O'ahu briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
WINDWARD
Senior housing complex opens
An affordable senior rental development in Kane'ohe held a blessing for its complex on Friday, but residents won't be able to move in yet.
The $11.1 million building at 45-705 Kamehameha is finished, but legal paperwork is holding up occupancy, said Marvin Awaya, executive director for Pacific Housing Assistance Corp. Once the documents are completed, residents can begin moving into the one-bedroom apartments.
The Senior Residence at Kane'ohe is available to people 62 and older. The four-story complex has 74 units, five of which are handicapped accessible. The building has 48 parking stalls, a common laundry room, storage lockers, a landscaped courtyard and sitting areas on each floor.
The project was developed by the Kane'ohe Elderly Housing Project Limited Partnership and Pacific Housing O'ahu Corporation Elderly Residence, with financing from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the State's Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawai'i and the city.
Call Prudential Locations at 738-3105, for applications and information about rentals.
LEEWARD
Army to discuss Makua concerns
The final focus meeting scheduled by the Army to address concerns raised during the public comment period for its supplemental environmental assessment concerning Makua Military Reservation will be held today.
The meeting will focus on cultural issues, including Native Hawaiian access to Makua, and will begin at 3 p.m. at the Wai'anae District Park Multi-Purpose Center.
Students learn from military
Several students from Campbell High School are spending the weekend working with dog handlers from the 25th Military Police Battalion, 25th Infantry Division and U.S. Army Hawai'i at Schofield Barracks.
The session is designed to help students develop skills in leadership, communication, trust, problem solving, teamwork, first aid, and to get a taste of Army life.
Students in the K-9 Partnership Leadership Field Training Exercise have been working with military dog handlers throughout the year at team-building sessions, demonstrations and at kennel cleanings.
"We don't just want to show them the pretty side of what we do, we want to show them it's hard work," said Staff Sgt. Laura R.K. Jernigan.
Students will take turns as team leaders with the dogs, running obstacle courses, treating and moving casualties and learning patrolling and defense techniques.
Fence installed by volunteers
More than a dozen volunteers from Tesoro Hawai'i's refinery installed a custom-designed wrought iron fence at the entrance to Seagull School in Kapolei yesterday .
Tesoro donated about $2,000 in materials for the project.
Seagull School provides day care for 200 children and 40 seniors in its intergenerational program.
HONOLULU
Right to Bike rally scheduled
A Kids' Right To Bike Rally is scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon today at Nu'uanu Elementary School, 3055 Pu'iwa Lane.
The rally is intended to promote bicycling among children. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, less than one of every 10 American schoolchildren bikes or walks to school, down from 60 percent in the 1970s.
"When I was young, if I were driven to school my friends would think, 'She must have broken her leg, or she must be in serious trouble," said Georgette Yaindl of the Hawai'i Bicycling League, which is organizing the event. "Today, it's wholly reversed. It's the child walking or biking to school that has become the oddity."
Following a short program of speakers, children will lead a neighborhood bike ride demonstrating their bike handling and traffic negotiating skills. The Hawai'i Bicycling League is also offering free bike safety inspections, helmets, refreshments and prizes for all child participants, including a chance to win a new bike.
The Hawai'i Bicycling League has trained more than 65,000 children on safely riding bicycles through its BikeEd Hawaii program. The program consists of five 45-minute on-bike session taught over five days.
For more information, call the Hawai'i Bicycling League at 735-5756.
