Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
WINDWARD O'AHU
Base to issue fishing permits
Permits to fish at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i at Kane'ohe will be issued from 5:30 a.m. tomorrow at the enlisted club.
The 200 permits allowing access to base fishing Jan. 1 through March 31 will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis.
Applicants must sign a waiver allowing a background check and attend a class on fishing regulations and procedures. Class dates will be posted at the sign-up.
For more information, call 2nd Lt. Amy B. Mueller at 257-8840.
CENTRAL
Cops taking kids shopping
The Honolulu Police Department is holding its annual "Shop With a Cop" gift program for disadvantaged children at Kmart stores this month.
The volunteer program, in its 10th year here, teams police officers with a child to shop for gifts — usually toys — that are paid for by Kmart and the officers.
Officers will pair up with 90 children at the Waikele Kmart on Saturday. The children will also receive breakfast and a gift from Santa.
The children are recommended each year by social service and other organizations.
Police held similar events last weekend with about 225 children at Kmart's Salt Lake, Iwilei and Kapolei stores.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Buddhist police chaplain named
HILO, Hawai'i — The Hawai'i County Police Department has its first Buddhist chaplain.
The Rev. Earl Ikeda of the Puna Hongwanji Mission in Kea'au took the oath of office at a ceremony Friday in the office of Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna, who was named to the department's top spot earlier in the week.
Ikeda, one of eight police chaplains, is assigned to the South Hilo Patrol District.
STATEWIDE
Spotters sought for whale study
A marine conservation group needs volunteers to observe humpback whales in a program that studies the animals' population, distribution and behavioral trends.
The 2003 Ocean Count by the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary will record whale observations from shore, 8 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Jan. 25, Feb. 22 and March 29 at selected sites on O'ahu, Kaua'i and the Big Island.
To register, call 397-2656 for O'ahu, 246-2860 for Kaua'i and 1888-55-WHALE for the Big Island.
HONOLULU
Docents needed for garden tours
Foster Botanical Garden is seeking docent volunteers to give daily tours of the historical garden on Vineyard Boulevard.
A training class runs from 1 to 2 p.m. Thursdays, Jan. 9 to Feb. 20. To register, call Charlene Change at 522-7063 or 522-7060.
