O'ahu briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
HONOLULU
Man injured in Halawa fire
A man was injured as he helped fight a fire at a Halawa home yesterday afternoon.
The man, described as in his 20s, was using a garden hose to battle the blaze at 99-238 Ulune St. when he suffered smoke inhalation, said HFD spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada. The man, described as a visitor to the home, was not seriously injured and was taken to Pali Momi Medical Center.
The fire, which was reported at 4:43 p.m., was started by a child playing with a lighter and was confined to a bedroom in the two-story, six-bedroom home, Tejada said.
Damage was estimated at $13,000.
Brandt center ceremony set
In ceremonies at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow, the University of Hawai'i-Manoa Center for Hawaiian Studies will be renamed in honor of Gladys K. Brandt, revered kupuna, educator, and former member and chairwoman of the Board of Regents.
The center will be renamed the Kamakakuokalani-Gladys K. 'Ainoa Brandt Center for Hawaiian Studies, after the woman who for 40 years has been a key figure in education in Hawai'i.
For 17 years she served as the only female principal of a public high school. She also taught in the classroom and served as a district superintendent of Kaua'i's public schools.
She served as a principal at the Kamehameha School for Girls and as a director of the secondary division of Kamehameha Schools.
From 1983 to 1989 Brandt was a member of the UH Board of Regents, serving as chairwoman four of those years. She shepherded the creation of the Hawaiian Studies Center.
Tomorrow's ceremony will include more than a dozen kumu hula chanting in her honor, with speeches by UH administrators, Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono and senior Judge Samuel P. King of the U.S. District Court.
Bookmobile back on road
The O'ahu Bookmobile, which was off the road since mid-January for repairs, resumed service yesterday.
The bookmobile is a traveling library stationed at the Pearl City Public Library. It makes trips to rural that do not have libraries nearby.
On Tuesdays, 11 stops are made on the Leeward Coast; on Thursdays and Fridays, eight stops are made on the Windward side.
For details, call 453-6566.
Class to teach native healing
Kapi'olani Community College is offering a class in Hawaiian healing practices for caregivers who work in home health care or hospital settings.
The class, "Hawaiian Healing in the Health-Care Setting," is taught by traditional Hawaiian healer Francine Dudoit from Moloka'i. Students will learn advanced lomilomi techniques and patient care in a hands-on setting. A basic knowledge of Hawaiian healing practices would be helpful, but is not required.
The class costs $250 and will be held on Wednesdays, starting next week and concluding April 2. The hours are 6 to 8 p.m.
Students can register in person or by phone, fax or mail. Call the registration office at 734-9211 or fax 734-9447. Call Charene Luke at 734-9138 for a complete list of continuing health education courses.
WINDWARD
PCB removal under way
Safeway supermarket has begun a cleanup to rid a Kane'ohe Bay inlet of a PCB spill that was discovered by a work crew two years ago during a renovation project.
The PCB, or polychlorinated biphenyls, an industrial chemical that has been linked to cancer, was traced to a transformer that was on the store's property on Kamehameha Highway.
The cleanup includes dredging sediment near Yacht Club Street and drying it on an offshore barge, said David Bowlby, Safeway spokesman. The project should last about one week.
The sediment will be dried in tubes made of filter fiber and taken to the PVT landfill in Nanakuli, Bowlby said.
PCB, a lubricant that was used in electrical transformers, is no longer used in newer equipment.
Bowlby said the cleanup took two years to arrange because of testing and permitting required by agencies such as the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the state Department of Health and Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Monthly show at Imaginarium
Windward Community College in Kane'ohe this week will begin a series of public shows at its new Imaginarium, set for the first Friday of every month.
The first showings will be at 7 and 8 p.m. Friday in the campus facility.
This week's program, Cosmic Perceptions, is sold out for the 7 p.m. show, but tickets are still available for the 8 p.m. program. Professor Joseph Ciotti will discuss how we perceive the universe and the world around us.
Tickets are $5 for general admission, $4 for military and people with University of Hawai'i IDs, and $3 for children under 12.
The school will also present family star-gazing shows on the second Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. in the Imaginarium. They will be led by Krissie Kellogg, who presents star shows on Kailua Beach.
Tickets for the family star-gazing shows are $2 for anyone over 12. For details, call the college's Aerospace Lab at 235-7321.
