Obamas say ‘Aloha’ to Hawaiian vacation

Obamas say ‘Aloha’ to Hawaiian vacation

KAILUA, Hawaii — President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday bid his native Hawaii “aloha” after a 12-day vacation.

Obama, wife Michelle and their two young daughters flew to Chicago, where they are expected to arrive early today. He planned to fly on Sunday to Washington, where 7-year-old Sasha and 10-year-old Malia start school on Monday.

The Obamas kept a low profile while vacationing on the island of Oahu. Aside from daily trips to the gym and golf courses, the president-elect seldom left his vacation retreat, a rented $9 million home near Honolulu. When he did venture out, it usually was to grab some shave ice, a local treat, look at baby tigers at the zoo or take some other child-friendly excursion.

Obama joked to onlookers Thursday morning at the gym that he was reluctant to return to Chicago, where temperatures were in the 20s.

Four arrested in gang rape of lesbian in California

RICHMOND, Calif. — Two men and two teens have been arrested on suspicion of gang-raping a woman last month in the San Francisco Bay area while allegedly taunting her for being a lesbian, police said Thursday.

Officers arrested Humberto Hernandez Salvador at his Richmond home Wednesday night, Richmond police Lt. Mark Gagan said. The 31-year-old is being held without bail on gang rape, kidnapping and carjacking charges.

Detectives say the 28-year-old victim was attacked Dec. 13 after she got out of her car, which had a rainbow gay pride sticker on it. The alleged attackers made comments indicating they knew she was a lesbian, police said.

Don’t try this to stop friend from driving drunk

KENNEWICK, Wash. — A man who reportedly told police he was trying to deter a friend from driving drunk by blasting the friend’s windshield with paintballs wound up in jail. In the words of Kennewick, Wash., police Sgt. Ken Lattin: “This is a very creative way to prevent someone from drinking and driving, but not legal or safe.”

Responding Tuesday night to a nearby resident’s report of a man shooting paintballs at a car, police found the 41-year-old man, who explained his rationale.

The Tri-City Herald reported the man was arrested and booked into the Benton County jail for investigation of unlawfully discharging a weapon and an unrelated misdemeanor warrant.

Lattin suggested a designated driver would be a better approach.

‘Starsky & Hutch’ actor dies

LOS ANGELES — Actor Bernie Hamilton, who played the no-nonsense police captain on the 1970s TV series “Starsky and Hutch,” has died. He was 80. Hamilton died of cardiac arrest Tuesday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said his son, Raoul Hamilton.

Born in Los Angeles in 1928, Hamilton ran away from home as a teenager and wound up staying in someone’s garage and attending Oakland Technical High School, where he played football and got involved in acting.

Hamilton appeared in more than 20 films, including “The Young One” and “The Devil at 4 O’Clock,”

Zunes play tunes again

Many of Microsoft’s Zune media players that froze up on the last day of 2008 because of a glitch involving their internal clock were functioning properly Thursday as the new year was ushered in, according to the company. However, a few people were still complaining of problems operating the devices.

Microsoft spokesman Brian Eskridge said that based on responses from customers and his review of online message forums, affected users of the 30-gigabyte Zune model were not having further problems after fully recharging their devices and powering them on again Thursday.

“It worked for me and it seems like it’s working for customers,” said Eskridge, who has one of the 30-gigabyte Zune players and was temporarily without service. “From the limited time I’ve looked on the forums, it seems customers have had good success with it.”

Vindicator wire services