HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Library parking, bookdrop closed
Advertiser Staff
The Hawai'i Kai Public Library parking lot and bookdrop will be closed Dec. 22 to Jan. 1, but the library will remain open during that time.
The library, however, will extend the due date on materials borrowed between Nov. 30 and Dec. 12 until after the parking lot is opened. Videos and DVDs borrowed between Dec. 14 and Dec. 26 will have an extended due date to Jan. 3. Normal loan periods will apply to "hot pick" books and materials from other libraries.
MILILANI
GROUNDBREAKING FOR MILILANI PARK
Groundbreaking for the city's Mililani Mauka District Park will be at 10 a.m. Monday.
The park will be on 16 acres on Ukuwai Street next to the Mililani Park & Ride and near Mililani Mauka Elementary. Castle & Cooke created the master plan for the park, which will have a gym, recreation center, outside tennis and basketball courts, baseball and softball fields, and parking lot.
The city's Department of Design and Construction is overseeing the project, which will start construction in the next few months of a comfort station, parking lot and baseball field, according to City Council chairman Donovan Dela Cruz.
BIG ISLAND
PICKUP BED PASSENGER KILLED
HILO — A 37-year-old Hilo man who was riding in the back of a pickup truck died Tuesday after a wreck on Hawai'i Belt Road near milepost 29.
Police said Alfredo Raquedan Jr. and two males, ages 17 and 18, were thrown from the bed of a westbound 2003 Toyota truck at about 4:30 a.m. when the vehicle hydroplaned on the wet road, crossed the centerline and smashed into an embankment.
Raquedan was pronounced dead at 1:50 p.m. at Hilo Medical Center. A front-seat passenger was treated for minor injuries and released. The 17-year-old boy was treated for minor injuries at North Hawai'i Community Hospital, while the 18-year-old was admitted in serious condition.
The driver of the truck, a 34-year-old Hilo man, was not injured.
There have been 32 traffic fatalities on the Big Island this year, compared with 39 a year ago.
FILIPINO FIESTA IN NORTH KOHALA
A Filipino Fiesta will be held Saturday in North Kohala in observance of Rizal Day and the centennial celebration of Filipino immigration to Hawai'i.
The fiesta, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Kamehameha Park Gym in Kapa'au, will include a parade, traditional music and folk dancing, food, and cultural displays and demonstrations. The parade starts at 10 a.m. at Kohala High School and ends at the gym. The grand marshal will be 104-year-old Jose Carpio, who came to Hawai'i in 1946.
Rizal Day honors Philippine patriot Jose Rizal, who was executed in 1896 for his independence activities.
COUNTY PRESENTS HOLIDAY EVENT
HILO — The county will hold its Christmas Open House from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Hawai'i County Building, 25 Aupuni St.
The event will be hosted by Mayor Harry Kim and Hawai'i County Council Chairman Stacy Higa. Music will be provided by the Kanilehua Chorale, the Waiakea 'Ukulele Band, and Na Pua Mae'ole of Pahoa Intermediate and High School. Refreshments will be served.
O'AHU
KUAKINI, QUEEN'S NURSES OK PACTS
Registered nurses at Kuakini Medical Center and The Queen's Medical Center have ratified new three-year contracts that included pay increases of more than 20 percent over three years.
The Hawai'i Nurses Association has not yet reached an agreement with Kaiser Permanente. The contract covering 797 nurses has been extended until midnight tomorrow.
Kaiser nurses have said that pay is not an issue in their contract negotiations, but rather adequate staffing.
Kuakini nurses voted unanimously to accept a contract that gave them a 22 percent pay raise over three years. The nearly 1,000 registered nurses at The Queen's Medical Center voted to accept a contract that included a pay increase of 20.5 percent over three years.
Nurses at both medical centers said they felt the existing language in their contract on staffing was strong enough.
Claudine Tomasa with the Nurses Association said negotiations this year were "more amicable" as compared to three years ago when nurses went on strike.
Kuakini and Queen's nurses went on strike in late 2002 over staffing, among other issues.
MOZART FESTIVAL DEADLINE DEC. 16
The O'ahu Arts Center in Mililani has extended the entry deadline to Dec. 16 for its Mozart Festival 2006.
The musical competition is open to students grades K-12. Each string, wind (woodwind, brass), percussion, piano or voice performance must be a composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The annual competition also is a Mozart birthday celebration. The 2006 competition on Feb. 25 commemorates Mozart's 250th anniversary celebration.
The competition features three divisions: elementary (grades K-5), intermediate (grades 6-8) and advanced (grades 9-12).
A first-place and honorable mention prize will be awarded in each division. Application fees range from $10 to $20, depending on division.
Entrants will audition on Feb. 11, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa's Orvis Auditorium. The winners will perform at a Feb. 25 concert at 7 p.m. The concert location will be announced later.
For more information, call 848-7632.
Applications and competition rules can be downloaded at www.oahuartscenter.org.art.
NORTH SHORE
HALE'IWA HOLIDAY PARADE TOMORROW
The public is invited to attend Hale'iwa Town's big "North Shore Kind of Christmas" celebration beginning at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
The celebration kicks off with a 40-unit parade that includes brass bands, floats, horse teams, hula dancers, and much more.
The parade starts at the Weed Circle roundabout and continues through Hale'iwa Town, concluding at Hale'iwa Beach Park about an hour later.
Santa has promised to make an appearance at North Shore Market Place between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. to say hi to the kids, and there will be lots of restaurant and shop specials before and after the parade. For information, call 637-4558.
Correction: Alfredo Raquedan Jr. of Hilo, who was killed Tuesday in a traffic accident on the Hawai'i Belt Road, was 37. His age was incorrect in a previous version of these briefs.
