HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii veterans have joined efforts to get records from a classified base updated so those suffering from radiation exposure can get better medical care.
Mark Hada, of Maui, and Alan Hollingsworth, of Oahu, were assigned to the Tonopah test range — often called Area 52 in Nevada.
Hundreds of Air Force veterans stationed there now report road blocks in getting treatment. That‘s because the government won’t acknowledge their assignment.
Mark Hada in the 1980’s(Mark Hada)
Hada said he has lipomas, including a large one on the back of his neck that he had to have removed.
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He has debilitating headaches and breathing problems too.
Lipoma on Mark Hada’s neck(Mark Hada)
Hollingsworth said a lot of his friends reported having tumors — including Dave Crete, a Nevada man who also served at the site.
“I have a brain cyst. I have a tumor in my lungs. I have three tumors on my thyroid,” Crete said. He also has one on his forehead.
Dave Crete in the 1980’s(Dave Crete)
He suffers from chronic bronchitis.
“My lung function is 67%,” he said.
Crete’s kids were also born with tumors or autoimmune disorders.
Crete, Hada and Hollingsworth were all in the Air Force in the 1980s and assigned to the nuclear testing site.
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Hollingsworth has not had the chronic issues as the others, and believes that’s because he was only at Tonopah for two years. But he is worried. He does an annual physical and is closely monitored.
Alan Hollingsworth in the 1980’s(Alan Hollingsworth)
“Am I testing for the right things? Are they looking for the right things?,” Hollingsworth said.
Tonopah veterans cannot get the same care and compensation as others who were exposed to dangerous chemicals.
“Our documentation shows we were stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, but we never worked at Nellis. We always flew from Nellis,” Hada said, adding they were flown from Nellis to Tonopah Test Range, where they worked for four, 10-hour days.
They’d be flown back to Las Vegas to spend their days off.
Nuclear testing started there in the late 1950s and continued for years.
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“It was all contaminated. The soil is contaminated. The air is contaminated, the groundwater is contaminated,” said Crete, who found an environmental assessment report that was done in 1975.
The report said the areas on the range “are contaminated with plutonium from tests carried out in 1963.”
The report said more recent tests scattered “some beryllium and depleted uranium” — all highly toxic.
The document concluded with, “as long as the nation chooses to maintain an up-to-date nuclear weapon stockpile” facilities such as the “Tonopah Test Range must continue to exist.”
Crete said the water they drank, bathed in and cooked with while they all lived on the military installation, was all contaminated.
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Crete started a nonprofit group called The Invisible Enemy to help others assigned to the Nevada testing sites.
Collectively, the group of several hundred veterans have been pushing for change so they can get the care they need and other benefits.
The Invisible Enemy is gaining traction as awareness of their plight spreads.
Crete said they are not asking the government to declassify everything or reveal sensitive information. He said they just want the military to acknowledge that they were there.
“Allow us to go to the VA,” he said.
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Hada said he wants the Tonopah Test Range to be listed as a presumptive location with presumptive conditions that can be treated.
In September, a bill was introduced in Congress that would acknowledge those exposed to radiation at the Nevada Test and Training range.
The legislation is still in its infancy but does have strong bipartisan support.
Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Comet C/2025 A6, better known as Comet Lemmon, was one of the latest icy visitors to swing through our neighborhood of the solar system, leaving astronomers and casual skywatchers equally delighted. For observers in Hawaii, the glow of the Milky Way didn’t dim the streak of light made by this comet passing through.
What is it?
Comet Lemmon was discovered in January 2025 and made its closest approach to Earth in late October 2025. But by November 2025, when this image was taken, it had brightened to about the same apparent brightness as the planet Uranus, making it visible to the naked eye even from suburban skies.
Where is it?
This image was taken atop the volcanic peak Mauna Kea, on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Comet Lemmon could be seen with the naked eye as it streaked across the sky. (Image credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURAImage processing: M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab) & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab))
Why is it amazing?
Comets are notoriously unpredictable, so Comet Lemmon’s surprising visibility has felt like a bit of a cosmic bonus for Hawaiian stargazers. And this was a rare treat, as the comet won’t return to Earth’s skies for another 1,350 years, around the year 3375.
Framing this comet is the glow of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, which is easier to spot at higher elevations like Mauna Kea’s peak, where there is less light pollution. The image gives us a souvenir from a celestial visitor that won’t be back for more than a millennium.
Want to learn more?
You can learn more about comets and skywatching.
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
WASHINGTON, D.C. (HawaiiNewsNow) – U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) reintroduced a piece of legislation on Thursday to strengthen protections for immigrant families and address long-standing problems in the family immigration system.
The Reuniting Families Act aims to reduce visa backlogs, boost efficiency across the immigration process, and ensure a fairer, more humane process for immigrant families.
“Immigrant families currently experience unnecessary obstacles and delays due to our country’s broken immigration system, keeping families separated for potentially long periods of time,” Hirono said. “By reducing family-based immigration backlogs and making common sense updates to how we treat families, the Reuniting Families Act will help take the first step in the right direction to keeping families together as they navigate our immigration system.”
According to the senators behind this bill, nearly four million people with approved visa applications are currently trapped in a massive immigration backlog, with many waiting more than a decade to reunite with their loved ones.
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“As Donald Trump’s inhumane mass deportation campaign rips apart families and communities across the country, it’s paramount we address the unnecessary barriers in our immigration system that have created backlogs and kept families apart for years,” Duckworth said. “Our legislation would implement commonsense reforms to help end family-based backlogs, which keep too many with approved green card applications stuck in bureaucratic limbo, and help get more families where they belong—together.”
The Reuniting Families Act would shorten delays by recapturing unused visas, rolling them into future years, expanding who qualifies as a family member to include permanent partners, and increasing both the total number of available family preference visas and per-country limits.
The bill would also put a time limit on visa processing, so no applicant has to wait more than 10 years for a visa if they have an approved application.
Click here to read the full bill.
Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
HONOLULU (AP) — Henry Rouhliadeff scored 16 points to lead six Hawaii players in double figures and the Rainbow Warriors beat Division-II Hawaii Hilo 98-46 on Wednesday night.
Rouhliadeff made 6 of 9 from the field and finished with nine rebounds and five assists. Dre Bullock scored 12 points for Hawaii (9-2) and Hunter Erickson, Aaron Hunkin-Claytor, Gytis Nemeiksa and Isaac Finlinson added 11 points apiece.
Jamal Entezami led Hawaii Hilo with 11 points and Jessiya Villa scored 10.
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Hawaii shot 51% overall and made 13 3-pointers. The Rainbow Warriors, who went into the game averaging 13.4 assists per game, had a season-high 25 assists on 35 made field goals.
The 52-point margin of victory was Hawaii’s largest since a 106-49 win over Redlands on Jan. 28, 1972, and the third largest in program history. The Rainbow Warriors beat BYU Hawaii by 67 (106-49) in the 1962-63 season.
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