Hawai'i briefs
Advertiser Staff
HONOLULU
Missing woman back with family
A 41-year-old woman reported missing on Friday was reunited with her family yesterday.
Gail Harada was found to be at The Queen's Medical Center after being taken there Sunday, said officer Phil Camero of the Honolulu Police Department's missing persons detail.
Camero said emergency medical and Fire Department workers responded to a "disoriented-person" call at Kalakaua and Kapahulu avenues at 4 p.m. Sunday. Camero went to the hospital yesterday and identified Harada.
Harada's mother, Ethel Yoshioka, and brother Nathan Yoshioka had said Harada has a medical condition and becomes confused when she does not take her medication.
Moon-watching party planned
The Japanese tradition known as tsukimi no kai — a Japanese moon-watching party — will be observed to mark the full moon of autumn, starting at 6 p.m. Friday at the 'Ohi'a Building of Kapi'olani Community College.
The event is sponsored by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i, the United Japanese Society of Hawai'i and the Shufu Society of Hawai'i.
A tsukimi ryori (moon dinner) will be prepared by the college's Culinary Institute of the Pacific, and sake will be provided by Kokusai Sake Kai.
The event also features a traditional tea ceremony. Tickets: $30; call the United Japanese Society of Hawai'i at 941-5889.
Niketown run raises $79,000
Thousands of participants turned out Sunday for the Niketown 5 and Kids Run in Waikiki, raising $79,000 for O'ahu schools.
Race entry fees are donated to public and private schools to support athletic programs. The runs are held to encourage children to remain active and healthy. Over the past four years, $200,000 was raised and distributed to 242 schools. The first-place male finisher was Michael Siul and the first-place female was Kristin Markowicz. Niketown 5 and Kids Run are sponsored by Niketown, NikeGO!, Kraft Foods, KRTR FM 96.3, Menehune Water and Blue Bunny.
School-reform expert to speak
Cincinnati public-school reformer Steven J. Adam-owski will be the featured speaker in the next lecture that is part of a continuing series on educational reform sponsored by the University Community Partnership. The free forum is scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. today in the University of Hawai'i-Manoa School of Architecture auditorium.
R.S.V.P. to Patti Igawa at 956-7651.
BIG ISLAND
Meetings focus on state parks
HILO, Hawai'i — Big Island lawmakers are hosting a series of meetings to discuss concerns about state parks.
The first meeting at 5 p.m. today will focus on the Wailoa River, Wailuku River and Mauna Kea state parks. The meeting will be in Building Room 127 at the University of Hawai'i-Hilo.
The Manuka and Kealakekua Bay state parks will be discussed at 5 p.m. tomorrow at the Konawaena High School cafeteria; the MacKenzie and Lava Tree state parks will be discussed at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Pahoa Neighborhood Center.
For more information, contact state Sen. Russell Kokubun, D-2nd (S. Hilo, Puna, Ka'u), at (808) 586-6760.
Orchid growers to talk strategy
HILO, Hawai'i — The Hawai'i Orchid Growers Association will discuss strategies for tapping into the orchid export market in a conference Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Hawai'i Naniloa Resort in Hilo.
The conference is co-sponsored by the county Department of Research and Development. Contact Leonard Gines at (808) 966-4550, or Ruth Iwata at (808) 961-2043.
CENTRAL O'AHU
Filipino memorial nears completion
A memorial to Filipinos who fought in World War II will be finished by Veterans Day, the monument's builder said.
Workers will stay on the job 15 hours a day, seven days a week to complete the 6-foot-high, 10-foot-wide concrete memorial by Nov. 11, said Lito Alcantra of Group Builders. Alcantra is donating his company's services for the memorial.
The memorial is being built at the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu. It is to include a granite plaque, two pillars symbolizing America and the Philippines and a rainbow shape connecting the columns, according to architect Oscar Paez Jr. The memorial will face Waipahu Street.
The Filipino Community Center opened last year near the O'ahu Sugar Mill and Hans L'Orange Park, touted as the largest such center of its kind outside the Philippines.
