Hawaii Gov. David Ige announced Tuesday that he signed an executive order to protect those obtaining access to or performing reproductive health care services on the island.

Ige said those traveling to the Pacific island to receive an abortion would be safe from prosecution if other states decided to go after them.

He added that medical professionals that perform the procedure in the state would also be protected if other states tried to sanction them.

"We will not cooperate with any other state that tries to prosecute women who receive abortions in Hawaii. And we will not cooperate with any other state that tries to sanction medical professionals who provide abortions in Hawaii," Ige said in a news release.

Hawaii is the latest state to issue an executive order that protects those seeking abortions and health care providers, USA Today reported.

Those states include Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.

The move to protect abortion rights comes after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June which federally protected the right to get an abortion for nearly 50 years, the Associated Press reported.

Hawaii's executive order takes effect immediately.

Ige added that medical records, data, or billing information will not be provided to states "seeking to impose penalties upon a person or entity related to reproductive health services in Hawaii."

Hawaii became the first state in the nation when it legalized abortion on March 11, 1970.

According to the state's constitution, people's right to privacy and personal autonomy is guaranteed.

Hawaii's highest peaks are covered in snow.

Images from Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on the Big Island, show of snow covering the ground. The summit received several inches of snow this week as a storm passed through the area.

While it may sound odd for it to snow in Hawaii, the National Weather Service says it's not uncommon. The highest peaks in Hawaii generally receive snow every winter, according to the NWS.

A blizzard warning was issued for Hawaii last year. It was the first time a blizzard warning was issued for the state since 2019.

While there may be snow at the highest elevations in Hawaii, the rest of the state is experiencing sunny and breezy conditions. Highs are forecasted to be in the 60s on Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Japanese and South Korean counterparts were meeting Saturday in Hawaii to discuss the threat posed by nuclear-armed North Korea after Pyongyang began the year with a series of missile tests.

Blinken gathered in Honolulu with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong. Defense chiefs from the three countries last week said North Korea’s recent missile tests were destabilizing regional security.

Some experts say North Korea is using the weapon's tests to put pressure on President Joe Biden’s administration to resume long-stalled nuclear negotiations as the pandemic puts further strain on an economy already battered by decades of mismanagement and crippling U.S.-led sanctions.

Biden’s administration has offered North Korea open-ended talks but has shown no willingness to ease the sanctions without meaningful cuts to the country’s nuclear program.

The tests also have a technical component, allowing North Korea to hone its weapons arsenal. One of the missiles recently tested — the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile — is capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam. It was the longest-distance weapon the North has tested since 2017.

North Korea appears to be pausing its tests during the Winter Olympics in China, its most important ally and economic lifeline. But analysts believe North Korea will dramatically increase its weapons testing after the Olympics.

The recent tests have rattled Pyongyang's neighbors in South Korea and Japan. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who helped set up the historic talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and former President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019, said last month that the tests were a violation UN Security Council resolutions and urged the North to cease “actions that create tensions and pressure.”

The Security Council initially imposed sanctions on North Korea after its first nuclear test in 2006. It made them tougher in response to further nuclear tests and the country’s increasingly sophisticated nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

China and Russia, citing the North's economic difficulties, have called for lifting sanctions like those banning seafood exports and prohibitions on its citizens working overseas and sending home their earnings.

Blinken arrived in Hawaii from Fiji, where he met with Acting Prime Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and other Pacific leaders to talk about regional issues, especially the existential risk posed by climate change. It was the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state to Fiji since 1985.

He started his Pacific tour in Australia, where he met his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan. The four nations form the “Quad,” a bloc of Indo-Pacific democracies that was created to counter China’s regional influence.

Hayashi and Chung held a separate bilateral meeting Saturday for about 40 minutes before seeing Blinken. Japan’s Foreign Ministry said they reaffirmed the importance of cooperating together and with the United States to respond to North Korea and to achieve regional stability.

The ministry said they also “frankly” exchanged views on ongoing disputes between the two countries, including wartime Korean laborers and sexual abuse of Korean women forced into sexual servitude by Japan’s imperial army.

Blinken also met separately with Chung. He met Hayashi earlier this week in Australia.

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

MAUI COUNTY, Hawaii —

A Hawaii fisherman with years of experience on the water found himself in a very dangerous situation last weekend.

Claude Moreau has been fishing on Maui for over 40 years. He and his daughter, Charme, were on their way back home from Hana last Sunday morning when they dozed off.

"I sat down because I was tired," Claude, 70, said. "And the next thing I know I was sleeping. I didn't know I was sleeping. Next thing I noticed -- Boom. That's how I woke up."

Claude's boat, Maile, smashed into a group of giant rocks, in waters right off the island's north shore.

"I looked at him and said 'make a mayday call right now... Mayday mayday," Charme recalled. "He got in Mayday. 'Mayday This is Maile.' Then the boat went under and he went under with the boat."

Suddenly, Charme lost sight of him. Her dad was trapped under the boat as it sank.

"You see those movies where people are trying to save those people underwater and they can barely get to them," she said. "And I had that feeling because I went down and I couldn't see him."

Through strength, courage and the will to survive, Charme dove underwater, found her dad and pulled him back to the surface.

But now, they still were stuck in the middle of the ocean.

"I look at the shoreline and [I see] crashing huge rocks, and crashing huge lava rocks," Charme said.

They had no choice.

"I held him and I went on my back just like lifeguard style on my back, just pulling and swimming with my head up and taking deep breaths," she remembered. "And I kept telling him don't let the water go in your mouth because that's what was happening, it was going in and drowning both of us."

Charme said they swam over an hour to get to the rocky shoreline.

"The waves are crashing, we have to not bash our heads open," she said. "So that was the point when we were trying to get in, I had that moment, like, wow, we may not make it."

The pair took a chance and crashed onto the rocks. "We both tumble and I just see him tumbling, but we're on the rocks and I'm like, 'Oh, we made it!'"

They weren't in the clear yet, though, as they had to figure how to get to the top of the giant rock pile to get onto land.

Then, out of nowhere, they were given a helping hand. Or a helping rope.

"Mahalo ke Akua and all his angels for those wonderful fishermen who put ropes," Charme said. "Somebody put ropes. So I was like 'There are ropes! I can make it!'"

Charme did make it -- she climbed all the way up and was able to track down people who called 911.

The Maui Fire Department flew in a helicopter and plucked Claude from the rocks and took him to the hospital.

With just a few bumps and bruises, this fisherman and his daughter are happy to be alive, grateful to their community and want their story to be a lesson.

The Honolulu Police Department is asking for the public's help in the search for a missing 6-year-old girl.

On Wednesday, police said Isabella Kalua was last seen on Sept. 12 at around 9 p.m. asleep in her room at her Puha Street address in Waimanalo.

Authorities said Kalua was possibly last seen wearing a black hoodie, black leggings, colorful socks, and Nike slides with pink bottoms.

According to ABC News, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has now joined the search, as the search spans from Waimanalo Beach to the Olomana Golf Course.

The Associated Press reported that the search for Kalua had entered its fourth day, with officials saying Wednesday that there isn't sufficient evidence to show the child was abducted.

According to the AP, Kalua's adoptive parents, Sonny and Lehua, took Isabella out of school to home-school her in June.

Lt. Deena Thoemmes said in a statement that they have not ruled out foul play, the AP reported.

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Penn. — After defeating South Dakota Saturday, Hamilton West Side will take on Michigan's Taylor North Little League Sunday for the Little League World Series championship.

"Seeing what they're doing here, for that to pay off, that's an amazing feeling for the coaches, parents," Keith Clay, the father of Cooper Clay, said.

Hamilton (West Side) has been to the Little League World Series four times prior to this year, but has never won more than one game in South Williamsport, Penn.

Michigan beat Hawaii Saturday afternoon 2-1.

This is not the first time Hamilton has played Michigan. The teams faced-off in the Great Lakes Region championship, where Michigan won 9-1.

"I think we play better as a team being in the losers bracket and coming back," Bryon Baumann, father of Brady Baumann, said. "We have great pitching across the board. When it's time to hit, or when we're in clutch situations. These kids pull through... It's just what we do."

You can watch the championship game of the Little League World Series Sunday at 3 p.m. on WCPO.

CINCINNATI — Four Greater Cincinnati high school football games canceled last week due to the number of COVID-19 quarantined student-athletes.

Three games are canceled this Friday and another contest is already off the schedule for Sept. 3.

These cancellations, or what are considered no contests in Ohio, may only be the beginning this fall season. The reality is a sobering thought after a significant challenge for schools during the 2020-21 school year.

"I don't unfortunately see it changing which stinks," Wyoming High School athletic director Jan Wilking said. "It's going to continue to be a mad shuffle for games and to get everybody back at school and doing the right thing. I wish we were in this for the short run but unfortunately it's looking like another school year of mad shuffling and trying to just piece things together which will be a lot."

The natural reaction during this time of the delta variant is to wonder if history is repeating itself from 2020 when a number of games around Ohio were canceled in the first few weeks.

"No, I do not believe it's a here we go again situation," said Lakota West athletic director Scott Kaufman, who is the Ohio High School Athletic Association board of directors president. "I do believe it's time to reset and go back to some protocols from last year to minimize the number of quarantines that we're going through."

OHSAA

On Wednesday, the National Federation of State High School Athletic Associations announced it has partnered with the NCAA, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the National Athletic Trainers' Association, eight national medical organizations and the U.S. Department of Education to promote COVID-19 vaccination in school-age students ages 12-18.

The District of Columbia, Hawaii and Connecticut are among the state athletic associations with campaigns to promote vaccinations.

The Hawaii High School Athletic Association has delayed its football season to Sept. 24 and is requiring all student-athletes, staff and volunteers to be fully vaccinated.

In Ohio, there are no state mandates regarding vaccinations, masks and social distancing. School districts and local health departments could set their own requirements.

Wilking said the parameters are clear in Wyoming City Schools for students to be able to fully participate in school and interscholastic athletics.

"As far as what we can do to prevent outbreaks and to keep kids in school which is what we all want whether they're being the star of the play or the star of the tennis team; you know vaccinations help," Wilking said. "You don't have to quarantine if you are vaccinated and masking helps."

Kaufman said too many people entered this fall season thinking circumstances were back to normal. Now is the time for teams to look in the mirror and take full responsibility.

"What are you willing to sacrifice in order to save your season?" Kaufman said. "We know the delta variant is more contagious than what we dealt with a year ago. And it's hard to believe that we are dealing with something worse than a year ago. It's a shame we are dealing with it because we have a solution."

If a student-athlete tests positive for COVID-19, that individual has to isolate for 10 days and receive medical clearance to return to play.

If a student-athlete is unmasked and unvaccinated and considered to be a close contact, the quarantine is a minimum of 10 days but that can be reduced to eight days if a negative test occurs after five days.

"We all need to be going back to our protocols and restrictions athletically that we started with last fall," Kaufman said. "Everything that we did last fall was designed to keep the kids healthy, to minimize the possibility of A: infection but B: being quarantined because of a close contact."

The Ohio High School Athletic Association said 16 season openers were canceled statewide last week.

The OHSAA said last week it is discussing policies related to COVID-19 cancellations and how that might impact the Harbin ratings, also known as the computer points playoff system.

Prior to 2020, there was an eight-game minimum in order to qualify for the postseason.

In Kentucky, there were 17 high school football games canceled out of 120 contests scheduled last week, according to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association.

Six games have been canceled this week out of 117 scheduled on the KHSAA website.

KHSAA

"Schools just send us a report," KHSAA spokesperson Dan White said. "They go through the website and they report that game as a COVID cancellation and they are able to say if the COVID situation is with the home team or if it's with the visitor team."

The result is initially entered as the team with the quarantined student-athletes takes a loss while the opposing team receives the win. There are also procedures if both teams are in quarantine.

White said teams may choose to reschedule that canceled game or find other opponents which would change the initial result.

Cancellations involving soccer games and girls volleyball matches are also tracked weekly, White said.

"The (KHSAA) commissioner (Julian Tackett) is always in communication with the schools," White said. "Our COVID-19 guidance is up on the website so schools have been sent that. Obviously, keeping track of the virus as it changes."

Athletic administrators know circumstances change from hour to hour. They are starting to wonder about the winter season, too.

"It concerns me because we're still in summer months and if we don't get this more under control with the help of vaccinations by the time it gets colder and we're indoors, I worry about how many more steps backwards we're going to take," Kaufman said.

GREENVILLE, Calif. —

Video above: Powerful winds challenge crews fighting Hawaii blaze

Thousands of firefighters have prepared for a tougher fight against California's largest wildfire as extremely dangerous weather returns, threatening to stoke flames into explosive growth.

Firefighters were able to save homes and hold large stretches of the blaze but a red flag warning was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon through Thursday because of hot, bone-dry conditions with winds up to 40 mph. That could drive flames through timber, brush and grass, especially along the northern and northeastern sides of the vast blaze.

"I think we definitely have a few hard days ahead of us," said Shannon Prather with the U.S. Forest Service.

The Dixie Fire jumped perimeter lines in a few spots Tuesday, prompting additional evacuation orders for some 15,000 people, fire officials said.

Firefighters prevented flames on Monday from reaching homes in the small Northern California community of Greenville near the Plumas National Forest as the 3-week-old fire grew to over 395 square miles across Plumas and Butte counties.

On Tuesday, spot fires jumped some of the perimeters and burned several acres of brush on the western side of the blaze, even though crews had cut back areas of unburned fuel with bulldozers and dumped some 230,000 gallons of fire retardant, said Mike Wink, a state fire operations section chief.

Heat from the flames also created a pyrocumulus cloud, a massive column of smoke that rose 30,000 feet in the air, he said.

The fire has threatened thousands of homes and destroyed 67 houses and other buildings since breaking out July 14. It was 35% contained.

About 150 miles west of California's Dixie Fire, the lightning-sparked McFarland Fire threatened remote homes along the Trinity River in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The fire was only 5% contained. It was burning fiercely through drought-stricken vegetation and had doubled in size every day, fire officials warned.

Similar risky weather was expected across Southern California, where heat advisories and warnings were issued for interior valleys, mountains and deserts for much of the week.

Heat waves and historic drought tied to climate change have made wildfires harder to fight in the American West. Scientists say climate change has made the region much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

More than 20,000 firefighters and support personnel were battling 97 large, active wildfires covering 2,919 square miles in 13 U.S. states, the National Interagency Fire Center said.

Montana had 25 active large blazes, followed by Idaho with 21 and Oregon with 13. California had 11.

In Hawaii, firefighters gained control over the 62-square-mile Nation Fire that forced thousands of people to evacuate over the weekend and destroyed at least two homes on the Big Island.

In southern Oregon, lightning struck parched forests hundreds of times in a 24-hour period, igniting 50 new wildfires. But firefighters and aircraft attacked the flames before they spread out of control and no homes were immediately threatened.

Meanwhile, Oregon's Bootleg Fire, the nation's largest at 647 square miles, was 84% contained and firefighters were busy mopping up hot spots and strengthening fire lines.

"Crews are working tirelessly to ensure we are as prepared as we can be for the extreme fire weather forecast for the next couple days," a U.S. Forest Service update said.

The pilots of a cargo plane that made an emergency landing off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii, early Friday morning told air traffic controllers one of their engines had failed moments before the flight went down, according to LiveATC recordings reviewed by CNN.

"The pilots had reported engine trouble and were attempting to return to Honolulu when they were forced to land the aircraft in the water," the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to CNN, adding both crew members were rescued. "The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate."

The plane, a Boeing 737, had taken off from Honolulu's Daniel K. Inouye International Airport at 1:33 a.m., according to Flightradar 24. The flight-tracking website shows that shortly after it took off, the plane -- referred to by the FAA's statement as Transair flight 810 -- began turning right and then signaled it was diverting to a nearby airport, Kalaeloa Airport.

The pilots reported they could not maintain airspeed and altitude following the failure of one of two engines on the Boeing 737-200, according to the LiveATC recordings, and that they suspected the second engine would also fail.

"We've lost number one engine and we're coming straight to the airport," a crew member said, requesting that air traffic controllers begin dispatching the airport fire department. "We're going to lose the other engine, too. It's running very hot."

The plane went down approximately 2 nautical miles south of Kalaeloa, Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew West of the U.S. Coast Guard District 14 Hawaii Pacific told CNN.

West told CNN that one crew member was rescued by the Coast Guard, while the second was rescued by a local fire department.

Both crew members were brought to Queens Medical Center, West said, though he did not have information about their conditions.

"The weather on scene at the time of the rescue was winds of 17 mph and seas up to 5 feet," the Coast Guard said in a subsequent news release.

According to the company website, Transair uses its Boeing 737 fleet to provide air cargo and charter services throughout Hawaii. The company has been in business since 1982.

In a statement, Transair CEO Teimour Riahi said the two crew members who were on board are receiving medical care.

"We are working with the Coast Guard, the FAA and NTSB to secure the scene and investigate the cause," Riahi said. "Our most immediate concern is the care and recovery of our colleagues."

FAA records show the plane was manufactured in 1975. Its last airworthiness certificate was issued in 2015 and was set to expire in 2024.

A Boeing spokesperson told CNN in a statement the company was "aware of the reports out of Honolulu, Hawaii and are closely monitoring the situation."

"We are in contact with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and are working to gather more information."

The NTSB told CNN it was sending a team of seven investigators to look into the incident.