Posted on: Sunday, October 10, 2004
HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Manana park plans Spook Fest
Advertiser Staff
Manana Community Park will hold its first "Halloween Spook Fest" from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 29 and 30.
Prizes, candy, a mini-carnival and "spooky maze" will be set up around the park office building. Call 453-7527 for information.
Keiko Bonk, executive director of the Japanese Cultural Center, will be the guest speaker at the American Business Women's Association 'Onipa'a Chapter membership meeting Oct. 21 at OnOn Restaurant, 1110 McCully St. The meeting starts at 6 p.m.
For information, call 732-1564.
PUKALANI, Maui — Naturalist and botanist Bob Hobdy will talk about the Hawaiian place names of Hana and Kipahulu and the ancient cultural practices of sustainable land management during a Friends of Haleakala National Park event at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Mayor Hannibal Tavares Community Center in Pukalani.
Hobdy will present slides of old maps of the island and photos from his long career in the state Forestry and Wildlife Division. He said Hawaiians of old were able to regulate land-use practices and access labor resources to a degree that enabled them to maintain natural resources and create large projects, such as heiau and extensive water and trail systems.
The talk is free and open to the public.
HILO, Hawai'i — Kona Hospital Foundation has been awarded one of 40 federal rural development grants provided for education and medical services across the county.
The hospital is slated to receive $500,000 under the program.
Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced the selection of Distance Learning and Telemedicine grants totaling more than $24.6 million. The grants are being awarded to provide greater educational opportunities and better medical service to rural residents in 45 states and two U.S. territories.
"The Bush Administration is committed to supporting rural communities by investing in technology," said Veneman. "These grants will help expand the availability of state-of-the-art medical and educational resources to rural families."
The education projects will help schools provide students with educational tools to better equip them for the global digital economy. Additionally, rural residents will have access to better, faster and more modern healthcare through medical service facilities.
In total, 40 distance education grants for $17.1 million, and 22 telemedicine grants for more than $7.5 million were awarded.
HILO, Hawai'i — "Spot the Dot," a Halloween pedestrian safety campaign is being sponsored by the Big Island county Department of Public Works this year.
The program encourages trick-or-treaters to wear "hot dots" — which are retro-reflective, adhesive-backed dots — on their costumes to help motorists "spot" them more easily on Halloween.
National studies have shown these retro-reflective materials greatly increase the visibility of pedestrians.
Public and private schools will distribute 16,000 dots with informational fliers to students in kindergarten through grade 5 on the Big Island, and Big Island Mayor Harry Kim is proclaiming Oct. 25 to 31 as "Spot the Dot" Halloween Pedestrian Safety Week.
According to 2002 statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, pedestrian fatalities account for almost 28 percent of Hawai'i traffic fatalities, a much higher rate than the national average of about 11 percent. The Big Island's pedestrian fatality rate for 2002 was almost 11 percent of all traffic deaths.
Those most vulnerable to pedestrian injuries and death are children and senior citizens.
To prepare neighborhoods for trick-or-treaters, county officials are also asking the public to notify the Department of Public Works Traffic Division of any malfunctioning streetlights. To report a light out, call 961-8341.
HILO, Hawai'i — The Chinese Civic Association of Hawai'i has presented $1,000 scholarships to three students registered in the new master's program of China-U.S. Relations at the University of Hawai'i-Hilo.
The first three recipients of the scholarships are Lola Salimova, Richard Champion and Joanne Zhang. Both Salimova and Champion are Big Island students; Zhang is from China.
A total of nine students are enrolled in the program, according to the University of Hawai'i-Hilo.
The association has already awarded $1,700 to the program to purchase reference materials. The money given to the master's program was raised through the Chinese Civic Association's annual Taste of Asia fund-raiser.
The Chinese Civic Association of Hawai'i is a nonprofit organization formed in 1991 that strives to preserve the Chinese Cultural and heritage here. Membership is open to anyone.
For more information contact Irene Haraguchi at 959-8444 or civic association president Nate Chang at 895-1390.
Cultural center chief to speak
Naturalist will discuss old Maui
Kona Hospital wins rural grant
Halloween safety steps under way
UH-Hilo students win scholarships
