O'ahu briefs
Advertiser Staff
WINDWARD
Bellows landfill meeting off
A meeting to discuss the options for the treatment of an old landfill on Bellows Air Force Station has been canceled until more public input can be gathered.
Responding to recent Waimanalo community concerns, military officials have decided to postpone a decision about what to do with the retired landfill.
"We want to make sure we thoroughly involve our neighbors in efforts to keep our surrounding environmentally safe," said Col. Al Riggle, 15th Air Base Wing Commander.
The public meeting was canceled after community leaders and military officials realized that poor communication led to misunderstandings, said Wilson Ho, chairman of the Waimanalo Neighborhood Board.
Sen. Fred Hemmings, who hosted a meeting with the military and community leaders Monday, said the military did a good job analyzing the issue from a scientific point of view, but failed to communicate adequately with the community.
"So the problem moved from being strictly an environmental problem to a community problem," said Hemmings, R-25th District (Kailua-Waimanalo). "To their credit, the military is flexible enough to be considerate and make amends if need be, and that's the process we're in now."
The board, an environmental watchdog group and some Waimanalo residents have said they want the landfill removed rather than covered, as the military's consultants proposed.
LEEWARD
Police captain to lead board
George Yamamoto was voted in as new chairman of the Makakilo/Kapo-lei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board last night, replacing Maeda Timson.
M. Kione Dudley is the new vice chairman, replacing Michael Golojuch.
Yamamoto is a police captain assigned to District 8 and works out of the new Kapolei police station.
"I have tried to be really fair and even, bringing the issues out and cooperating with everyone," said Timson, who has served as chairwoman for five years.
Wai'anae craft workshops set
The Wai'anae Coast Coalition is offering two craft workshops this month at the Wai'anae Neighborhood Community Building.
A haku lei-making workshop will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight and a coconut-weaving course will be offered from 10 a.m. to noon Monday.
For registration, cost of supplies or more information, call 696-1217.
NORTH SHORE
City bus routes workshop topic
The City Department of Transportation will have a community workshop from 7 to 8 p.m. today at the John Kalili Surf Center, 66-167 Hale'iwa Road, to discuss the modernization of bus routes in Central O'ahu and the North Shore.
The workshop is part of the Central Hub and Spoke Bus Project, developed in response to requests for more express service and community-circulator bus service.
Call 543-3068 or visit the Transportation Department Web site at www.Oahu Trans2K.com for more information.
HONOLULU
Hawai'i helps literacy drive
Hawai'i yesterday took part in a nationwide campaign to distribute 1 million books to needy children.
Representatives of Hawai'i's congressional leaders, the governor and mayor yesterday morning gave new books to children from low-income families at the Hawai'i Children's Discovery Center.
The event was part of the Mercury Mountaineer Drive for Literacy, which aims to address recent findings that two-thirds of low-income families have no books at all in their homes
The campaign is a joint effort of Lincoln Mercury, Random House Children's Books and First Book.
"It is our understanding that if children do not have books at home, their reading ability may suffer when school is out," said Mark Hutchins, president of Lincoln Mercury.
While 99 percent of Americans agree it is important that children be exposed to books and reading at a young age, 86 percent believe children's lack of basic reading skills is a significant problem, according to a survey conducted this summer.
Dragon Boat races Saturday
The AT&T Dragon Boat Festival activities Saturday and Sunday at Ala Moana Park will begin at 8 a.m.
The festival features dragon boat racing from 8 a.m. to about 1 p.m. and all-day entertainment and food booths on both days. Music concerts start from 10 a.m.
