Hawaii beaches closed for Felicia

Honolulu – Several beach parks on Hawaii’s Big Island will be closed beginning this afternoon because of Hurricane Felicia, which is expected to increase wave heights as it approaches land, Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency officials said Saturday.

The National Weather Service in Honolulu, however, said Felicia would likely be downgraded to a tropical storm or tropical depression once it moves closer to the islands.

Felicia peaked Thursday as a Category 4 storm with winds topping 140 mph. But the weakening storm entered the central Pacific on Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph.

$94 million bid for Boston Globe

Boston – Investment company Platinum Equity, which recently bought the San Diego Union-Tribune, has emerged as a possible buyer of the Boston Globe newspaper.

Platinum Equity has submitted a “preliminary bid” for the paper, according to a person with knowledge of the proposal. The company is offering to pay $35 million for the paper and assume $59 million in pension liabilities, according to published reports.

According to published reports, two local groups also have submitted bids for the Globe. One reportedly includes Stephen Pagliuca, a co-owner of the Boston Celtics, and the other is led by a member of the family that sold the Globe to the New York Times Co. in 1993 for $1.1 billion.

Band cancels show after deadly crash

Fort Wayne, Ind. – The Christian rock band MercyMe canceled a show Saturday in the St. Louis area after its tour bus collided with a car in northeastern Indiana, killing two passengers in the car and the pregnant car driver’s unborn baby.

No one in the band was injured.

Fort Wayne police Officer Liza Thomas said witnesses told police the bus was going through a green light about 1:15 a.m. Saturday when the car made a left turn in front of it.