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WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — A Hawaii family has won a place with the Guinness World Records for the world’s heaviest avocado.
The Pokini family from the island of Maui received the Guinness certificate this week for the avocado weighing 5.6 pounds, The Maui News reported Thursday.
The average avocado weighs about 6 ounces (170 grams), according to Guinness officials.
The Pokini family’s avocado tree is more than 10 years old and 20-feet tall. Mark Pokini planted it when his son was born, using a seed from his parents’ 50-year-old tree on Oahu island, he said.
Mark and Juliane Pokini and their son, Loihi, applied in December for the Guinness recognition involving an arduous verification process by the company known as the chronicler of the world’s record achievements.
The family in 2018 entered another avocado, but it did not meet all the elements of the Guinness verification process requiring input from a certified horticulturalist, two forms completed by witnesses, a state-certified scale, photographs, video and other documentation.
For the second attempt, the family gathered a team and the right tools ahead of time as they watched the growth of what became the record fruit.
They did not water or fertilize the tree, deciding to “kind of just leave it alone,” Juliane Pokini said.
Winning was emotional, she said.
“We were excited,” Juliane Pokini said. “But at the same time, we were like, finally. It was such a long wait.”
The prize avocado was put to good use when the family “made a whole bunch of guacamole” to share with relatives and friends, she said.

The Berwick Lady Panthers volleyball team finished 4-0 this weekend at Highland Baptist’s tournament.
Berwick defeated Westgate, Covenant Christian, North Vermilion and Church Point.
While no scores were available for Berwick’s wins against North Vermilion and Church Point, Berwick defeated Westgate 2-0 (25-6, 27-25), and it was victorious against Covenant Christian 2-0 (25-19, 25-6).
Against Westgate, Ashlynn Fitter led Berwick with one ace and 23 digs. Other top Berwick contributors were Katie Conrad, six kills and one dig; Giuliana Spitale, two aces, one kill and seven digs; Emily Lousteau, one ace, two kills and six digs; and Lindsie Giroir: two aces and two digs.
Against Covenant Christian, Lousteau had four aces, two kills and 10 digs. Other top Berwick contributors were Fitter, 14 digs, and Conrad, five kills and nine digs.
Against North Vermilion, Fitter led Berwick with one ace, two kills and 22 digs. Other top Berwick contributors were Lousteau, one ace, two kills and three digs; Ryleigh Arnold, four kills and one dig; Conrad, two kills and nine digs; and Giroir, one ace and four digs.
Against Church Point, Fitter led Berwick with two aces and 25 digs. Other top Berwick contributors were Conrad, one ace, four kills and 14 digs; Giroir, one ace and 15 digs; Bronwyn Colbert, six kills; Laney Crouch, five kills and one dig; Lousteau, three kills and six digs; and Spitale, one ace and six digs
Thursday, Berwick fell to H.L. Bourgeois on the road 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-16).
No individual stats were available.
Berwick (8-14 overall, 0-1 in district) will return to action Tuesday when it resumes District 7-III action at home against Morgan City.
CCHS finishes 4-1 at
Terrebonne tourney
The Central Catholic Lady Eagles finished 4-1 at Terrebonne’s tournament Saturday, falling to Vandebilt Catholic in the semifinals.
The Lady Eagles fell to Vandebilt Catholic 2-0 (25-17, 25-22).
Yani Johnson and Katie Hoffpauir led Central Catholic. Johnson had 15 kills, four digs and five solo blocks, while Hoffpauir recorded 20 assists, one ace and six digs. Symone Wiggins contributed six digs.
Central Catholic’s four wins in the tournament came against East Jefferson, Baton Rouge High, St. Martin’s Episcopal and Lakeshore.
Against East Jefferson, Central Catholic won 2-0 (25-8, 25-8).
Hoffpauir led Central Catholic with 14 assists, two aces and six digs. Other top Central Catholic contributors were Johnson, six kills and one assist; Lexi Landry, five kills and three aces; Katie Luc, two kills, four assists and two aces; Ava Nicar, five kills and one dig; and Kennedy Grizzaffi, three kills, one dig and two solo blocks.
Against Baton Rouge High, Central Catholic won 2-0 (25-17, 25-7).
Hoffpauir led Central Catholic with 25 assists, three aces and three digs. Other top Central Catholic contributors were Johnson, eight kills, two aces, four digs and one solo block; Nicar, seven kills and six digs; and Landry, six kills and four digs.
Against St. Martin’s Episcopal, Central Catholic won 2-0 (25-15, 25-16).
Hoffpauir led Central Catholic with three kills, 17 assists, three aces and six digs. Other top Central Catholic contributors were Johnson, seven kills, one ace, two digs and two solo blocks; Landry, three kills, one assist, three aces and five digs; Grizzaffi, three kills and two solo blocks; Emily Lipari, five digs; and Gweneth Dohmann, one kill, two digs and one solo block.
Against Lakeshore, Central Catholic won 2-1 (23-25, 25-18, 16-14).
Johnson and Hoffpauir led Central Catholic. Johnson had 25 kills, one ace, three digs and five solo blocks, while Hoffpauir recorded four kills, 31 assists, two aces and 12 digs. Other top Central Catholic contributors were Grizzaffi, five kills, one dig and four solo blocks; Nicar, four kills and nine digs; Landry, two kills, one assist and five digs; Lipari, two aces, one assist and four digs; and Wiggins, seven digs.
Thursday, Central Catholic defeated Highland Baptist 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-17) in District 2-V action in New Iberia.
Hoffpauir and Johnson led Central Catholic. Hoffpauir had 24 assists, two aces and eight digs, while Johnson recorded 15 kills, three digs and five solo blocks. Other top Central Catholic contributors were Nicar, three kills, 10 digs and one solo block; Lipari, one ace, one assist and seven digs; Grizzaffi, two kills and four solo blocks; Wiggins, five digs; and Lucy Hamer, two aces and two digs.
Central Catholic (22-10, 2-0) will return to action Tuesday when it resumes District 2-V play at Covenant Christian.
Patterson struggles at Highland Baptist tourney
The Patterson Lumberjills finished 0-4 Saturday at Highland Baptist’s tournament.
Patterson fell to David Thibodaux (25-10, 25-21), Highland Baptist (25-14, 25-23), Lafayette (21-25, 27-25, 5-15) and Helen Cox (28-30, 25-16, 9-15).
No individual stats were submitted from the tournament.
Thursday, Patterson fell to Catholic High of New Iberia, 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-10).
Patterson (11-8, 1-2) will resume District 2-IV play Tuesday when it travels to face Notre Dame.

The No. 12 Nicholls State University football team churned out a season-high 537 yards of offense and led by as much as 24 points before fending off a second-half comeback by rival Northwestern State in a 45-35 win Saturday evening on Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium.
The Colonels (4-2, 3-0 SLC) scored on the opening drive of the second half to take a commanding 31-7 lead before Northwestern State (0-6, 0-3 SLC) answered with two touchdowns to make it a 10-point game.
In the fourth, the squads traded touchdowns twice, but the visitors were unable to get any closer as Nicholls won its fourth straight in the series for the first time in team history.
For Nicholls, quarterback Chase Fourcade had another solid showing, but unlike last week, he did most of his damage on the ground. The senior eluded the Demon pass rush several times and finished with 14 carries for a career-high 135 yards — the first 100-yard game of his career. He rushed for two touchdowns, and senior running back Dontrell Taylor crossed the goal line three times — also a first for his career.
The Colonels totaled 349 yards rushing with a 7.3 yard-per-carry average and had two players eclipse the 100-yard mark. Kendall Bussey had 102 yards on eight carries with most of his yardage coming on a 65-yard rush in the third quarter. The duo gave Nicholls its first pair of 100-yard rushers since 2017 at Stephen F. Austin.
The defense sparked the fast start with two key plays to end the Demons’ first two possessions. On the third play of the game, Laryon James forced a fumble and Jarius Monroe recovered it. Fourcade then scored on a 13-yard scamper before Jordan Jackson stopped a fourth-down at the Colonel 26.
Taylor capped another scoring drive with a 1-yard plunge, and the Demons answered with their own 1-yard score by Jared West.
For the rest of the half, Fourcade found a seam up the middle for a 29-yard touchdown, and Gunnar Jones tacked on a 20-yard field goal before the break for a 24-7 advantage.
Jackson started the second half with a 62-yard kick return, setting up a 10-yard touchdown pass from Fourcade to running back Julien Gums. The touchdown pass was Fourcade’s 58th of his career — tying Doug Hudson’s program record.
For Gums, the sophomore totaled over 100 yards of offense with 62 on the ground and 49 yards receiving.
Searching for its first win, Northwestern State quickly answered with two touchdown passes by Shelton Eppler to make the score 31-21. Eppler had 387 yards passing and four touchdowns on 27 of 37 attempts.
In the fourth, Taylor found the end zone twice to put the game away. His first score came on a 27-yard dash up the middle, and he then added his third touchdown on a 3-yard rush.
Eppler connected with Quan Shorts for his second touchdown throw of the quarter, but with 32 seconds remaining, Nicholls ended the game with a recovery on an onside kick.
Fourcade finished with 188 yards passing on 19 of 28 attempts.
Tahj Smith led all receivers with a career-high 70 yards on four receptions. Fourcade spread the ball out to seven different players, with four having four receptions.
On defense, Sully Laiche had a team-high seven tackles and recorded a sack for the third straight game. Not only did it come at a crucial time in the game as it forced Northwestern State to punt trailing 38-28 in the fourth, but it also moved him into a tie for eighth on the Southland’s all-time sack list with 28.5 for his career.
Allen Pittman, Kevin Moore III and James all had six tackles each. Kevin Johnson broke up two passes in the secondary.
With the season-high in yards, the Colonels did not punt for the first time this season.
Central Catholic alum and Nicholls senior Stefano Guarisco had two catches for 15 yards with a long gain of 12 yards.
Central Catholic alum and Nicholls redshirt senior Garret LeBlanc also received playing time.
UP NEXT
The Colonels hit the road next weekend to face Sam Houston State on Saturday. The Bearkats and Colonels entered this past week’s contests as the lone undefeated teams in the Southland before Sam Houston fell in triple overtime against Lamar. Next weekend’s kickoff in Huntsville is scheduled for 2 p.m., and the game will air on ESPN+.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Among cases on the U.S. Supreme Court docket for the term that began this month, two Louisiana cases stand out — one because of its implications for criminal justice in the state, the other because of what it portends for abortion rights and access nationwide.
And, both, in part, because they deal with matters that, on the surface, might appear to have been settled.
Yes, voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring unanimous jury verdicts in felony cases — following Pulitzer Prize winning reporting by The Advocate on the racial impacts of allowing 10-2 verdicts. But sometimes lost amid celebrations of the measure’s passage is its effective date: it applies to crimes that happened on or after Jan. 1 of this year.
No help to people like Evangelisto Ramos, who was convicted on a 10-2 jury vote in 2016 of second-degree murder in the killing of a woman in New Orleans. Ramos is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole.
“What about the constitutional rights of people in prison?” Justice Neil Gorsuch asked Elizabeth Murrill, a lawyer with Louisiana’s Attorney General’s Office, who argued last week in the Ramos case that the state’s court system could be inundated with claims if the justices rule against the state.
“A ruling in the defense’s favor would be enormous,” said New Orleans attorney Patrick Barker, who said most of the appeals he handles involve non-unanimous verdicts — including the 10-2 manslaughter conviction of Cardell Hayes.
Hayes was 28 and the father of a young son when he fatally shot retired New Orleans Saints star Will Smith during a confrontation following a 2016 traffic crash. He’s still got appeal issues pending at the state Supreme Court and Barker is ready to press on to federal courts to keep the appeals alive — hoping to capitalize if a decision is reached in Ramos’ favor.
Certainly, this could mean pain ahead for victims’ families. The Will Smith death trial was an often gut-wrenching spectacle where Smith’s widow had to relive the night her husband died and she was wounded by gunfire.
But should Hayes, who never backed down from his insistence that the drunken Smith was the aggressor, be denied a chance at a plea deal or new trial for the 2016 shooting if the rules have changed?
While the Ramos case is pending, the high court also is preparing for arguments in the Louisiana abortion case.
In 2016, justices struck down a Texas measure requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal later upheld a virtually identical Louisiana requirement. Judge Jerry Smith wrote for the majority in a 2-1 decision last fall that the situation in Louisiana is different. He disputed findings by a lower court judge that the law could lead to closure of one or two of Louisiana’s three clinics. The full court, in January, rejected a request for rehearing in a 9-6 vote.
There were two highly critical dissents in the case.
The first came in the fall 2018 panel ruling from Judge Patrick Higginbotham, tapped for the court by President Ronald Reagan. His 30-page dissent took the majority to task for, in effect, retrying the case after U.S. District Judge John deGravelles had given full consideration to the facts, finding that the law provided no medical benefit and would illegally reduce access.
When the full court voted 9-6 against a rehearing, Justice James Dennis, a Bill Clinton nominee, also strongly dissented.
But the majority teed the case up for a Supreme Court that has changed since the 2016 decision in the Texas case. Donald Trump nominee Gorsuch has since joined the court. And Justice Anthony Kennedy, part of the majority in the 2016 case, has retired, replaced by Trump nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Kevin McGill is an Associated Press reporter in New Orleans.