Francis S. Collins, the new director of the National Institutes of Health, already had done even before his nomination to head the Bethesda-based agency. And that last time around, it led to perhaps the greatest triumph of his professional career. When Dr. Collins was approached for government service in 1993 by then-NIH director Dr. Bernadine Healy, the geneticist-professor earlier had discovered the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis and other hereditary disease-markers while working with a team at the …

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Real estate lender Colonial BancGroup Inc. has been shut down by federal officials in the biggest U.S. bank failure this year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which was appointed receiver of the Montgomery, Ala.-based Colonial and its approximately $25 billion in assets, said the failed bank’s 346 branches in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Texas were reopening at their normal times starting on Saturday as offices of Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T. The FDIC has approved the sale of Colonial’s $20 billion in deposits and about $22 billion of its assets to BB&T Corp. Regulators also closed four other banks: Community Bank …

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OPINION/ANALYSIS: When Washington learned 47 people were stuck overnight aboard a small plane at a Minnesota airport, Capitol Hill reverberated with demands to protect the public from a recurrence, and the Obama administration launched an investigation. But in its hunt for blame, the government isn’t owning up to the fact that it had a hand in the mess. Over recent years, nightmare strandings on airport runway have prompted lots of political posturing, but few results. The problem continues. From January to June this year, 613 planes were delayed on tarmacs for more than three hours, their passengers kept on board, …

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Obesity is depleting our nation’s pocketbook and devastating the health and wellness of millions of Americans. Left unaddressed, the obesity epidemic will undermine our country’s health, reduce our productivity and threaten our economic security. Obesity-related diseases account for nearly 10 percent of medical spending in the United States, or an estimated $147 billion a year, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last month. Half of that cost is financed through Medicare and Medicaid. Obese people spend 40 percent more on health care — or $1,429 more per year — than people of normal weight. Obesity also leads …

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Obesity is epidemic in the U.S. Currently, 72 million Americans are overweight or obese. The consequences are enormous and include personal suffering through disease and disability, increased medical care and its attendant costs, and a substantial economic impact of lost wages. While personal responsibility and healthy lifestyle choices are part of the solution, willpower alone is not enough. There are larger forces at work. Environmental factors strongly influence our behavior and actions. In addition, genetic susceptibility plays a major role in why some people become obese and others do not in this obesigenic environment. TWT RELATED STORY: • SOLUTIONS: Dealing …

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It is an infomercial darling, with cute kids pointing out words on cards to the delight of their parents. “Your Baby Can Read,” a system of DVDs, word cards and books, touts that infancy is the ideal time to give children an academic head start. Thousands of parents have purchased the $200 product since it was developed in 1997. “Your Baby Can Read has made Evan a happier baby,” one mom says in company promotional materials as her toddler reaches for the word card she designated. “Evan enjoys stimulation and connections. When he learns something, he wants to keep going. …

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